872 



MYHTACE/E. XLV. GIUAS. LECYTHIDE^E. I. LECYTHIS. 



1 -celled, many-seeded 

 central placenta. 



1 C. BIFLORA (Forst. 1. C.). 



Islands. The rest unknown. 



Tn'o-Jlonered Crossostylis. Tree. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Gustavia, p. 870 



Seeds numerous, small, fixed to the 

 . S. Native of the Society 



XLV. GRFAS (from ypau>,grao, to eat ; fruit eatable). Lin. 

 gen. no. 659. Swartz, obs. p. 215. Smith, in Rees' cycl. 

 vol. 15. 



LIN. SYST. Jcosandria, Monogynia. Tube of calyx adhering 

 to the ovarium ; limb small, 4-cleft, obtuse. Petals 4, coriaceous. 

 .Stamens numerous, inserted in a square disk ; filaments joined 

 into 5 series at the base ; inner ones very short : anthers 

 kidney-shaped, small. Style wanting. Stigma cruciate, hidden 

 liy the incurved stamens. Drupe ovate, 8-furrowed, crowned 

 by the calyx ; nucleus oblong. A tall, hardly branched tree. 

 Leaves very long, oblong, entire, cuneated at the base, on short 

 petioles. Flowers large, white. Peduncles short, many-flowered. 

 This genus is said to belong to Myrlacece by Sir J. E. Smith, 

 but it appears to he much more nearly allied to Guttiferae. 



1 G. CAULIFLORA (Lin. spec. p. 732.). Jj . S. Native of 

 Jamaica, in subalpine, boggy places, where it is called Anchovy 

 pear. Sloan, hist. 2. p. 123. t. 217. f. 1-2. leaf. Brown, jam. p. 

 245. Lunan. hort. jam. 1. p. 19. The leaves are 2-3 feet long. 

 The berry is ovate and crowned by the calyx, about the size and 

 .shape of an alligator's egg, of a brownish russet colour : it is 

 pickled and eaten like the mango, which it greatly resembles in 

 taste. It is readily propagated by seeds, and the plants must be 

 kept in a moist heat. To grow it for fruit, plant in a border, 

 and train horizontally near the light. 



Stem-flowered Grias or Anchovy-pear. Clt. 1768. Tree 20 

 to 50 feet. 



Cult. This tree grows best in loamy soil ; and large cuttings 

 succeed best under a hand-glass, in heat. 



ORDER CII. LECYTHI'DE^E (plants agreeing with Lecy- 

 this in important characters). Rich. mss. Poit. mem. mus. 13. 

 p. 141. (1825.) Lindl. introd. nat. syst p. 44. Myrtaceae, sect. 

 Lecythideae, D. C. prod. 3. p. 290. Rich, in ami. des sc. 1. p. 

 321. (1824.) 



Calyx superior, 2 or 6-leaved, or urceolate, with a divided 

 limb (f. 127. a. f. 128. a.); valvate, or imbricate in aestivation. 

 Corolla of 6 unequal petals, cohering at the base, with an imbri- 

 cated aestivation. Stamens indefinite, epigynous, connected into 

 a single petaloid, cucullate, unilateral body (f. 127. I. f. 128. c.). 

 Ovarium inferior, 2-6-celled ; ovula indefinite, or definite, attached 

 to the axis ; stigma simple. Fruit a woody capsule (f. 127. i. f. 

 128.y.), either opening with a lid or remaining inclosed. Seeds 

 several, covered by a thick integument. Embryo without albumen, 

 either undivided, or with 2 large, petaloid, fleshy, or leafy coty- 

 ledons, sometimes folded upon the radicle, which is next the 

 hyluvn. Large trees, with alternate, entire, or toothed leaves, 

 with minute, deciduous stipula, and without pellucid dots. 

 Flowers large, terminal, or lateral, solitary, or racemose. This 

 order has been combined, by De Candolle and others, with 

 Myrtacece, from which it differs most essentially in their alter- 

 nate, often serrated leaves, without pellucid dots. 



The fruit of Courouplta Guianensis, called in Guiana Abrlcot 

 saurage, in Cayenne is vinous and pleasant. The most gigantic 

 tree in the ancient forests of Brazil is that called the Jaca-pu- 



caya ; it is the Lecythis ollaria, the seeds of which are large and 

 edible. Pr. trav. p. 83. The fleshy seeds of most of the spe- 

 cies of Lecythis are edible, but some of them leave a bitter un- 

 pleasant after-taste in the mouth. The bark of Lecylhis ollaria 

 is easily separable by beating the liber into a number of fine 

 distinct layers, which divide so neatly from each other, that when 

 separated they have the appearance of thin satiny paper. Poi- 

 teau says that he has counted as many as 110 of these coatings. 

 The Indians cut them in pieces as wrappers for their cigars. 

 The well-known Brazil nuts of the shops of London are the 

 seeds of the Bertholetia excelsa. The lacerated parts of the 

 flowers of Courouplla Guianensis become blue upon exposure 

 to the air. 



Synopsis of the genera. 



1 LE'CYTHIS. Limb of calyx 6-lobed. Staminiferous ligula 

 bearing the anthers at the base, and the sterile filaments at the 

 apex on the inside. Ovarium 2-6-celled, many-ovulate. Cap- 

 sule opening by a lid. 



2 ESCHWEILE'RA. Limb of calyx bent back and applied to 

 the tube, and more or less adnate to it. The rest as in Le- 

 cytkis. 



3 BERTHOLLE'TIA. Limb of calyx 2-parted, deciduous. Corolla 

 and stamens as in Lecythis. Ovarium 4-5-celled ; cells 4 ovu- 

 late. Capsule large, opening by a lid. Seeds triangular. 



4 COUROUPITA. Calyx and corolla as in Lecythis. Ovarium 

 6-celled. Capsule with the lid not separable. 



5 COURA'TARI. Limb of calyx 6-parted. Petals 6, joined at 

 the base. Stamineous ligula unilateral, and antheriferous inside. 

 Fruit 3-celled, but at length 1 -celled, with a convex lid, which 

 is formed from the dilatation of the top of the central column. 



I. LE'CYTHIS (XtKvQoc, lecythos, an oil-jar ; form of seed 

 vessels). Loefl. itin. p. 189. Lin. gen. no. 664. Lam. ill. t. 

 476. Poit. 1. c. D. C. prod. 3. p. 290. 



LIN. SYST. Monadelphia, Polydndria. Tube of calyx tur- 

 binate ; limb 6-lobed, permanent (f. 127. a.). Petals 6, unequal. 

 Staminiferous ligula (f. 127. I.) bearing the anthers at the base, 

 and the sterile filaments at the apex on the inside. Ovarium 

 2-6-celled ; cells many-ovulate. Style short. Capsule coriaceous 

 or woody, circumcised at the apex, and therefore opening by 

 a lid at the top (f. 127. 6.). Seeds few or solitary in each cell 

 ovate-oblong, fixed to the central column at the base, covered 

 by a fleshy membrane. Embryo undivided. Cotyledons thick, 

 closely conferruminated. Trees nearly all glabrous. Fruit large, 

 turbinate, or globose. Seeds edible. Numbers of the species 

 are not well known. 



* Leaves serrated. 



1 L. OLLA'RIA (Lin. spec. p. 734.) leaves sessile, serrated, 

 cordate-ovate ; racemes terminal ; fruit roundish. Tj . S. Na- 

 tive of Cumana, in fields, ex Lcefl. itin. p. 159. ; and of Brazil, 

 if the Jaca-pucaya, Marcgr. bras. p. 128. be the same. Pis. 

 bras, p.135. with a figure. The tree is called at Barcinoma Ollata. 

 Fruit the size of a child's head, according to Marcgraflf. Co- 

 rolla white, with a yellow nectary. The seeds are like chestnuts, 

 eatable either raw or roasted. The bark of the tree serves to 

 make ink. 



