CHRYSOBALANE^E. I. CHRYSOBALANUS. 



477 



the petals, few (f. 61. c.) or numerous (f. 59. c. f. 60. </.), 

 having the filaments incurved when the flower is in aestivation. 

 Anthers 2-celled, bursting by a double chink. Ovary 1 (f. 6 I.e.), 

 free, having the style proceeding from its base (f. 61. d.), and con- 

 taining 2 erect ovula (f. 61 . e.). The pedicel of the ovary closely 

 cohering to the calyx. Style simple, crowned by a more or less 

 dilated stigma. Seed usually solitary from abortion, exalbu- 

 minous in all except Hirtclla, in which it is fleshy and the coty- 

 ledons foliaceous ; in the rest of the genera the cotyledons are 

 fleshy and thick. This order is composed of trees and shrubs, 

 natives within the tropics, with simple, entire, feather-nerved, 

 glandless, petiolate leaves, and axillary and terminal racemes 

 or panicles of small flowers. The fruit of the greater part of the 

 plants are eatable, though by no means very palatable, being ex- 

 tremely dry and farinaceous : they generally go under the name 

 of plums in the places of their natural growth. The principal 

 distinguishing characters in the fructification of Clirysobalanea; 

 are the style proceeding from the base of the ovarium (f. 61. d.), 

 the ovula (which in Amygdalacece are 2 in number), as well 

 as in the embryo being erect (f. 61. e.). The greater part of 

 the Chrysobalaneee have their flowers more or less irregular, 

 this irregularity consisting in the cohesion of the stipe of the 

 ovary with one side of the calyx, and a greater number or 

 greater perfection of stamina, on the same side of the flower. 



Synopsis of (he genera. 



1 CHRYSOBA'LANUS. Calyx campanulate, 5-cleft (f. 59. a.). 

 Petals 5, unguiculate. Stamens about 20 (f. 59. c.) inserted 

 on one side. Drupe plum-formed (f. 59. d.), containing an 

 ovate, 5-furrowed, 1 -seeded patamen. 



2 MOQUI'LEA. Calyx turbinate, acutely 5-toothed. Pe- 

 tals 5, orbicular. Stamens about 40, inserted in the calyx 

 beneath the petals. Ovary hairy. Drupe woody. 



3 COUE'PIA. Calyx tubular, obtusely 5-lobed. Petals 5, 

 nearly orbicular. Stamens about 20, inserted in the top of the 

 calycine tube. Drupe egg-shaped, dry, covered with a thick, 

 fibry, coriaceous rind. Seed 1 , inclosed in a fragile testa. 



4 ACIO'A. Calyx tubular, bluntly 5-lobed. Petals 5, oblong, 

 unequal. Stamens 10-12, projecting on one side of the flower, 

 with the filaments joined to the middle. Drupe ovate, coria- 

 ceous, containing a 1 -celled, 1 -seeded nut. 



5 PARINA' RIUM. Calyx urceolate, 5-cleft. Petals 5. Sta- 

 mens 15. Ovary villous. Drupe ovate, thick, farinaceous, 

 containing a hard, wrinkled, rough, 2-celled, 2-seeded nut. 

 Seeds clothed with wool. 



6 GRANGE'RIA. Calyx bluntly 5-cleft (f. 60. a.). Petals 5 

 (f. 60. 6.), soon falling off. Stamens 15 (f. 60. d.), unequal. 

 Ovary woolly. Drupe olive-formed, rather triquetrous (f. 60. 

 e.), containing a bony, triquetrous, l^seeded nut. 



7 LINCA'NIA. Calyx bibracteolate on the outside, 5-cleft. 

 Petals wanting. Stamens 5-10, when 5 they are opposite the 

 calycine lobes. Drupe olive- formed, fleshy, containing a 1- 

 seeded nut. 



8 THELY'RA. Calyx campanulate, ending in a tube, which is 

 adnate to the peduncle, as in Pelargonium. Petals 5. Stamens 



10, the 6 on one side fertile, the 4 on the other side sterile and 

 tooth-formed. Ovary 2-ovulate. Berry? wrinkled, villous 

 inside, 1 -seeded. 



9 HIRTE'LLA. Calyx obtusely 5-lobed (f. 61. a.). Petals 5, 

 small, deciduous (f. 61. 4.). Stamens 3-15 (f. 61. c.). Drupe 

 furrowed (f. 61. e.), containing a 1-celled nut. Albumen 

 fleshy. Cotyledons foliaceous. 



t Genera apparently belonging to the present order. 



10 LEUCO'STOMON. Calyx 5 -parted ; lobes acute, coloured, 

 deciduous, with the lower one permanent, glandular, and stami- 

 niferous above. Petals wanting. Stamens about 20, inserted 

 in a calycine disk. Ovary free, ovate, pubescent, 5-furrowed, 

 ending in a filiform style. Fruit unknown. 



11 TRILEPI'SIUM. Calyx 5-lobed, free from the ovary. Pe- 

 tals wanting. Stamens numerous, inserted in the tube of the 

 calyx, and disposed in many series. Tube terminated by H 

 ligulse between the stamens and pistil. Ovary 1 -seeded. Style 

 bifid at the apex, crowned by a tomentose stigma. 



I. CHRYSOBA'LANUS (from xP"<c> chrysos, gold, and 

 fiaXavoQ, balanos, an acorn ; in reference to the yellow fruit of 

 some of the species). Lin. gen. 621. Lam. ill. t. 428. D. C. 

 prod. 2. p. 525. Icaco, Plum. gen. 43. t. 5. 



LIN. SYST. Jcosamlria, Monogynia. Calyx campanulate, 

 5-cleft. Petals 5, unguiculate. Stamens about 20, nearly equal 

 in length, disposed in one series. Drupe fleshy, plum-formed, 

 containing an ovate, 5-furrowed, 1-seeded nut. Trees with 

 simple leaves, and racemes or panicles of insignificant flowers, 

 Fruit of all edible. 



1 C. ICA'CO (Lin. spec. 513.) 

 leaves nearly orbicular, or obovate, 

 emarginate ; racemes axillary, di- 

 chotomous ; stamens hairy, fj . S. 

 Native of South America and the 

 West Indies, by the sea-side, as 

 well as of the southern parts of 

 North America. Jacq. amer. 154. 

 t. 94. Plum. ed. Burra. t. 158. 

 Catesb.car. 1. t. 25. Panicles axil- 

 lary, dichotomous. Flowers white. 

 Fruit about the size of a plum, 

 ovate-roundish, varying much in 

 colour, white, yellow, red, but 

 most commonly purple, and usu- 

 ally covered with a kind of bloom ; 

 the skin is thin, and the pulp 



white, adhering firmly to the stone, the taste sweet, with some 

 austerity, but not unpleasant, and is eaten both raw and pre- 

 served. The fruit is called Icaco or Cocoa plum, and is sold 

 in the markets in the West Indies, under these names. 



Var.fi, pcllocdrpus (Meyer, prim, esseq. 193.) leaves roundish- 

 ovate or obovate ; fruit oval, brown. Tj . S. Native of Guiana. 

 C. purpureus, Mill. diet. no. 2. Brown, jam. 250. t. 17. f. 5. 

 Perhaps a proper species. 



Icaco or Common Cocoa-plum. CIt. 1752. Sh. 3 to 6 feet. 



2 C. ELLI'PTICUS (Smeathm. herb. Hort. trans. 5. p. 453.) 

 leaves elliptic, obtuse, or acute, never emarginate ; racemes ax- 

 illary, dichotomous ; stamens hairy. Tj . S. Native of Sierra 

 Leone, on the sea-side. Racemes sometimes disposed in a 

 bracteolate panicle. Fruit the size of a damson plum, with 

 a black thin skin, and the flesh like that of the last species. 

 The fruit is eatable. 



