PLAJSTTS OF BERMUDA. 15 



Years ago Bermuda appears to have been famed for its oranges 

 and lemons. Waller, in his well-known poem, wrote of them 

 thus: 



' ' Bermuda, walled with rocks, who does not know ? 

 That happy island where huge lemons grow ; 

 And orange trees, that golden fruit do bear, 

 The Hesperian Gardens boast of none so fair." 



The practice of cutting down cedars for firewood is said to have 

 greatly damaged these plantations by depri\dng them of the neces- 

 sary shelter. Blight has also done great mischief to the trees, and 

 no attention appears now to be given to the cultivation of these 

 fruits in Bermuda. 



II. MUllRAYA. 



Stamens ten, distinct; leaves compound. 



1. M. Exotica (Martinique Laurel). An evergreen shrub, four to 

 six feet liigh ; leaves alternate, irregularly pinnate, leaflets five, 

 leathery, ovate, entire ; flowers numerous in corymbs ; sepals five ; 

 petals five ; stamens ten, distinct, awl -shaped ; berry one to two 

 celled ; one to two seeded. Distribution, East and West Indies ; 

 habitat, shrubberies, etc., fi-equent. Flowers white, fragrant; 

 August. 



The Wampee {Cookia punctata), a few trees of wliich have been 

 introduced, also belongs to this order. 



Nat : Ord ; 16 Oxalidacecc. 



Small plants usually abounding in oxalic acid, and hence called 

 Sourgrasses. Leaves composed of three leaflets (shamrocks) ; flowers 

 regular ; sepals five ; petals five, equal, twisted, clawed ; stamens 

 ten, more or loss adhering together and in two series, the mncr five 

 opiDosite petals, and longer than outer ones ; ovary of five united 

 carpels ; styles five ; fruit a five -celled, five -angled capsule, burst* 

 ing with elasticity by five to ten valves, not beaked ; seeds few in 

 each cell. 



alternate, leaflets three, heart-shaped, jointed to the petiole at 

 their base, 



1. 0. Violacea. Linn. (Sorrel). A stemless plant, leaves and 

 flower-stalks arising from an underground i)erennial bulb ; bulbs 

 pink, scaly, half-inch in diameter, very xiroliflc ; petiole four inches 

 high, crowned with the three obcordate leaflets, the latter one and 

 a quarter-inch broad, half-inch sinus to base ; flower-stalks slender, 

 five to six inches, terminating in umbel of six to eight flowers ; 

 sex^als five, with an anther-like gland at tip ; petals obovate ; sta- 

 mens all longer than styles ; capsule few- seeded, seldom formed. 

 Distribution, North America and [0. Martianu) West Indies ? habi- 

 tat, a most troublesome weed in cidtivated ground, on account of 

 bulbs very difficult to eradicate. Flowers violet, half -inch in 

 diameter ; November to June. 



