EXPLANATION OF PLATE L 



P.g. 1. Abeca ohracea. Cabbage-tree. [Family of the Palms.] This tree ifi 

 . ioncecious. It grows to the height of 120 feet. This is a young plant, little mort 

 than 20 feet in height. The stipe is slender, simple, and vertical. Leaves terminal 

 very long, pinnate; petioles sheathing; leafets elongated, lanceolate; spathas monq- 

 phyLous, growing from the axils of the lower leaves, which fall off; flowers in pani- 

 cles, the slaminate and pistillate flovycrs enclosed by different spalhas. a, Spath? 

 shut, 6, spatha opened laterally ; c. stipe, which is fusiform ;* d, panicle of staminate 

 flowox's, which were contained in the spatha before it opened; e, panicle of pistillate 

 flowers, entirely separated Irom its spatha ; /, part of the stipe, formed at its super- 

 Gces by the base of the developed I'^aves, and in the interior by the young, tender, and 

 succulent leaves, which form a white compact head. These are eaten by the people 

 of the West Indies as a salad, cooked as we prepare cabbage ; the name Areca is 

 given in the East Indies, v/here this tree flourishes, g, is a young leaf folded like a fan. 

 The areca-nut is chewed by the people of India. It i3 said to resemble the nutmeg. 

 This plant belongs to Monoecia Monodelphia. 



Fig. 2. Cactus peruvianus. (Family of the Cacti.) The name Cacti was given 

 hv the Greek botanist, Theophrastus, who first discovered the plant. A succulent 

 plant, becoming woody by age; it rises to the height of thirty feet. It grows among 

 the ro:k3 in Peru, near the sea. The stem is vertical, articulated, branching, spinoso, 

 \yith seven or eight prominent angles. Branches erect ; spines acicular, fasciculated, 

 divergent, placed at intervals upon the ridges of the stem and branches. Flowers lat- 

 eral, cauline, solitary, sub-sessile, it belongs to Icosandria Monogynia. 



Fig. 3. Dracmhia draco. Dragon-tree. {Family Asphodel.) A tree of Africa ana 

 th^ Indies, the diameter of whose trunk is very great in comparison to its height. 

 Stipe cylindrical, vertical, marked with transverse cicatrices left by the leaf in falling 

 Leaves terminal, alternate, crowded, semi-amplexicaulis, ensiform, cuspidate; the 

 upper ones erect, the lower ones pendent, the intermediate ones spreading or reflexcd ; 

 a red. resinous extract, obtained from this plant, and called Dragon's blood, is sold ir 

 the shops. The ancient Greeks introduced it into medicine. This plant is- classed ir. 

 Hexandria Monogynia. 



Fig. 4. MvsA paradisiaca, or the Banana tribe. (Familjr Musce.) The name Musa 

 io said to have been given by Linnaeus in honour of Antonius Musa, the physician oi 

 Augustus, who wrote on botany. This is an herbaceous plant, with a perennial bul- 

 bous root; it grows to the height qf 15 or 20 feet. It is a native of the East Indies, 

 Dut has been long cultivated in South America. The leaves are radical, petioled, at 

 Erst convolute; petioles long, large, sheathing, forming by their brim a thick and 

 smooth stem resembling a stipe. The lamina of the leaf is sometimes 9 feet in length 

 and two in breadth, oblong, entire ; the sides thick and strong, with the veins at right 

 angles to them, and to the midrib. Scape cylindrical, naked, sheathed. Spike termi- 

 nal, pendent. Flowers semi-verticillate, bracted ; the fertile flowers at the base of the 

 spike, the infertile at the summit. A, is a young Banana ; a a, central leaves, convo- 

 lute. B, a Banana bearing fruit ; a, remains of old leaves; 6, the scape; c, rf, e, pen- 

 dent spike; c, the fruit, (classed by Mirbel in the genus berry;) d, portion of the axis 

 from which the flowers have fallen ; e, steril flowers, crowdea into a compact head, 

 terminal, enveloped by their bracts. This plant is by some placed in the class Hex- 

 andria, by others in the now obsolete class Polyganiia ; but Mirbel, very properly, I 

 think, considers it as belonging to the class Moncecia. The spikes of fruit sometimes 

 weigh from thirty to forty pounds each. The fruit when ripe is yellow. Each berry is 

 about eight inches in length, and one in diameter. 



Fig. 5. C ACTVs opuntia. Prickly-pear. (Familyof the Cacfi.) A succulent plant 

 with a woody stem, first described and named by Theophrastus, as a spiny, edible 

 plant. It is a native of southern latitudes, where it grows to the height of eight or ten 

 feet. Stem thick, compressed, ramose, articulated, spinose; the joints are ovate. 

 Leaves very small, cylindrical, subulate, caducous. Spines fasciculated, divergent, 

 growing at the base of the leaves. 



Fig. 6. Typha lati/olia. Cat- tail. (Family Typhcc.) The name from the Greek 

 Hphosy a lake, because it grows in marshy places. An herbaceous plant, monoecious, 

 with a perennial root, growing to the height of eight or ten feel in marshy grounds, in 

 Europe and North America. Stem vertical, simple, aphyllous at its summit, surround- 

 ed at the lower part with sheathing petioles. Leaves very long, riband-like. Flowera 

 in a terminal, crowded, cylindrical spike. Barren flowers superior, and separated 

 from the fertile flowers by a short interruption. This plant belongs to Monoecia Tri- 

 andria. 



Fig. 7. Cactd3 melocactus. (Family of the Cacti.) Succulent plant from thp 

 Antilles, perennial, melon-form, with fifteen or twenty sides, garnished with fasciclea 

 of divergent spines. 



* Mirbel, whose deKcription I follow, defines fusiform as tanering at both Pnda and swolled towarda the 

 oaiddle ; tnus he considers the Radiah root as fufliibrm, wjiile the carrAt \\e calls conical 



