234 HORTUS JAMAICENS-I& toot* 



TOMATO BERRIES, or LOVE APPLES. SOLANUM. 



Cl. 5, or. 1. Pentandria monogynia. Nat. or. Luridts. 

 Gen. CHAR. See Calalu, branched, vol 1, p. 141. 



LYCOPERSICON. 



Sublvrsutum, foliis varie incisis int>>rupfe el abrupte pennatis, cali- 

 cibus septem-partitis. Browne, p. 175. 



Stem unarmed, herbaceous; leaves pinnate-gashed, racemes two- parted, leaf- 

 less, fruits smooth. 



This has an herbaceous branching, hairy stem, creeping on the ground/for six or 

 eight feet. Leaves pinnate, of a rank smell, composed of four or five pairs of leaflets, 

 terminated by an odd one, cut on their edges, and ending in acute points. TJie flowers 

 are axillary on simple racemes of long peduncles, sustaining several yellow flowers-. 

 The &errv, smooth, shining, soft, of a yellowish or reddish colour, varying in size and 

 shape. It is much used boiled in soups and sauces, to which it imparts an agreeable 

 acid flavour ; or served up boiled or roasted ; they are also fried with e^gs. Barhanj 

 calls them love apples, and speaks of them as follows : "So called by the Spaniards, 

 who use them in their sauces and gravies ; because the juice, as they say, is as good as 

 any gravy, and so by its richness warms the blood. The fruit of the wild sort is no 

 bigger than a cherrv ; but those that grow in gardens are as big as a small apple, very 

 round and red, and therefore called pomum amoris ; some call tnem tomatoes. It hath 

 a small sharp-pointed jagged leaf, growing very thick upon its stalk. and bianches ; its 

 fruit is round aud red, or of an orange colour I have eat five or six raw at a time : 

 They are full of a pulpy juice, ano of small seeds, which you swallow with the pulp, 

 and have something of a gravy taste. Its juice is cooling, aud very proper for defluxions 

 of hot humours in the eyes, which may occasion a glaucoma, if not prevented; it is 

 also ^ood in the St. Anthony's fire, and all inflammations ; the fruit, boiled in oil, is 

 good for the itch ; and a cataplasm of them is very proper for burns." 

 See Calalue, Branched, Eglj-Pla.nt, Nightshades, Potatoes, Turkey- Berries. 



TOOTH, or LEAD WORT. PLUMBAGO. 



Cl. 5, or. 1. Pentandria monogynia. Nat. OR. Plumbagines. 



Gen. char. Calyx a one-leafed perianth, five-cornered ; corolla one-petalee, 

 funnel form ; nectary five-valves ; stamens inserted into the scales enclosing the 

 base of the corolla ; anthers small : the pistil has an ovate germ, a simple style, 

 and a fire-cleft stigma : pericarp an oblong capsule; seed single, oblong, tuni r 

 cated. One species is a native of Jamaica. 



SCANDF.NS. CLIMBING. 



Dentellaria, lychnioides sylvatica scandens Jlore alio. Sloane, v. 1, p. 

 211, t. 133, f. 1. Spieis rainosis terminalibus, petiolis brevibus, 

 /lore o/bo. Browne, p. 153. 



Leaves petit. led, ovu'p, smooth ; stem flexuosc-scandent. 



Stem sulTrutescent, scandc.it, sometimes decumbent, loose, fiesuose, branched, 



rouix', 



