17 



for a few years and then die out; probably as deciduous trees 

 by nature, they require the winter rest of their more northern 

 climate. Eriobotrya saponica, Lin", (loquat or Japan medlar) 

 thrives well and fruits most abundantly. This tree, fifteen to 

 twenty feet high, is a handsome tree, from its thick, dark^ 

 green foliage, white flowers in spikes, resembling the English 

 borse-chestnut, followed by a yello^v plum-like fruit which is 

 most palatable. 



Natural Order, Rhizoporeae. 



Rhizophora Mangle. Linn, (mangrove.) An evergreen 

 spreading tree, continually throwing out rootlets from its 

 branches, which penetrate the mud or swamp soil, forming 

 new stems, creating thereby dense thickets in salt or brackish 

 marshes, which water it prefers to fresh. Leaves ovate or 

 oblong, smooth, leathery, four inches long. Flowers small, 

 yellow. Summer and Autumn. 



The most striking thing in the case of Rhizophora is that the 

 caulicle projects from the fruit a long distance before the latter 

 falls from the tree. 



Avicennia Nitida. Jacq. (False mangrove) is generally 

 found amongst the true Mangroves but is distinguishable from 

 it by its dusty white appearance the underside of its leaves 

 being covered with a white pubescence. Lefroy places it 

 under the order Verbenaceae. Flowers, white in spring. 



Natural Order, Combretaceae. 



Conocarpus Procumbens. Linn, or Racemosus. Or (butter- 

 wood). A prostrate, contorted shrub with knotted and densely 

 interwoven branches, leaves leatherly, downy when young, 

 two inches long. Flowers yellowish-white, followed by a cone- 

 iike head of brown one-seeded nuts densely overlapping a 

 woody axis. Common along seaside rocks. Flowers in 

 autumn. 



Conocarpus Erectus Jacq. (button wood, sea mulberry. ) 

 Is common along marshes and swamps, where it becomes an 

 erect shrub. Reade says it is scarcely distinct as a species 

 from the former. 



