P LU 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



P O A 



363 



6. Plumbago Scandens; Climbing Leadwort. Leaves 

 petioled, ovate, smooth; stem fiexuose, scandent; flowers 

 terminating, subpanicled, commonly in spikes, sessile, scatter- 

 ed, approximating. It flowers here in July and August. 

 Native of South America and Jamaica, in dry hedges. In- 

 crease this by cuttings, which strike freely; it is one of the 

 most ornamental plants which are kept in stoves. 



7. Plumbago Auriculata; Eared Leadwort. Leaves ovate, 

 oblong, petioled, scaly, dotted underneath ; petiole eared, 

 embracing. Native of the East Indies. 



Plumeria; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five- 

 parted, blunt, very small. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-form ; 

 tube long, widening gradually; border five-parted, from erect 

 spreading; segments ovate-oblong, oblique. Stamina: fila- 

 menta five, awl-shaped, from the middle of the tube; antherse 

 converging. Pistil: germen oblong, bifid; styles scarcely 

 any; stigma double, acuminate. Pericarp: follicles two, 

 long, acuminate, ventricose, bent downwards, nodding, one- 

 celled, one-valved. Seeds: numerous, oblong, inserted into 

 a larger ovate membrane at the base, imbricate. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Corolla: contorted. Follicles: two, reflex. 

 Seeds: inserted into their proper membrane. This genus of 

 plants is propagated by their seeds, procured from their na- 

 tive countries. Sow them in pots filled with light earth, 

 plunge them into a tan-pit; and when the plants are two inches 

 high, transplant them separately into small pots filled with 

 light sandy earth, and plunge them into the hot-bed again, 

 shading them in the middle of the day, until they have taken 

 root: they must not have much water, for being very suc- 

 culent, they would rot with much moisture. In hot weather 

 they require a large share of fresh air, which should be ad- 

 mitted by raising the glasses of the hot-bed daily, in propor- 

 tion to the warmth of the season; this will prevent their being 

 drawn up too weak. Towards Michaelmas, when the nights 

 begin to be cold, the plants should be removed into the stove, 

 and plunged into the bark-bed, where they must remain dur- 

 ing the winter: and as at that time all these plants cast their 

 leaves, which do not grow again till the beginning of May, 

 they should then be watered very sparingly. They are every 

 one too tender to endure the open air of this country, even 

 in summer: and must therefore be kept in the stove, where 

 in warm weather they must have a large share of free air, 

 but in cold weather they should be kept very warm. While 

 they are young, it will be proper to continue them in the 

 bark-bed; but when they have obtained strength, they may 

 be placed in a dry-stove, where they will thrive well, pro- 

 vided the gardener keep them in a moderate temperature of 

 heat, and they have not too much water. These plants may 

 also be propagated by cuttings, which should be taken from 

 the old plants two months before they are planted, during 

 which time they should be laid on the flues in the stove, that 

 the part which joined to the old plant may be healed over, 

 before they are planted; otherwise they will rot. These cut- 

 tings should be planted in small pots, filled with light sandy 

 earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed of tanner's bark, 

 shading them from the sun in the heat of the day, and refresh- 

 ing them sparingly every week or ten days with water. If 

 the cuttings succeed, they will have taken root in about two 

 months, when they should have a larger share of air, to harden 

 them by degrees to bear the sun and air, and may after that 

 be treated as the old plants. Observe. The milky juice of 

 these plants is very caustic, and esteemed poisonous. In cut- 

 ting off any of the" branches of the plants, if the knife be not 

 immediately cleaned, the juice will corrode it, and turn the 

 blade almost black in a very little time, so as not to be 

 VOL. ii. 96. 



cleaned off' again: if dropped on linen, it will eat holes like 

 aqua-fortis. The species are, 



1. Plumeria Rubra; Red Plumeria. Leaves ovate-oblong; 

 petioles downy, even. In Jamaica this plant is called the Red 

 Jasmine: it rises to the height of eighteen or twenty feet. 

 The stalks are covered with a dark green bark, having marks 

 where the leaves are fallen ofF; they are succulent, somewhat 

 woody within, and abounding with a corrosive milky juiee. 

 Towards the top, the stalks put out a few thick succulent 

 branches, with leaves at their ends of a light green colour, 

 full of milky juice, having a large midrib, and many transverse 

 veins. The flowers come out in clusters at the ends of the 

 branches ; they are shaped like those of the Oleander, are of 

 a pale red colour, with a yellow mouth, and have an agree- 

 able odour; they are so beautiful and sweet in South America, 

 that the trans-atlantic ladies adorn their hair with them, and 

 place them among their linen, as we do Lavender. Mr. Miller 

 has a variety of this, which he calls Plumeria Incarnata; he 

 received it from the island of St. Christopher by the name 

 of Japan-tree, with an account that it had been then lately in- 

 troduced from the Spanish West Indies. The stalks are lower 

 than in the above, the leaves thicker, and the veins larger; 

 the flowers also are paler-coloured, and in larger clusters, it 

 being common to have upwards of twenty open in one bunch, 

 with a number to succeed these as they decay, so that the clus- 

 ters continue in beauty upwards of two months, during which 

 time they make a most beautiful appearance in the stove, and 

 afford a very agreeable odour. Native of the West Indies. 



2. Plumeria Alba; White Plumeria. Leaves lanceolate, 

 revolute; peduncles tuberous above. This has the habit 

 of the preceding, but is less branched, and seldom above 

 fifteen feet high; abounding in a milky juice. The flowers 

 are white, with a yellowish eye, and diffuse so very sweet and 

 powerful an odour to a considerable distance, that it produces 

 the head-ach in some constitutions. This plant is not nearly 

 so elegant as the former, yet the beauty of its stem and leaves 

 should introduce it into every curious collection. It grows 

 abundantly at Campeachy, and is also found in Jamaica. 



3. Plumeria Obtusa; Blunt-leaved Plumeria. Leaves 

 lanceolate, petioled, blunt. This produces small white flowers 

 resembling those of the preceding species. Loureiro describes 

 it as a thick tree, above the middle size, with an ash-coloured 

 smooth milky bark, a juicy brittle wood, and thick twisted 

 branches. It has been found in both Americas, and is pro- 

 bably the same plant with Rumphius's Flos Convolutus, which 

 is a native of Amboyna, China, and Cochin-china, where it is 

 also cultivated on account of the beauty and sweet smell of 

 the flowers. 



4. Plumeria Pudica ; Close-flowered Plumeria. Border of 

 the corolla closed; leaves oblong, flat-veined; flowers nume- 

 rous, yellowish; the border erect, and shut even after they 

 drop, being rolled up like the flowers of Hibiscus. They 

 succeed each other continually for two months together, and 

 have an odour much more agreeable than that of the preced- 

 ing species, or even of any other known flower. It is highly 

 esteemed at Curasao, where it is called Douzelle, Damsel, or 

 Virgin, because of the closing of the flowers. They cultivate 

 it there in the gardens; but it is not known from what part of 

 South America it was introduced. It is a milky shrub, five feet 

 high, and of the same habit with the preceding species. 



Poa; a genus of the Class Triandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: glume many-flowered, two- 

 valved, awnless, collecting the flowers into a distich ovate- 

 oblong spikelet; valves ovate, acuminate. Corolla: two- 

 valved; valves ovate, sharpish, concave, compressed, a little 

 longer than the calix, with a scariose margin ; nectary two- 

 4 Z 



