26 



THEOPHRASTE^;. III. THEOPHRASTA. IV. ONCINUS. V. LEONIA. SAPOTACE^E. 



HI. THEOPHRA'STA (so named from Theophrastus, the 

 father of natural history.) Juss. gen. Lin. spec. Lindl. coll. t. 26. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Monogynia. Calyx campanulate, 

 cartilaginous ; segments elliptic-oblong, with erosely-toothed 

 edges. Corolla campanulate, with a short tube, a dilated penta- 

 gonal throat, and a spreading limb ; throat girded by an elevated, 

 angularly-lobed, fleshy, arched ring. Stamens 5, combined with 

 the tube of the corolla ; anthers furnished with a beak-formed, 

 obtuse appendage. Style attenuated ; stigma capitate. Berry 

 spherical, crustaceous, many-seeded, bursting irregularly ; seeds 

 half immersed in the placenta. This is a small tree, with a 

 simple, unbranched stem : furnished with a tuft of long, evergreen 

 leaves at top, somewhat in the manner of a palm tree. Leaves 

 alternate, crowded so as to appear somewhat verticillate, almost 

 sessile, oblong-lanceolate, coriaceous, stiff, glabrous, pale green, 

 a foot or a foot and a half long, with undulated, dentately 

 spinose margins, usually truncate at the base and apex, paler 

 beneath, very smooth, with a very thick midrib : having the 

 veins hardly evident, except in the dried state. Flowers 

 terminal, racemose ; racemes numerous, many- flowered, hidden 

 among the leaves, very short, hardly 2 inches long. Corolla 

 white. Berry size a crab apple, yellowish. 



1 T. JUSSIEU'I (Lind. coll. t. 26.) 1? . S. Native of St. Do- 

 mingo, on the mountains. Th. Americana, Lin. spec. 1. p. 212. ? 

 Swartz, obs. p. 58. Th. Henrici, Hamilt. prod. fl. ind. occ. p. 

 Eresia foliis aquifolii longissimis, Plum. gen. p. 8. t. 28. icon, 

 t. 126.? 



Jussieu's Theophrasta. Fl. ? Clt. 1818. Tree 10 feet. 



Cult. A small tree, handsome on account of its long, holly- 

 like leaves. A mixture of peat, loam, and sand, answers it 

 well ; and cuttings, having the leaves remaining on entire, will 

 take root readily in sand, under a hand-glass, in heat. 



IV. ONCPNUS (from oyKivog, onkinos, a hook ; in reference to 

 the segments of the corolla being hooked.) Lour. coch. p. 123. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Monogynia. Calyx tubular, 5-notched. 

 Corolla funnel-shaped, fleshy ; limb 5-parted : segments obtuse, 

 all hooked to one side, emarginate ; crown 5-cleft, in the 

 mouth of the tube. Filaments fixed to the middle of the tube, 

 anthers simple. Ovarium globose. Style short. Stigma acute. 

 Berry globose, large, shining, 1-celled, many-seeded. Seeds 

 small, roundish, nestling in the pulp. A climbing shrub. Leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, entire, glabrous, shining, opposite. ? Flowers 

 white, in long, racemose, terminal corymbs. Berry red, edible, 

 sweet, and somewhat astringent. 



1 O. COCHINCIIINE'NSIS (Lour. 1. c.). I? . G. Native of 

 Cochinchina. Theophrasta Cochinchinensis, Spreng.' syst. 1 . 

 p. 671. 



Cochin-china Oncinus. Shrub cl. 



Cult. See Theophrasta above for culture and propagation. 



V. LEO'NIA (named after Don Francisco Leon, a great 

 promoter of the sciences, who by his munificence assisted in 

 bringing out some volumes of the Flora Peruviana.) Ruiz, et 

 Pav. fl. per. et chil. 2. p. 69. t. 222. Mart. nov. gen. bras. 2. 

 p. 86. t. 200. f. 4. in letterpress. Steudelia, Mart. 1. c. in tab. 

 168 and 169. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Monogynia. Calyx small, 5-lobed, 

 deciduous, with scarious edges. Corolla rotately sub-eampanu- 

 late. Stamens 5, combined into a pentagonal, cup-shaped tube, 

 inclosing the pistil. Anthers didymous, 2-celled. Berry corti- 

 cate, 1-celled. Seeds many, oblong, attached to parietal placen- 

 tas, (ex Mart. 1. c.) nestling in the pulp. Trees with alternate, 

 coriaceous leaves, on short petioles, entire, full of pellucid dots, 

 glabrous. Flowers cream coloured, full of glandular dots, dis- 

 posed in axillary racemes or cymes. 

 12 



1 L. RACEMOSA (Mart. nov. gen. bras. 2. p. 86. t. 168, and t. 

 200. f. 4. under Steudelia, in tab.) leaves oblong, ending in a 

 short, acute point ; flowers disposed in drooping, compound, 

 aggregate racemes. Jj . S. Native of Brazil, on the banks of 

 the Amazon, at Serpa ; and of Peru. L. glycicarpa, Ruiz, et 

 Pav. fl. per et chil. 2. p. 69. t. 222. Corolla yellow, with obo- 

 vate, concave segments. Seeds obovate. 



.ftaeewio.se-n'owered Leonia. Tree 30 to 40 feet. 



2 L. CYMOSA (Mart. 1. c. 2. p. 88. t. 169. under Sleudelia, 

 in tab.) leaves oblong, acuminated at both ends ; cymes of 

 flowers bifid, erect. I? . S. Native of Brazil, in the province 

 of Rio Negro, at Ega, in woods. Seeds oblong. 



Cymose-ttowered Leonia. Tree 10 to 15 feet. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Theophrasta above. 



ORDER CXLV. SAPOTA V CE^E. Sapotse, Juss. gen. 

 p. 151. R. Br. prod. p. 528. 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx divided, regular, permanent. 

 Corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, regular : having the segments 

 equal in number to the divisions of the calyx, rarely double or 

 triple that number, deciduous. Stamens epipetalous, definite, 

 distinct ; fertile ones equal in number to the segments of the 

 calyx, rarely more, and opposite them, but alternating with the 

 segments of the corolla ; sterile ones equal in number to the 

 fertile ones, and alternating with them, sometimes wanting. An- 

 thers usually behind. Ovarium many-celled; cells 1-seeded. 

 Ovula erect. Style 1 ; stigma undivided, sometimes lobed. 

 Berry many-celled, or only 1-celled from abortion. Seeds 

 nucumentaceous, sometimes combined into a many-celled puta- 

 men ; testa bony, shining, with the front more or less scraped 

 away, and opaque. Embryo erect, white, large, usually inclos- 

 ed in fleshy albumen. Cotyledons foliaceous in those seeds fur- 

 nished with albumen, and fleshy in those without, sometimes 

 connate ; with a short straight or a little inclined radicle, looking 

 towards the hilum, and an inconspicuous plumule. Exotic trees 

 or shrubs, the greater part natives within the tropics, most of 

 which are milky. Leaves alternate, exstipulate, quite entire, 

 coriaceous. Inflorescence axillary. 



This order is more nearly allied to Ebenacece than to any 

 other, but differs from it in the species being milky, in the wood 

 being soft, in the stamens being definite, in the flowers being 

 hermaphrodite, in the style being undivided, in the cells of the 

 ovarium being always 1-seeded, in the ovula being erect, in the 

 testa of the seeds being bony, and in many other characters. 



The plants contained in this order are chiefly valuable for their 

 fruit, which in many cases contribute richly to the dessert. 

 Mimusops Elengi, Imbricaria, Commersonii, and Argania Side- 

 roxylon are all of this description ; the star-apples of the West 

 Indies, the produce of several species of Chrysophyllum, and par- 

 ticularly of C. Caintto, are esteemed delicious ; and the medlars, 

 lucumas, and sapotillas of equinoxial America, all the fruit of 

 different kinds of A chras are among the most valuable pro- 

 ductions of the Western world. The seeds of all the order are 

 oily ; those of A^chras sapota are accounted diuretic and ape- 

 rient. Their oil is not fluid, but so concrete as to have the 

 appearance and consistence of butter, whence the name of butter- 

 tree has been applied to different species, both in India and 



