c o c 



C O F 



corolla consists of three ovate, acute, patulous 

 petals : the stamina consist of six filaments, 

 simple, length of the corolla: anthers sagittate: 

 the pistillum a scarcely manifest germ : styles 

 three, short : stigma obsolete : the pericarpium 

 ahortient : the female flowers on the same spadix 

 with the males: the calvx is a common spalhe 

 with the hermaphrodites, as likewise the spadix : 

 the perianth three-parted : divisions roundish, 

 concave, converging, coloured, and permanent : 

 the corolla consists of three petals, permanent, 

 like the calyx, but rather larger: the pistillum 

 is an ovate germ, no style: the stigma three- 

 lobed : the pericarpium a coriaceous drupe, very 

 large, roundish, obscurely triangular : the seed 

 is a very large nut, subovate, acuminate, one- 

 celled, valveless, obtusely three-cornered, the 

 base perforated by three holes : the kernel is 

 hollow. 



The species are: 1. C. nncifera, Cocoa-nut 

 Tree. 2. C. aculeate, Great Macaw Tree. 



In the first the roots are very slender, simple, 

 and flexile ; arising separately from the bottom 

 of the trunk, and spreading in all directions ; 

 some running to a great depth, while others 

 creep almost parallel to the surface. The trees 

 grow to a great height ; their stems being com- 

 posed of strong fibres like net-work, which lie 

 in several laminas over each other, out of which 

 come the branches, or other leaves, which grow 

 twelve or fourteen feet long. The first leaves 

 which push out from the nut when planted are 

 different from those which are afterwards pro- 

 duced ; as they are broad, and have many folds 

 in each : whereas the after leaves have a strong 

 midrib, twelve or fourteen feet long, on which 

 the leaflets are placed alternately : these are 

 from six to eight or nine inches long, and are 

 almost triangular, having very sharp points, and 

 very stiff. The flowers come out round the top 

 of the trunk of the tree in large clusters ; are 

 inclosed in a large spathe or sheath, and the 

 nuts afterwards formed in large clusters, ten or 

 twelve together. As soon as all the parts of the 

 flowers have gained a due degree of perfection, 

 the spathe splits on the under side, from the 

 bottom upwards, and exposes the common 

 bunch, with all its flowers, to the open air : 

 most of which are males, and fall off gradu- 

 ally as the spathe withers, leaving the embryo 

 fruit generally fixed to the lower and stronger 

 part of the stalk, to increase and ripen by de- 

 grees. It is a native of the East Indies. 



The second species is a large tree in its native 

 situation, which rises to thirty feet in height, 

 has an ash-coloured bark, and is very thick set 

 with sharp black prickles, of different lengths, 

 placed usually in rings. The fruit is as large as 

 3 



a crab, and of the same shape: under a green 

 skin it has a thin swietish astringent pulp; 

 and within that a nut full of a white sweet eat- 

 able kernel. It is common in the Caribbce 

 islands. 



Culture. — The plants in both these sorts are 

 raised from the nuts, which are brought hither 

 from their native places : these arc planted sepa- 

 rately in pots of rich earth, depositing them on 

 their edges, and plunging the pots over their rims 

 in a bark hot-bed. They soon germinate at the 

 holes in the bases, and appear ; when frequent 

 waterings should be given and the plants con- 

 tinued in the stove, shifting them occasionally 

 into larger pots, being careful to preserve the 

 balls of earth about their roots, and not to 

 break the fibres of the roots in performing the 

 business. 



COFFEA, a genus affording a plant of the 

 flowering shrubby evergreen kind for the stove. 

 The Coffee Tree. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandria 

 Manogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Stella tee. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a five- 

 toothed perianth, very small, superior: the corolla 

 is one-petalled, salver-shaped ; tube cylindric, 

 slender, many times longer than thecalyx : border 

 flat, five-parted, longer than the tube : divisions 

 lance-shaped : sides rolled back : the stamina 

 consist of five subulate filaments, placed on the 

 tube of the corolla :" anthers linear, incumbent, 

 length of the filaments : the pistillum is a round- 

 ish, inferior germ : style simple, length of the 

 corolla: stigmas two, reflected, subulate, thick - 

 ish : the pericarpium is a roundish berry, urn- 

 bilicated by a one- or two-celled puncture : the 

 seeds one or two, solitary, elliptically-hemi- 

 spherical, gibbous on one side, flat on the other, 

 where it is furrowed longitudinally ; involved in 

 an aril. 



The species cultivated is C. Aralica, Eastern 

 Coffee Tree. 



It seldom rises more than sixteen or eighteen 

 feet high in its native situation, or more than ten 

 or twelve in this climate. The main stem grows 

 upright, and is covered with a light brown bark. 

 The branches are horizontal, and opposite; the 

 lower ones longest, the others gradually decreas- 

 ing to the top, so as to form a pyramid : the 

 leaves are opposite, when fully grown four or 

 five inches long, and an inch and a half broad 

 in the middle, ovate-lanceolate, the borders 

 waved, and the surface of a lucid green : the 

 flowers are produced in clusters (two to four) at 

 the base of the leaves, sitting close to the 

 branches ; they are of a pure white, with a very 

 grateful odour, but of short duration ; being 



