28S H OUT US J A MAI C EN SIS. wild- 



7. M'TAVS. NODDING. 



Spikes sub-divide, 1 , nodding'; flowers 'distinct, ovate; leaves ovate-lanceolaU 

 membranaceous; stem almost n l.e.l. 



From one to two feet high. All the leayes radical, rn'r\ ventricoseat the base, 

 Striated longitudinally, marked, with lines, s-.n idth, half a foot long. Scape sheathed, 

 jointed, round, loose, smooth; sheaths alternate, approximating, ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, striated, s noo b, - rtbra ins Spikes . i lating, alternate, somewhat 



remote ; rachis angular ; flo vi rs ov iXe, sc&tiere I, distin t, appn ximating bill not 1 n- 

 bricate ; bractes or spathes jvate, obtuse, concave, membranaceous, rigid, solitary, in- 

 closing the florets ; calvx three leaved, > ovate-lanceolate ; petals three, ovate- 

 lanceolate, "erects shrii bite; filaments awl-shaped, I base of the petals 

 and of the same length with them, i nthers ovate, bifid at th has , snb-sagitate; 

 germ tbree-cornereel, acuminate, smo >th ; style sliort. three- i r< I ; stigmas tnree, 

 simple; capsule roundish ovate, acuminate^ thre< i i !-keeled, three-celled, 

 three-valve. I : v : an I sh l-do'wii ry long, whit ', shining, 

 and silky. Native of Jamaica on the branches ui' trees in tbe mountains Swai ti. 



8 CANESCENS. HOARY. 



Spit rs subtern, leaves line: r, erei t, equalling the stem, 1. 

 About a foot high ; radicles short, simple, filiform, curled, bro.vn ; fern sheathed, 

 leafy, undivided ; radical leave- sh -allied ; t th : base, im . rigid ; shea * 



very wide, ovate, concave, veutricose, m: . iVan iceous ; st -n- !..' . - .. tned loosely, 

 and linear, acute Spikes terminating, f n isj ^art in thr imuting, ses- 



sile, ovate, acute, compressed a little, sub-disti h ; 1 .-. ' ti Si; i ovate lanceo- 



late, imbricate, eqiiitanl : smooth : p i ils long, re I ; icu uinate, three- 



cornered, involved in a spathe. Native of Jamaica on trees near the coast. 



P. ANCUSTIPOLIA. NARUt/W-LF.AVFD. 



Spikes in bundles, leaves linear-lance. /late, sub-erect, smooth, surpassing the 

 stem. 

 Two feet high ; stem almost upright, simple, sheathed, leafy ; ra !ical and stem 

 leaves imbricate, wide, and sheathing at tbe base ; lanceolate above, and linear at' the 

 end, striated, longer than the whole plant, still', and straight ; radical sheaths ub- 



ventricose. Spikes very many, alternate, separated by leafy sheaths, sub-imbricate, 

 compressed, lanceolate, an inch and a half Icing, many flowered. Flow. - h ; 



spathes imbricate, equitant, ovate, acuminate, kteel'ed, striated, smooth; capsules 

 elongate I, acuminate, three-sided, smooth, longer th in the spathes. Native of Jamai- 

 ca, on trunks and branches of trees. ^Swartz. 



19. PRUINOsa. FBOfTY. 



Spike simple, snathe imbricate, leaves lanceolate-linear, reclined ; these and 

 the spathes tomentose with little 



From two to three inches high ; rootlets' filiform, simple, rigid, curled ; stem very 

 short, leafy; radical leaves sheathing at the base, she..: . ovatej ventricose, in^m- 



branaceons, striated; the edges or the leaves are convolute, they are bent different 

 ways, and are tomentose with very numerous stales, which are sub-imbricate.(not 

 pressed close) torn, whitish) glittering like hoar-frost. Stem leaves sheathed, imbri- 

 cate, 



