18 BOTANICAL PRODUCTIONS. 



ficent tropical trees. The sides of the paths 

 were adorned with the gay and handsome flowers 

 of the Poinciana pulcherrima, and the more ele- 

 vated lilac tree (Melia azedarach) profusely 

 covered with its long panicles of fragrant 

 flowers. As we rambled further into the scrubby 

 parts beyond this cultivated spot, cotton shrubs, 

 {Gossypiumherhaceum,) the thorny Zizyphus and 

 mimosas w^ere abundant. The Jatropha curcas 

 was used for hedges, and a handsome asclepias 

 (procera ?) called bombadero by the Portuguese, 

 was abundant about this waste land, both in fruit 

 and flower : the flowers are succeeded by a large 

 somewhat oval fruit, containing a quantity of 

 pretty feathered seeds ; the whole plant (like all 

 the family to which this belongs) abounds in a 

 viscid milky juice ; the capsule of the pod is 

 elegantly veined, reminding the anatomist of the 

 veins displayed on the exterior of the heart. 



On the following morning a small party was 

 formed for an excursion to the valley of St. 

 Trinidad, to gain some idea, if possible, of the 

 fertile portions of this apparently very sterile 

 island. This valley, it may be said, com- 

 mences soon after descending the table land on 

 which the town is situated. We diverged from 

 the direct road, for the purpose of visiting a 

 plantation about a mile and a half distant from 



