WATER- HORTUS JAMA I C EN SIS. 269 



WATER-CRESS. SISYMBRIUM. 



Cl. 15, or. 2. Tetradynamia siliquosce. Nat. or. SiligiiostP. 



Gen. char. Calyx a four-leaved perianth spi ling; corolla four-petaled cruci- 

 form, spreading -, stamens six-filaments, longer than the calyx, two shorter ; an- 

 thers simple ; the pistil has an ob.ong germ, scarcely any style, and an obtuse stig- 

 ma ; the pericarp a long silique, incurved, gibbous, r itind, opening with straight r 

 ish valves ; seeds very many, small. 



NASTUIH CHESS. 



Nasturtium aquaticum vulgai &. Sloanr, v. T, p. 193. Aquaticu 

 his subrotundis, abrupte pinnaiis, basi iriequalibus. Browne, p. 

 272. 



Siiiques declined, leaves pinnate, leaflets cordate roundish. 

 Roots perennial, consisting of long white fibres, the lowermost fixed in the soil, the 

 Best suspended in- water ; stems spreading, declining or floating, angular, branched, 

 leafy. Leaves alternate, pinnate, someunar serrate, the terminating and upper leaflets 

 being the largest ; all the leaflets roundish,, more or less heart-shaped, smooth, shining, 

 .lor toothed, frequently tinged with a purplish brown hue. Flowers white in a 

 corymb, soon lengthened out into a spike ; pods shortish on horizontal pedicels, but 

 the gods of themselves.recujvfid upwards ; stigmas nearly sessile. This plant, in all 

 respects the same as the European, is common in all running waters in Jamaica, where 

 it is frequently served up at tables, and is reputed an excellent antiscorbutic. It is sup - 

 posed to purify the blood, ana to open visceral obstructions. 



WATER-HYSSOP, GRATIOLA. 



Cl. 2, on. l, -Diandria manogyniai. Nat. or. Personals. 

 Gen. char. Caly? seven leaved, the two outer leaves patulous ; corrolla mouopeta- 

 lous, reversed; stamens four awl-shaped filaments, two barren ; anthers round- 

 ish ; the pistil has a conic germ ; a straight awl- shaped style, and a two-lipped 

 stigma; the pericarp an ovate-acuminate capsule, two-celled, two-valved ; seeds 

 very many, small. Two species have been found in Jamaica. 



1. MPNNIERIA. 



Anagallis carulea, portiilaae aquatic* caule et foliis. Sloane, v. 1,. 

 p. 203, t. 129, f. 1. Minima repens,Joliis subrotundis, fioribus sin~- 

 gularibus alaribus. Browne, p. 26y, t. 28, f. 3. 



Leaves oval, oblong, peduncles one-flowered, stalk creeping. 

 Root jointed, creeping, with small fibres ; stalk herbaceous, inclined to be simple, 

 round, leafy, smooth, somewhat erect, declining at bottom. Leaves sub- sessile op- 

 posite, oblong, or ob-ovate, entire, smooth, nerveless, somewhat succulent. Pedun- 

 cles longer than the leaves, filiform, solitary, axillary, one-flowered; calvx seven- 

 leaved, the three outer leaflets sub-cordate, acuminate, converging ; the two inner li- 

 near, acute, pale, when the corolla falls embracing the germ, the two outmost lower, 

 lanceolate spreading. Corolla blue, inclined to bell-shape, a little flatted, five- cleft, 



the 



