Macfadyen's Flora of Jamaica. 591 



his preface, by expressing a hope that his book will be found 

 " to give a tolerably accurate account of what is at present known 

 of the vegetable productions" of Jamaica. 



We shall now turn over a few pages, and make some extracts, 

 as a specimen of such parts of the work as we think will be 

 interesting to gardeners and others, who have no connexion with 

 Jamaica whatever. 



Ranunculus repeiis (p. 3.). — This vile weed, so troublesome in 

 clayey soils, in Britain, and which is found in every part of Eu- 

 rope, in several districts of North America, and in Madeira, has 

 lately been naturalised in Jamaica, from the garden of a gentle- 

 man at Cold Spring. Thus it is, that, to a certain extent, the 

 useless or noxious plants or animals, following the train of civi- 

 lisation, are spread over the world, as well as the more useful 

 species. In England, for example, almost every year, some 

 foreign insect is making its appearance, the eggs of which have 

 been imported along with the plants of foreign countries. 



Anona Cherimolia (p. 9.) was long since introduced from Peru, 

 and is very common in the mountains of St. David, St. Andrew, 

 and Port Royal, where alone it thrives. The fruit is the most 

 delicious of any of the species; and the flowers are put into snuff, 

 as a substitute for the Tonquin bean. "A tree, usually 15 ft. in 

 height," and, we suppose, deciduous; but this is not mentioned. 

 From the height of the tree, it is evident that it might be readily 

 grown in pots ; and, as it is doubtless deciduous, by giving it a 

 period of rest every year, after the wood is ripened in our stoves, 

 there is no apparent reason why it should not bear fruit as well 

 as the orange tree. The fruit is of the size of a shaddock, of a 

 light green colour, with a white pulp and black seeds. As the 

 tree is generally kept in stoves in England, where it has no 

 period of rest, it is not to be wondered that, with us, it never 

 produces fruit. 



Monodbra Mi/i-islica, the calabash nutmeg, was introduced from 

 South America; and the only tree in the island is in Miss 

 Green's garden at Liguanea, near Constant Spring estate: where, 

 however, it never perfects its seeds. 



Nj/mp/ics'a ampla Dec. is common in lagoons and ponds of 

 water, flowering throughout the year. It is remarkable that a 

 plant so common and so ornamental has not yet been introduced 

 into England. 



Argembne mexicd?ia, the Mexican, or gamboge, thistle, is very 

 extensively distributed, although, as the name implies, it was at 

 one time supposed to be peculiar to Mexico. It is found in all 

 the warmer parts of the globe, as far south, in the Old world, as 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and as far north, in the New, as Ca- 

 nada. It is common in all the West India islands, in the val- 

 leys and hills of St. Helena, and even in the Sandwich Islands. 



