TAB 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



TAB 



G43 



Taberncemontana ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, five-cleft, permanent; segments acute, converging, 

 very small. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-form; tube cylin- 

 dric, long; border five-parted, flat; segments obtuse, oblique; 

 nectary glands five, bifid, standing round the germen. Sta- 

 mina: filamenta five, very small, from the middle of the tube; 

 antheree erect, arrow-shaped, converging, generally inclosed 

 in the tube. Pistil: germina two, simple; style awl-shaped; 

 stigma oblong, headed. Pericarp : follicles two, horizon- 

 tally reflexed, ventricosed, acuminate, one-celled, one-valved. 

 Seeds: numerous, ovate-oblong, obtuse, wrinkled, immersed 

 in pulp, imbricate. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Contorted. 

 Antheree: arrow-shaped. Follicles: two, horizontal. Seeds: 

 immersed in pulp. The species are, 



1. TabemsEmontana Citrifolia ; Citron-leaved. Taberna- 

 montana. Leaves elliptical, pointed ; panicles axillary, stalk- 

 ed, cymose, of few flowers, umbelled. This tree rises to the 

 height of fifteen or sixteen feet, covered with a smooth gray 

 bark, abounding with a milky juice, and sending out several 

 branches from the side; flowers while, with a light agreeable 

 scent. The French call it Bois Laiteux. Native of the West 

 Indies, Martinico, and the island of Namoka in the South 



Seas. The plants of this genus may be propagated by 



seeds, which must be procured from their native countries, 

 and should be sown early in the spring on a hot-bed. When 

 the plants come up, and are fit to remove, transplant them 

 carefully into small pots filled with light rich earth, and then 

 plunge them into a hot-bed of tanners' bark, shading them in 

 the heat of the day until they have taken new root. In warm 

 weather admit the free air daily, but if the nights prove cold, 

 the glasses should be coveied with mats every evening, soon 

 after the sun goes off" from the bed. They must be frequently 

 refreshed with water, but not in large quantities, especially 

 while young, for, being full of a milky juice, they are very 

 subject to rot with much moisture. The plants may remain 

 during the summer season in the hot-bed, provided the tan 

 is stirred up to renew the heat when it wants it, and a little 

 new tan added ; but at Michaelmas, when the nights begin 

 to be cold, the plants should be removed, and plunged into 

 the bark-bed in the stove : where during the winter season 

 they must be kept in a moderate degree of warmth, and with 

 very little watering in cold weather: they ought to remain in 

 the stove even in warm weather; but may have free air ad- 

 mitted to them by opening the glasses. They may also be 

 propagated by cuttings taken off from the old plant during the 

 summer, and laid to dry in the stove five or six days before they 

 are planted, that the wounded parts may heal, otherwise they 

 will rot. These cuttings should be planted in pots filled with 

 fresh light earth, and plunged into the hot-bed of tanners' 

 bark, and closely covered with a hand-glass, observing to 

 shade them from the mid-day sun in hot weather, and to re- 

 fresh them often with a little water. When the cuttings have 

 taken root, they may be transplanted into separate pots, and 

 treated in the same manner as those which are raised from 

 seeds. 



2. Tabernsemontana Laurifolia ; Laurel-leaved Tabernai- 

 monlana. Leaves opposite, oval, bluntish. This species 

 rises with a shrubby stalk twelve or fourteen feet hia;h, send- 

 ing out a few branches towards the top, which grow erect. 

 The flowers are produced in a sort of umbel from the side of 

 the branches; they are small, yellow, and have an agreeable 

 scent. Native of Jamaica, St. Domingo, and other islands 

 of the West Indies. 



3. Tabernsemontana Echinata; Rough-fruited Tabernce- 

 montana. Leaves opposite, ovate, oblong, acuminate; flowers 



VOL. II. 119. 



glomerate-umbelled; fruits echinate. Stems woody, branched, 

 five or six feet high. Native of Guiana. 



4. Tabernsemontana Heterophylla; Various-leaved Taber- 

 ncemontana. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, and subcordate, 

 somewhat waved, acuminate, smooth on both sides; branches 

 dichotomotis; flowers racemed. Native of Cayenne. 



5. Tabernsemontana Grandiflora; Great-flowered Taber- 

 ncemontana. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute ; stem dichoto- 

 mous ; calices unequal, very loose. This shrub is upright, 

 eight feet high. The flower, which appears from July to 

 September, has something in common with Echites and Cer- 

 bera, but the fruit is that of a Taberneemontana. Native of 

 Carthagena. 



6. Taberneemontana Cymosa; Cyme-flowered Tubernce- 

 montana. Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate; flowers cymed. 

 This is an elegant upright shrub, sometimes one, and at 

 others two fathoms high. It flowers in July and August. 

 Native of woods and coppices about Carthagena. 



7. Tabernsemontana Amygdalifolia; Almond- leaved Taber- 

 neemontana. Stamina extending beyond the tube of the 

 corolla ; flowers white, smelling very sweet. They generally 

 appear before the leaves. It is a shrub about six feet high, 

 upright, branched, and milky. Found near Carthagena. 



8. Tabernsemontana Discolor; Two-coloured Tabern<cmon- 

 tann. Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate; peduncles axillary, 

 two-flowered ; flowers whitish or yellowish, small. This shrub 

 is about a fathom in height. Native of Jamaica. 



9. Tabernsemontana Undulata ; Wave-leaved Tal>ern<e- 

 montana. Leaves lanceolate-elliptic, acuminate, waved ; 

 branches dichotomous ; flowers subcymed ; follicles smooth. 

 Native of the island of Trinidad. 



10. Tabernaemontana Persicariaefolia. Leaves opposite, 

 lanceolate, acuminate; flowers racemed. This shrub is ten 

 feet high, with an upright stem of an arm's thickness. Found 

 in the island of Mauritius. 



1 1 . Taberneemontana Neriifolia ; Oleander-leaved Taber- 

 naemontana. Leaves lanceolate, opposite; flowers subra- 

 cemed, axillary. Branches dichotomous, thickly warted at 

 the top from the fallen leaves, smooth, round; corolla half 

 an inch in diameter. Native of Porto Rico. 



12. Tabernsemontana Elliptiea; Elliptic-leaved Tabernte- 

 montana. Herbaceous : leaves subtern, lanceolate ; stem 

 herbaceous, round, gradually attenuated, simple, smooth, a 

 foot high, or a little more; flowers subterminating in ra- 

 cemes ; corolla blue, small. Native of Japan. 



13. Taberneemontana Alternifolia; Alternate-leaved Taber- 

 namontana. Leaves alternate ; stem arborescent. This 

 shrub is from one to two fathoms high, and flowers most of 

 the year on the coast of Malabar. 



14. Tabernsemontana Amsonia; Virginian Taberneemon- 

 tana. Leaves alternate, ovate-lanceolate ; stems herbaceous, 

 very smooth. This is a perennial, which in the spring sends 

 up two or three herbaceous stalks nearly a foot high. The 

 flowers are produced in small terminating bunches, white, 

 and void of scent. It flowers in May and June. Native of 

 North America. This and the following will live in the open 

 air here, provided they are planted in a warm situation. 

 They love a light soil, rather moist than otherwise ; but if 

 they be planted in dry ground, they should be frequently 

 watered in dry weather. Not perfecting seeds in England, 

 they are produced by offsets. 



15. Tabernaemontana Angustifolia ; Narrow-leaved Taber- 

 nccmontana. Leaves linear, scattered ; stem hairy, herba- 

 ceous. Perennial, flowering in May and June. Native of 

 North America. 



16. Tabernsemontana Odorata; Sweet Taberneemontana. 

 8 A 



