P I s 



P I s 



share of fresh air must be admittoc! in hot 

 weather, and they must be constantly kept in 

 the stove, as sugsrestcd above. 



They atibrd ornament and variety in stove- 

 collections. 



PIPER. See Capsicum. 



PIPER .TAMArCA. See Mvrtus Pimenta. 



PIPERIDGE TREE. See Berceris. 



PISCIDfA, a genus furnishing pants of the 

 exotic tree kind. 



It belongs to I he class and order Diadelplila 

 Decandrla, and ranks in the natural order of 

 FapUionacecB or Legiiminos(P. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed, bell-shaped, five-toothed pcrianthiuni : 

 the upper teeth nearer: the corolla papiliona- 

 ceous : banner ascending, einarginate : winsrs 

 the length of the banner : keel crcscent-shapeH, 

 ascending : the stamina have ten filaments, 

 uniting in a sheath cloven above : anthers ob- 

 long, incumbent : the pistillum is a pedicellcd 

 germ, compressed, linear : style filiform, ascend- 

 ing : stigma acute : the pericarpium is a pedi- 

 cellcd legume, linear, with four longitudinal 

 membranaceous angles, one-celled, separated 

 by doubled isthmuses: the seeds some, subcy- 

 lindric. 



The species are: 1. P. Enjthrhia, .Jamaica 

 Dogwood Tree ; 2. P. Cartliaginimsis, Cartha- 

 ginian Piseidia. 



llie first in its native situation rises with a 

 stem to the height of twenty-five feet or more, 

 almost as large as a man's body, covered 

 with a light-coloured smooth bark, and sending 

 out several branches at the top without order : 

 the leaves are pinnr.te, with seven leaflets for the 

 most part, two inches long, and one inch and a 

 half broad, commonly opposite : the flowers of 

 a dirty white colour, succeeded by oblong pods, 

 which have four longitudinal wings, and are 

 jointed between the cells. It is a native of 

 Jamaica. 



The second species differs from the first in 

 the shape and consistence of the leaves, which 

 are more oblong and of a firmer texture; in 

 other respects they are very similar. It is a na- 

 tive of the West Indies. 



Culture. — They are capable of being increased 

 by seeds, when they can be obtained Tresh from 

 the countries where they grow naturally, i'hey 

 should be sown upon a good hot-bed in the 

 spring, and when the plants come up and are 

 lit to transplant, be each phuitcd in a small pot 

 filled with light earth, and plunged into a hot- 

 bed of tanner's bark, and afterwards treated in 

 the same way as the other tender exotics of the 

 same kind. 



They afford variety in tlie stove. 



PISONIA, a genus containing plants of the 

 exotic tree kind for the stove. 



It belongs to the class and order Po!i/gamia 

 Dioecia, {Heptandriu Monogijma,) and ranks in 

 the natural order of Nktarruiecp. 



The characters are: that in the male— the 

 calyx is scarcely any: the corolla one-pelalled, 

 bell -shaped, five-cleft: segments acute, patu- 

 lous : the stamina have five, six, or seven awl- 

 shaped filaments : anthers roundish, twin : the 

 pistillum is an oblong germ : style short: stig- 

 ma pencil-shaped : female — the calyx and co- 

 rolla as in the male: the pistillum is an oblong 

 germ : style simple, cylindrical, longer than the 

 corolla, erect: stigmas bifid: the pericarpium is 

 an oval berry, often five-cornered, valvcless, 

 one-celled: the seed single, smooth, oblong. 



The species is P. aciileata, Prickly Pisonia. 



The male and female plants differ consider- 

 ably. 



The first has stalks .as thick as a man's arm, 

 which rise ten or twelve feet hiffh: the bark is 

 of a dark brown colour, and smooth ; these send 

 out many branches by pairs opposite, w hieh arc 

 much stronger than those of the female, and do 

 not hang about so loose : they are garnished 

 with obovate stiff leaves, an inch andahalFlong, 

 and an inch and a quarter broad, standing op- 

 posite, on short footstalks. From the side of 

 the branches come out short spurs, like those of 

 the Pear-tree, having each two pairs of small 

 leaves at bottom, and from the top comes out 

 the peduncle, which is slender, about half an 

 inch long, dividing at the top into three; each 

 of these sustains a small corymb of herbaceous 

 yellow flowers, each having five stamina stand- 

 ing out beyond the petal, terminated by obtuse 

 anthers. 



In the female the stalks are not so strong as 

 those of the male, of course require support. 

 These rise eighteen or twenty feet high, sending- 

 out slender weak branches opjiosite", v. liich arc 

 armed with short, strong, hooked spines, and 

 have small oval leaves, about an inch and three 

 quarters broad; these stand opposite on the 

 larger branches, but on the smaller thev are al- 

 ternate, and have short footstalks : the fiowers 

 are produced in small bunches at the ends of the 

 branches, sitting upon the germ ; they are shap- 

 ed like those of the male, but have no stamina; 

 in the centre is situated a cylindrical st)!c, 

 crowned with five spreadinsr stigmas : the germs 

 afterwards turn to a ehanuelled, five-coruered, 

 glutinous capsule, armed with small crooked 

 sjiines, each containing one oblong, oval, smooth 

 seed. It is a native of .laaiaica, where it is 

 called Cock' s-spiir , or Fingrigo; and flowers in 

 March and April. 



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