cili.ov- noirrus jamaicensis. si 



' '' - o'ppe :u\ ova! ; flowers alternate ; six-stamened, sessile ; stem diffused. 

 ]!,->oU ii..; '.in ; stem prostrate hr creeping, branehedj round, slender, seldom ex- 

 cqeding,teii or,fpurtee;i niches in length; branches only towards the top, simple, 

 alternate, filiform, spreading, sub-flexu >se, round, pubescent, Leaves small, oblong, 

 i cute, quite entire, smooth on both si les, nerved, on very short petioles. No stipules'. 

 Flowers axillary, especially at the top of the stem, solitary, small, pale red ; calyx 

 i telling a little at the base, oblique, smooth, the mouth having from six to ten teeth ; 

 petals waved ; stigma slightly bifid, pubescent, white, ; capsule t>vo-celied, opening by 

 the calyx, being longitudinally cloven in front ; seeds from lour to six, fastened by a 

 pedicel to the middle of the receptacle, roundish, brown. Native of Jamaica, flowering 

 the whole year. Swarte. This little plant grows pretty common in Ciarcndon-park 

 and is sometimes found in the Savannas about Spanish-Town. It rises from a small 

 fibrous root, and shoots in an oblique direction, but seldom exceeds ten or fourteen" 

 inches in length ; the stalk is slender, and throws out a few small branches towards the 

 t >p. The leaves are small and opposite, and the flowers rise single from the interme- 

 diate space between the leaves, <n the one side or the other, but seldom or never in 

 both. I have called it after dr. Parsons, who has published a treatise on the sseed of vegeta- 

 bles, and many other curious remarks on different parts of Natural History. Bn wne* 



?. MELANIUM. 



Uerbaccum redinafum, foliolis ovatis oppcsiti>,fioribus singularibus ad 

 alas alter nets. Browne, p. 215. 



Leaves opposite, ovate, flowers alternate, mostly ten-stamened, stem prostrate. 



Stem about a foot high, sub-divided, ascending, roundish, rugged ; leaves petioled, 

 large, acute, quite entire, nerved, somewhat rugged ; flowers peduncled, solitary, ax- 

 illary, larger than those of the preceding species, purple . The calyx has from six to 

 ten teeth ; petals ovate, deciduous; filaments eight to ten, short, inserted below the 

 Middle of the tube ; anthers cordate ; stigma acute ; seeds four to six, fastened to a pe- 

 dicel, emitted by the bursting of the calyx, ovate, compressed; distinguished by the 

 ulternate situation of the flowers. Swatl.Z. But is not that circumstance common to 

 to this and the preceding sort ? Native of Jamaica in cane-pieces. Browne says he 

 found this vegetable among cane-pieces at Lindas, and says " it is a weakly plant, with 

 a slender stem, well supplied with branches towards the top, and having a disagreeable 

 sharp smell, which approaches much to that of guinea- hen weed, but more subtile, and 

 less perceptible when placed close to the nose. The leaves and flowers are much like 

 those of the pay son sin, as well as the disposition and make of the capsules, but that, 

 plant does not branch so much, nor has it any thing of tiiis smell." 



3. CUPHCEA. 



Erecta foliolis cblongo-ovatis, oppositis ; fioy ibus spicatis tcrminalibiis, 

 Browne, p 216. 

 Leaves opposite, petioled, ovate-oblong, somewhat rugged, flowers twelve- 

 stamen ed 

 Root fibrous, annual. It has a delicate, slender stalk, round, upright, ten or twelve 

 inches high, pubescent, purple ; branches few, alternate, simple ; the whole plant is 

 extremely viscid or clammy all over. Leaves quite entire ; flowers lateral, on very 

 h.rt peduncles, solitary, tfecuaibent ; calyx twelve-streaked, six-toothed, the upper 



tooth. 



