vtld- HORTUS JAMAICENSIS. 2$i 



Gev. Char. Calyx a perianth three-toothed, equal, tubulpse ; corolla one-petaled, 

 three-parted, equal ; nectary t>\ i-li >pedj tiie 10 ver lip spreading ; the pistil has an 

 inferior germ, a filiform style, and obtuse stigma ; the pericarp is an oval three- 

 celled capsule ; seeds ovale angular. Tins genus of which there are two species, 

 both natives of Jamaica, differs only from amomum and costus in its habit, and 

 raceined inflorescence. 



1. RACEMCKA. RACEMED. 



Zinziber sylveslre mints, fructu e caulium summitafc ereunle. 

 Sioane, v. ', p. 165, t. ]05, f. 1. 



Racemes terminating, spiked, flowers alternate, lip of the nectary trifid, leaves 

 oblong acuminate. 



Root fleshy, branched, having the smell and taste of ginger ; stem from two to five 

 Fee in height; herbaceous, round, .smooth, leafy; leaves sheathing at the base, alter- 

 nate, lanceolate-ovate, smooth and even, quite entire, with transverse nerves : Racc:i.e 

 < ct, co Dure I, shining ; bractes alternate, lanceolate-acuminate, almost the length of 

 the flowers, blood-red. Flower.-, on very short peduncles, one or two between the 

 bractes ; cal\x somewhat hell -shaped, red ; the teeth obsolete, truncate : corolla white, 

 tube loriger than the calyx, parts of the border ('reel ; nectary longer than the corolla, 

 wntricose at the base, tic lower lip broader, convex at the tip, three-parted, the smaller 

 pair emarginate ; filament, or upper lip of the nectary, short, involved in the lower lip, 

 t ibracing it with a tooth let at the sides, germ three-cornered ; the upper part of the 

 style-concealed within the channelled anther; stigma sub-capitate, emarginate; capsule 

 inferior, roundish, with three blunt corners ; seeds shining. Swarts. Both the cup 

 and germen of this plant are of a fine scarlet colour, bin the germen changes when at 

 maturity, to a deep purple black, and the calyx becomes paler. The fruit separates at 

 the base into three equal valves, and the seeds are divided into three cells by the means 

 of a thin membranous receptacle, which, in form, is like the fruit of triopteris, having 

 three wings. Tiie seeds are enveloped with scarlet filaments, which fasten them to 

 the placenta, and are covered uitti a saffron-coloured aril. 



C. OCCIDENTAllS. WESTERN. 



Raceme radical, compound, erect ; nectary emarginate ; capsules three-celled ^ 

 leaves lanceoiate-ovatt, very smojth. Swartz. 



WILD-GINGER. COSTUS. 



Cr.. 1, oa. l. MoiiavHrja monggynia. Nat. or. Scitamhiece. 



Gen. char. Calyx a three-toothed, very small, superior, perianth ; corolla, three 

 petals, lanceolate, concave, equal ; nectary one-leafed, large, oblong, tubular, in- 

 flate I. two-lipped : stamen upon lip of the nectary having a two-parted anther; 

 the pistil has an ioferioir germ, a filiform stvle, and headed stigma ; pericarp a 

 roundish crowned, three-celleo, three- valved, capsule ; seeds many, three-cornered. 



ARAEICUs. ARABIAN. 



Minus scapo vestito, Jioribus spicatis. Browne, p. 1!3. Amomum. 

 Vol. II. N n Leaves 



