P I s 



P I s 



khare of fresh air must Ik- admitted in hot 

 weather, ami they must be constantly kept in 

 the stove, as suggested above. 



They afford ornament and variety in stove- 

 collections. 



PIPER. See Capsicum. 



PIPER JAMAICA. See Myrtus Pimenta. 



PIPER1DGE TREE. See IIkiuikris. 

 PISCIDfA, a genus furnishing pants of the 



exotic tree kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Dltidelphia 

 Decandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Papilionacetv or Leguminosa. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed, bell-shaped, five-toothed periantbimn : 

 the upper teeth nearer: the corolla papiliona- 

 ceous: banner ascending, emarginatc : wings 

 the length of the banner : keel crescent-shaped, 

 ascending : the stamina have ten filaments, 

 uniting in a sheath cloven above : anthers ob- 

 long, incumbent : the pistillum is a pedicel led 

 germ, compressed, linear : style filiform, ascend- 

 ing : stigma acute : the pericarpium is a pedi- 

 ceTlt-d legume, linear, with four longitudinal 

 membranaceous angles, one-celled, separated 

 by doubled isthmuses: the seeds some, subcy-' 

 lindric. 



The species arc : 1 . P. Enjthrina, Jamaica 

 Dogwood Tree ; 2. P. Carthaginiensis, Cartha- 

 ginian Piscidia. 



The first in its native situation rises with a 

 stem to the height of twenty-five feet or more, 

 almost as large as a man's body, covered 

 with a light-coloured smooth bark, and sending 

 out several branches at the top without order: 

 the leaves are pinnate, with seven leaflets for the 

 most part, two inches long, and one inch and a 

 half broad, commonly opposite : the flowers of 

 a dirty white colour, succeeded by oblong pods, 

 which have four longitudinal wings, and are 

 jointed between the cells. It is a native of 

 Jamaica. 



The second species differs from the first in 

 the shape and consistence of the leaves, which 

 arc more oblong and of a firmer texture ; in 

 other respects they are very similar. It is a na- 

 live of the Wist Indies. 



Culture. — They arc capable of being increased 

 bv seeds, when they can be obtained fresh from 



the countries where they "row naturalK 



They 



should be sown upon a good hot-bed in the 

 spring, and when the plants come up and are 

 fit to transplant, be each planted in a small pot 

 filled with light earth, anil plunged into a hot- 

 bed of tanner's bark, and afterwards treated in 

 the same way as the other tender exotics of the 

 same kind. 



v afford variety in the stove. 



PI?' '. ' . plants of the 



exotic tree kind lor . : 



It belongs to th class ... irder !' 



iff, [Replandi ia M and i nks in 



th ■ natural order of Nit 



i \t > traders ai in the male— tRe 



calyx i ly any: the corolla one-petalled, 



bell -shaped, five-cleft: segments acute, ; 

 lotts : the stamina have five, six, or seven awl- 

 shaped filaments: anthers roundish, twin: th? 

 pistillum is an oblong germ : 

 ma pencil-shaped: female — the calyx and 

 rolla as in the male: the pistillum is an oblong 

 germ : style simple, cylindrical, longer than the 

 corolla, erect: stigmas bifid: the pericarpium is 

 an oval berry, often five-cornered, valvi 

 one-celled: the seed single, smooth, oblong. 



The species is P. aculeata, Prickly Pisonia. 



The male and female plants differ consider- 

 ably. 



The first has stalks as thick as a man's arm, 

 which rise ten or twelve feet high : the bark is 

 of a dark brown colour, and smooth : these send 

 out many branches by pairs opposite, which are 

 much stronger than those of the female, and do 

 not hang about so loose : they are garnished 

 with obovate stiff leaves, an inch and a half long, 

 and an inch and a quarter broad, standing op- 

 posite, on short footstalks. From the side of 

 the branches come out short spurs, like those of 

 the Pear-tree, having each two pairs of small 

 leaves at bottom, and from the top comes out 

 the peduncle, which is slender, about half an 

 inch long, dividing at the top into three; each 

 of these sustains a small corymb of herbaceous 

 yellow flowers, each having five stamina stand- 

 ing out beyond the petal, terminated by obtuse 

 anthers. 



In the female the stalks arc not so strong as 

 those of the male, of course require support. 

 These rise eighteen or twenty feet high, sending 

 out slender weak branches opposite, which are 

 armed with short, strong, honked spines, and 

 have small oval leaves, about an inch and three 

 quarters broad; these stand opposite on the 

 larger branches, but on the smaller they arc al- 

 ternate, and have short footstalks : the flowers 

 are produced in small bunches at the ends of the 

 branches, silting upon the germ; they are shap- 

 ed like those of the male, but have in. stamina ; 

 in the centre is situated a cylindrical style, 

 crowned with five spreading stigmas : the germs 

 afterwards turn to a channelled, five-cornered, 

 glutinous capsul( , armed v lib small ci 

 spines, each containing one obli rtg, oval, smooth 

 seed. Ii is a native of Jamaica, where it i> 

 called Cock' s-spiir\ or Fingrigo; and (lowers in 

 March and April. 



e (i s 



