﻿HE NATURAL H I S T O R 



Carpinus forte vifcofa, Sec. Bur. Th. Zey. 



Aceri vel palicero affinis angujlo oblongo liguftri folio. Slo. Cat. 138, &H 



6 



The Switch-Sorrel 



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Periantium Tripbyllum , foliolis ovatis cochlears amplexdntibus. 



Corolla Nulla. 



Stamina. Filamenta fex teniria brevijjima \ antheras majores incequales 



oblonga & leniter arcuata, jlriatce ereffo-conniventes. 

 Piftillum. Germen fubrotundum triquetrum \ itylus Jimpkx erecJus brevis-, 



ftigma obtufi trilobum 





. 





Pericarpium. Capfula membranacea oblonga triangularis , tribus alls 



membranaceis aucJa, trilocularis 





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Semina Oblonga folk aria. 



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This flender (hrub is very common in the moft barren parts of the red hills, 

 and feldom rifes more than fix or feven feet above the root : both the trunk and 

 branches are very flexile and tapering. The tafte of the whole plant is acerb and 

 bitterim. 



BROMELIA 1. FruBu conico-ovato, came lutea, foliis corona brevioribus. 



Bromelia. Plum. t. 8. 







Bromelia Jbliis ciliato-fpinojis, mucronatis j fpica fubtus earnofa. L. Sp. PI. 



The Sugar-loaf Pine- Apple. 



This plant is now common in Jamaica^ and cultivated by mod people in their 

 gardens ; it is propagated both by the crown and the fprouts or fide- branches, but 



thefe come to perfect 



the other feems the moil: natural gem 



always cafts its roots in the fruit itfelf, while yet in a growing flate : they thrive bed 

 in a rich mould and a warm iituation, but feldom rife above three feet from the 

 ground ; the ftalk moots from the center of the leaves (which are generally dif 



pofed very thick about the root) and bears a large fingle fruit, or rather a heap of 



fmall fucculent capfula? concreted into a common mafs towards the top 5 but the 

 fibres of the main item continue their courfe thro' the center of this mafs, and in 



moft fpecies, turn into a fhort foliated fprout, or young plant, at the top, calling 

 a few tender radiculi on every fide, into the pulp of the fru' 





This has been always efteemed the richer! and bell: fruit in America--, and indeed 

 its form, fize, and flavour, contribute alike to give it the pre-eminence : it is in 

 general agreeable to the ftomach ; but the natural mellownefs of its juice renders it 

 more agreeable to the natives and old ftandards, than it poflibly can be to new 

 comers, who generally think it too rich and cloying. The' following forts are 

 thought to be only variations of this, but they are feldom fo lufcious, grow gene- 

 rally of a different mape, and are vaftly more agreeable to heated ftomachs. The 

 juice fermented would make a good wine; it is fometimes mixed with the rum- 

 liquor, when it ferments, and is thought to give it a pleafant flavour : it is ferved up 

 with other fruit at moft gentlemen's tables in America. 



BROMELIA 2. FruBu oblongo turgido, carne fublutea, foliis corona lon- 



gioribus. 

 Kapa tsjakka. H. M. p. 10. t. 1 ' & 2. 



The Black Pine-Apple. 



BROMELIA 3. Frutlu rotundiori, carne albida feminibus vidua, foliis co- 





rona brevioribus quandoque inermibus. 



The Queen Pine-Apple. 



Thefe 



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