FAG 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



FAG 



547 



They may be increased by seeds, and also by cuttings pro- 

 perly managed. The species are, 



1 . Fagara Euodia ; Sweet-scented Fagara. Leaves simple, 

 lanceolate, elongated, opposite ; racemes branched, axillary, 

 solitary. Forster made a new genus of this species, under 

 the title of Euodia, from its fine smell. But it has no dis- 

 tinct marks, except that the stigma is four-cleft, whereas in 

 Fagara it is two-cleft; and that it has four capsules, whereas 

 Fagara has but one. Native of the Friendly Isles, and the 

 New Hebrides. 



2. Fagara Trifoliata; Three-leaved Fagara. Leaves ter- 

 nate ; leaflets obovate, subemarginate, entire, shining, dotted 

 underneath. This is a native of the island of Dominique. 



3. Fagara Pterota; Lentiscus -leaved Fagara, or Bastard 

 Ironwood. Leaflets emarginate. It rises, by a branched 

 and somewhat prickly stalk, frequently to the height of eight 

 or ten feet; the wood is very hard, and the branches are 

 abundantly furnished with little leaves, and small white 

 flowers, that rise on double spikes from the axils of the ribs. 

 It has a goatish smell ; and is very common in the lower 

 lands of Jamaica. It flowers in August and September. 



4. Fagara Piperita ; Ash-leaved Fagara. Leaflets crenate ; 

 stem shrubby, scarcely a fathom in height; brandies round, 

 prickly, purple ; prickles scattered, horizontal ; leaves many 

 from the ends of the twigs, unequally pinnate, with about six 

 pairs of leaflets ; these are alternate and opposite, subsessile, 

 ovate, emarginate, smooth, half an inch in length ; flowers 

 among the leaves terminating, panicled, small, white ; cap- 

 sule wrinkled, one-celled, containing one smooth black seed. 

 The bark, leaves, and fruit, being aromatic, are frequently 

 used in soups instead of spice. The bruised leaves, made 

 into a cataplasm with meal of rice, are laid upon the parts 

 afflicted with rheumatism, and on buboes. The root, which 

 is woody, with a corky yellow bark, and a sharp subaromatic 

 flavour, is warm, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue, and is much 

 esteemed in intermittent fevers, rheumatism, &c. Native of 

 China, Cochin-china, and Japan. 



5. Fagara Horrida ; Spiny Fagara. Leaves pinnate ; pin- 

 nas ovate-crenate ; spines of the branches armed with spi- 

 nules. This is a small upright tree, smooth in all its parts ; 

 branches alternate, striated, flexuose, upright, from ash- 

 coloured purplish, elongated, almost simple. Native of 

 Japan, where the natives call it Sai-katfi. 



6. Fagara Tragodes ; Prickly-leaved Fagara. Joints of 

 the pinnas prickly underneath. A shrub, branching, almost 

 erect, five feet in height; prickles in pairs, subulate, re- 

 curved, strong, subaxillary, brown, shining ; there is one 

 similar, but smaller, on the back of each joint of the leaves ; 

 flowers small, axillary, aggregate. It flowers in February, 

 and is a native of St. Domingo. 



7. Fagara Emarginata. Leaves pinnate; leaflets ovate, 

 emarginate, veined ; racemes terminating, compound ; flowers 

 three-stamined. The trunk of this tree is of the size of the 

 human leg, sometimes beset with many short prickles. It rises 

 twenty feet high, and its branches are inclined towards the 

 ground. The wood is white, solid, and odoriferous, with a 

 pretty large pith ; flowers white, small, like those of Elder, 

 three-petalled ; fruit round, the size of black pepper ; seed 

 black, smelling somewhat like Bay-berries. The smoke of 

 this wood in burning is odoriferous, and probably occasioned 

 the fine scent which Columbus perceived near the south- 

 shore of Cuba, on his discovery of that island. Native of 

 Jamaica, and other West India islands. 



8. Fagara Spinosa. Leaves pinnate, sessile, ovate, acu- 

 minate; both they and the branches spiny underneath; 

 flowers three-stamined. Native of Jamaica. 



9. Fagara Acuminate. Leaves pinnate; leaflets entire, 

 elliptic, acuminate, shining, coriaceous ; flowers in cymes, 

 three-stamined. Native of Jamaica. 



10. Fagara Octandra; Downy Fagara. Leaflets tomen- 

 tose; branches thick, few, long, irregular; leaves pinnate, 

 tomentose on both sides, winged, deciduous, coming out 

 from the ends of the smaller branches with the flowers, or a 

 little after them ; racemes many, simple, an inch or an inch 

 and a half long ; flowers very small, with white calices, and 

 yellowish corollas ; fruit green, the size of peas : when 

 broken, the valves distil drops of balsam. It is an inelegant 

 tree-, frequently more than twenty feet in height, abounding 

 in a balsamic glutinous juice, much like that of Burseria in 

 its qualities. The wood is very white, and light. The natives 

 of some of the West India islands make saddles of it, in one 

 piece ; they have no pad, and only a sheep's-skin thrown over 

 them when they ride. Jacquin calls it Elaphrium, from the 

 lightness of the wood. Native of Cura9ao and the adjacent 

 islands, where it flowers in July and August. 



Fagonia; a genus of the class Decandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth five-leaved; 

 leaflets lanceolate, erect, patulous, very small, deciduous. 

 Corolla: petals five, heart-shaped, spreading; claws long, 

 slender, inserted into the calix. Stamina: filamenta ten, 

 subulate, erect, longer than the calix ; antherse roundish. 

 Pistil: germen five-cornered, superior; style awl-shaped; 

 stigma simple. Pericarp: capsule round-acuminate, (five- 

 cornered, according to Geertner,) five-celled, five-lobed; 

 ten-valved ; the cells compressed. Seeds: solitary, roundish. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Cater: five-leaved. Petals: five, 

 cordate. Capsule: five-celled, ten-valved, with one seed in 

 each cell. This genus consists of herbaceous plants, with a 

 "woody base. The leaves are either simple or ternate ; the 

 stipules in the two first species become thorns. The flowers 

 are solitary and axillary. In order to propagate them, sow 

 the seeds upon a warm border of fresh light earth in autumn, 

 where they are designed to remain, for they do not bear 

 transplanting well : in frosty weather shelter the plants with 

 mats, or some other covering ; thin them out to the distance 

 of ten inches or a foot, and keep them clean from weeds. 

 It is, however, a better plan to sow them in pots, and place 

 them under a frame in winter; in the following spring, shake 

 them out of the pots, and plant them in a warm border; 

 thus they will flower early, and ripe seeds may be obtained. 

 The species are, 



1. Fagonia Cretica; Cretan Fagonia. Thorny: leaflets 

 lanceolate, flat, even. This is a low plant, spreading its 

 branches close to the ground, a foot or more every way. The 

 flowers are solitary, from the forks of the stem, or terminal, 

 of a beautiful purple, with yellow stamina. It flowers in July 

 and August, but, unless the season proves warm, does not 

 ripen seeds in Ena;hind. Native of the island of Candia. 



2. Faffonia Arabic-a; Arabian Fagonia. Thorny: leaflets 

 linear, convex. This is a low plant, with a shrubby stalk, 

 from which come out several weak branches, armed with long 

 thorns ; the leaves are thick, narrow, and convex on their 

 under side ; the flowers come out as in the first sort. It was 

 discovered in Arabia by Dr. Shaw. This and the following 

 species seldom flower in the first year; and on that account 

 require shelter, like the first, for two winters. 



3. Fagonia Hispanica ; Spanish Fagonia. Without thorns. 

 This differs from the first species, in being smooth ; the 

 branches having no thorns ; it will also live two years, whereas 

 that is annual. Native of Spain. 



4. Fagonia Idinca. Thorny : leaves simple, oval ; flowers 

 yellow. Annual. Grows in Persia. 



