1870.] BULGER — ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 7l 



and rather ungraceful growth of the branches ; but, about the 

 middle of March, there are few more beautiful objects, and so 

 abundant is the perfume, that it is literally wafted hither and 



thither by 



" — every breeze that roams about." 



The flowers are white, fleshy and bell-shaped, with a yellow 

 tube ; and the leaves are large, lanceolate and of a dark and 

 glossy green. 



The loveliness of the plants themselves, and the rich fragrance 

 of their delightful blossoms, have attracted the attention of all 

 travellers, and Gosse, in his most charming works on Jamaica, 

 has more than once touched upon the beauty of the Spanish 

 jasmines, as the two species, Plumieria alba et rubra^ which 

 grow there, seem to be called. Bates, in The Naturalist on the 

 Amazons^ mentions Plumieria phagedoeiiica as one of the most 

 singular ornaments of the campos. Plumieria acuminata is 

 called the pagoda-tree in India, and is included, as well as 

 the other species, in the native pharmacopoeia. The genus 

 belongs to the nat. ord. Apocynacem^ and was named in honour 

 of Charles Plumier, author of Plantm Americance. 



Gru-gru Nut (seed of Acrocomia sderocarpa, Martins.) — 

 These nuts, so-called, are the seeds of a noble South American 

 palm, which, owing to its great height and stately growth, is one 

 of the most majestic representatives of the kingly race to which 

 it belongs. The Journal of Horticulture says the fruit are about 

 the size of Orleans plums, perfectly globular and smooth, 

 and, when fresh, of an olive-green colour. They have a 

 thin, woody rind, beneath which is a layer of fibrous, gelatinous 

 pulp surrounding the hard stone or gru-gru nut, and this again 

 contains a single seed. The seeds of all the species of this eenus 

 contain hard stones, resembling in some degree those under 

 notice; they are polished and carved by the natives of South 

 America, and applied to many ornamental purposes. Both pulp 

 and kernal are said to be eatable — the latter being white and 

 pleasantly tasted. The tree belongs to the nat. ord. Palmacece, 

 and the generic name is derived from akros, top, and kome, a tuft. 



Seeds of the Perim-Kara Tree (^JElceocarpus ohlongus, 

 Gsertn.) — The Perim-kara is a noble tree, and a great ornament 

 to the forests of the Neilgherries and Southern India, where it 

 grows; especially at the end of the cold season, when the elliptic- 

 oblong leaves assume a most brilliant scarlet-crimson tint before 



