No. 83. 
BOCCON IA FRUTESCENS *. 
Ciass. Order. 
DECANDRIA | MONOGYNIA. 
A native of the West Indies and Mexico, 
where we are informed by Hernandez that 
the Indians were very fond of it; and their 
chiefs planted it in their gardens: in the 
West India Islands the acrid juice, with 
which the plant abounds, is used to remove 
warts. It has been long known in this 
country, having been cultivated by Philip 
Miller in 1739 : it forms a handsome plant 
in the stove, and is of tolerable quick growth, 
not very tender; but being rather succulent, 
is sometimes apt to damp in the winter. 
The flowers are produced in a loose nodding 
panicle. It is of easy culture, but does not 
propagate readily, except by seeds, "which 
are sometimes perfected in this country : soil, 
loam and peat. 
The figure is reduced to about one-fourth the 
naturalsize. 
