128 



MI M 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



M I M 



Annual. Stem red, grooved, three feet high; branches some- 

 what spreading, and villose. Native of Peru. 



Millet Cyperus Grass. See Scirpus. 



Millet, Indian. See Holcus. 



Mimosa ; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Monoecia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 five-toothed, very small. Corolla : petal one, funnel-form, 

 half five-cleft, small. Stamina: filamenta capillary, very 

 long; antherse incumbent. Pistil: germen oblong; style 

 filiform, shorter than the stamina ; stigma truncated. Peri- 

 carp: legume long, with several transverse partitions. Seeds: 

 many roundish, of various forms. Observe. No part of the 

 fructification is constant in this genus. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 KACTER. Calix: five-toothed. Corolla, : five-cleft. Stamina: 

 five or more. Pistil: one. Legume: superior, with many 

 cells. Some male flowers. Most of the plants of this genus 

 are propagated by seeds, which seldom ripening in this coun- 

 try, must be procured from America, particularly at Cam- 

 peachy, where there is a great variety ; many sorts of which 

 have been hitherto unknown to botanical writers. In bring- 

 ing over the seeds of these trees, they should be taken out of 

 the pods when gathered, and packed up in papers; and ought 

 to have tobacco, or some other noxious herb, put between the 

 papers, to keep off insects; otherwise the seeds will be eaten 

 or destroyed before they arrive in England; for the insects 

 deposit their eggs in small punctures, which they make in the 

 pods ; and as these are soon hatched, so they immediately 

 attack the seed for food, and eat holes through them, by 



wnich they are entirely spoiled. The species are, 



*With simple Leaves. 



1. Mimosa Verticillata ; Whorl-leaved Mimosa. Unarmed: 

 leaves whorled, linear, pungent. Native of New South 

 Wales ; flowering from March to May. ' 



2. Mimosa Simplicifolia; Simple-leaved Mimosa. Unarm- 

 ed, arboreous: leaves ovate, quite entire, nerved, blunt; 

 spikes globular, peduncled. This is a beautiful little tree, 

 with a smooth ash-coloured bark, and large leaves, very flat. 

 When not in flower, it has no appearance of a Mimosa. 

 Native of the island of Tanna, in the South Seas. 



3. Mimosa Myrtifolia. Myrtle-laved Mimosa. Leaves 

 elliptic, lanceolate, oblique, quite entire, cartilaginous at the 

 edge; heads in axillary racemes; legumes linear, with a 

 thick edge. The foliage is usually edged with red. It is a 

 shrub three or four feet high, of a quick growth, and a ready 

 blower : the flowers on the young branches are very numer- 

 ous and fragrant, like those of Spirsea Ulmaria. Native of 

 New South Wales. 



4. Mimosa Suaveolens ; Sweet-scented Mimosa. Leaves 

 linear, acuminate, straight, cartilaginous at the edge; the 

 primordial ones pinnate; branches triquetrous. The branches 

 are most acutely triangular, and much compressed ; their 

 edges bright red ; flowers in axillary racemes, yellowish- 

 white, fragrant. Native of New South Wales. 



5. Mimosa Hispidula; Little Harsh Mimosa. Leaves 

 elliptical, oblique, rugged on each side and at the margin ; 

 branchlets hispid, pubescent; heads solitary. It forms a 

 thick rigid bush ; flowers pale yellow, many together, in little 

 round heads. Native of Port Jackson, in New South Wales. 



**With leaves simply pinnate. 



6. Mimosa Alba; White Mimosa. Unarmed : leaves pin- 

 nate, trijugous; pinnas equal, ovate-acuminate; petiole sub- 

 margined. Native of Cayenne. 



7. Mimosa Inga; Large-leaved Mimosa, or Inga Tree. 

 Unarmed : leaves pinnate, five-paired, petiole margined, 

 jointed. This is a tree from fifteen to twenty feet high. 

 Native of the West Indies, on the banks of rivers. 



8. Mimosa Lanrina; Laurel-leaved Mimosa. Unarmed: 

 leaves pinnate, two-paired; pinnas ovate, shining, almost 

 equal ; petiole linear, angular ; spikes axillary, solitary. 

 Native of the island of St. Christopher's, in the West Indies. 



9. Mimosa Fagifolia ; Beech-leaved Mimosa. Unarmed : 

 leaves pinnate, two-paired; petiole margined. This is a tree 

 thirty feet high, with an elegant close head, and a straight 

 trunk, ten feet long, and a foot in diameter: the wood is 

 whitish, and the bark gray. Legume coriaceous, whitish- 

 yellow, inclosing a sweet whitish pulp, which is sucked by 

 the natives. In Martinico, both tree and fruit are called Pois 

 Doux, Sweet Pea. Native of the West Indies. 



10. Mimosa Nodosa ; Knobbed Mimosa. Unarmed : leaves 

 pinnate, two-paired; inner pinnas smaller; petiole linear. A 

 small tree. Native of Ceylon and Cochin-china. 



11. Mimosa Pilosa; Hairy-leaved Mimosa. Unarmed: 

 leaves pinnate, many-paired, very hairy; heads terminating; 

 legumes straight, slender. This is an upright shrub, four 

 feet high, hairy, with spreading branches. Native of the 

 woods of Cochin-china. 



12. Mimosa Xylocarpa; Wood-fruited Mimosa. Leaves 

 scattered, in pairs, pinnate; leaflets from two to four paired, 

 entire, oblong, smooth; the outer pair largest; glands on the 

 petioles; stipules lanceolate. Trunk straight ; bark brown, 

 pretty smooth ; branches numerous. This is one of the 

 largest species of the genus. It is a native of the mountainous 

 parts of the Circars only; casting its leaves during the cold 

 season, and flowering at the beginning of the hot season. 

 The wood is of a chocolate colour towards the centre. The 

 natives esteem it much, and use it for many purposes, where 

 hard, durable, tough timber is required : for plough-heads it 

 is particularly in request, the Telingas seldom using iron in 

 their ploughs. 



*** With, bigeminate or tergeminate Leaves. 



13. Mimosa Bigemina ; Sharp Four-leaved Mimosa. Un- 

 armed: leaves bigeminate, acuminate. A tree, with alternate 

 leaves, and flowers in panicles from the axils and ends of the 

 branches. Native of the East Indies. 



14. Mimosa Unguis Cati ; Blunt Four-leaved Mimosa. 

 Thorny: leaves bigeminate, blunt. This is a small tree, from 

 seven to ten feet high, with a branched and unarmed trunk. 

 Browne calls it the Black-head Shrub, or Large-leaved Mimosa. 

 Miller says it is called Doctor Long, and that the seeds are 

 frequently brought to England by that name. According to 

 Sloane, the seeds are eaten by goats, and sometimes by the 

 negroes. The bark is very astringent, and is used in lotions 

 and fomentations in America. Native of Jamaica, and other 

 West India islands. 



15. Mimosa Tergemina ; Tergeminate Mimosa. Unarmed: 

 leaves tergeminate. Native of the West Indies. 



16. Mimosa Dulcis ; Su>eet-tasted Mimosa. Thorns sti- 

 pular; leaves bigeminate; leaflets obliquely oblong, smooth, 

 pointed. Trunk ill-shaped. Legume swelled, particularly at 

 the seeds, twisted like a screw, downy ; valves thin ; when 

 ripe, opening naturally, and exposing to view the pulp, which 

 is rose-coloured. This is probably not a native of India ; 

 but was introduced from the Philippine islands, for the 

 sake of the pulp which fills the legumes. It grows quickly 

 to a tree in a rich sandy soil; and flowers in the cold season. 

 The fleshy pulp of the legumes is reckoned wholesome ; it is 

 sweet, but insipid, and dryish. The Spaniards, at Manilla, 

 raise many of the trees for the sake of this pulp, and call it 

 Sappan fruit. It would assist the poor, in times of scarcity 

 in those countries; and the gum, wood, and bark, may turn to 

 account there. As it grows very fast, it may also be reared 

 for fences, instead of many less useful bushes and trees. 



