** HOltTUS JAMAICENSIS. wstlb. 



5. PiRVIrLORUVf. SMALL FLOWERED. 



llirmtinn lutr virens, feliis rutiosis ovatis, spicis- graeitibribhs sill* 

 gulaiibus lateiulwus, yuandotjue tenninaiibus. Browne, p. 15 i. 



Tpaves ovate, vyrinkled, scabrous, opposite, and alternate. 

 This is nearl) - allied to the first specie*. Stem erect, pubescent, a foot high ; nvwt 

 of the leaves opposite, except those in the middle of the stem, which are alternate* 

 netioled, lucid, acute. Peduncles opposite %o the leave?, or from the divisions of tne 

 stem, longer than the leaves, erect, each having two recurved ii'nbricata spikes ; co 

 rt'lla minute, pervious, white with a yellow base. Tue seeds are couumed in a ruund* 

 \*h capsule, with four cells and one seed in each. 



TURTLE or MANATEE GRASS. ZOSTERA. 



Cl. l.OR. 1. Monandriamnnogyn ; a. Nat. on Inundat.r. 



Gfn. char. Spadix linear, within the -heath of the leaves, flower bearing on one 

 side; no calyx nor corolla ; am her sessile, opposite to the genu ; stigmas two, 

 linear ; capsule one-seeded. 



MARINA. MARINE, 



Alga angust [folia vitrariorum. Sloane, v. I, p. 61. Foliisftre line* 

 aribus. Browne, p. 71. 



Hoots fibrous from the joints of the long, round, smooth, branching, stent) which 

 at. the base is decumbent, but above floating, leafy, and compressed a little. Leaves 

 alternate, petioled, very long, linear, flaccid ami tender, blu uish, quite entire, ami 

 smooth, a little above the base opening into a longitudinal fissure, anJ putting forth a 

 flat linear spadix, bearing fljwers on one side. The A > v.?rs are completely protected 

 from the salt water, u.i ler which thev grow, bv this sheath in ; base of the leaf, which 

 closely enfolds them This plant is the same as the European one, and grows frequent- 

 ly in the shallow sandy bavs of Jamaica, and is the common food of the manatee, the 

 turtle, and trune fish, as well as other marine animals. Buildings have been thatched 

 with the green leaves, and the covering will endure upwirds of a century. Exposure 

 to the weather bleaches it white. It is nseo by the inhabitants of Gothland as manure, 

 end also for the purpose of. btuiling beds. Horses aud swiue eat this plant, and cowt 

 are ioud of it. 



VANGLQ 



