

Plate 2537. 



OMPHALEA MEGACAEPA, HemsL 



EuPHORBiACEiE. Tribe Crotoneje. 



0. megacarpa, IlemsL (sp. nov.) ; foliis membranaceis lanceolatis, 

 fructu niaximo. 



Frutex alte in arbores scandens, caulibus 300-400 ped. longis. 

 Folia pauca delapsa tantum visa, graciliter petiolata, membranacea, 

 lanceolata, cum petiolo 8-12 poll, longa, 2-3 poll, lata, undique glabra, 

 subtus pallidiora, venis primariis lateralibus utrinque circiter 6 longe 

 arcuatis, venis ultimis tenuissimis sed sat conspicuis. Flares . . . 

 Fructus ovoideus et 2-spermus vel depresso globosus et 3-spermus ; 

 pericarpium carnoso-fibrosum ; septa demum omnino evanescentia. 

 Semina subhemisphoeroidea vel subtrigona, arillo (?) crasso pulposo- 

 carnoso albido omnino vestita ; testa Crustacea, brunnea, verruculosa ; 

 albumen coprosum, oleiferum ; embryo centralis, eotyledonibus latis 

 planis orbicularibus. 



West Indies : Tobago, Br. 31. Gilloway. There are seeds in the 

 Museum from the same island, communicated by Mr. M. A. Gi!les/>i<>. 

 There are also cultivated specimens from Trinidad, J. II Hart, and 

 Grenada, W. E. Broadway. The latter adds that he is informed 

 that it grows wild in the mountains of Grenada. 



Mr. Broadway, Curator of the Botanic Garden, Grenada, notes that 

 the "nuts" are edible. Mr. Gillespie states that the negroes use the 

 seeds as a drug and have great faith in their sustaining powers on 

 long journeys. Mr. Hart, Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, 

 Trinidad, believes, from practical experience, that the seed will afford 

 a valuable and safe, bland purgative. The albumen is the part em- 

 ployed. The seed bears the name of Hunter-man's nut in Trinidad. 



It is a little uncertain whether the pulpy layer covering the 

 crustaeeous testa is of the nature of an aril, or merely a soft layer of 

 the testa itself ; our material being insufficient to trace its develop- 

 ment. Mr. Hart has tested this pulp and found that it contains 



