396 Foreign Notices. — North America. 



This beautiful and diminutive plant is a perfect resemblance, in minia- 

 ture, of the common shrub, iJhododendron ponticum. It is found only 

 upon the most barren mountains, near the limits of perpetual snow, and 

 blossoms in the end of June ,• and is so extremely minute a shrub, that one 

 plant, apparently very old, and bearing, perhaps, 500 flowers, might be 

 covered with the hand. {Capell BrooWs Lapland, p. 152.) 



NORTH AMERICA. 



Zamia integrifolia ; CycadecB, Its nutritive Properties, Sj-c. — Mr. M'Fad- 

 yen, botanist to the island of Jamaica, described this species as indigenous 

 to the island, in a communication read to the Jamaica Society of Arts, in 

 October, 1826, and subsequently published in the Royal Jamaica Gazette. 

 From this communication the following extract has been sent us, by our 

 correspondent X. Y. : — " Zamia integrifolia has been considered as a native 

 of East Florida and St. Domingo. Dr. Mason has the merit of first show- 

 ing that it is an inhabitant of Jamaica. There is another species, Z. debilis, 

 a native of Hispaniola, which was introduced by Mr. Ellis. The present 

 species is distinguished from it by the leaves in the latter being lanceolate- 

 acute, while in our plant they are scimitar-shaped, rounded, obtuse, and 

 serrated at the apex, on the exterior side. As for the economical uses of 

 the plant, starch may be obtained from the root, which is to be grated and 

 prepared like arrow root. If we may judge from the quantity of adhesive 

 fluid which exudes from the root and flower-stalk, when divided, it is pro- 

 bably combined with a considerable portion of gluten. We may, from this, 

 set it down as not inferior in its nutritive qualities to any of the alimentary 

 substances obtained in this manner, having nearly the same ingredients as 

 wheat flour. In taste it is exceedingly palatable. It is also easily procured, 

 the bark covering the root being thin, and separating without difficulty, 

 leaving the soft fleshy part ready for preparation. In this respect it differs 

 from the 6'ycas circinalis (Sago Palm), the undeveloped protuberances of 

 which are covered with a thick bark, separated with difficulty." 



The Nutgrass of the West Indies (Cyperus hydra) is the scourge of all 

 light soils ; and some estates in the islands of Nevis and St. Christopher are 

 so infested by it, that the culture of the sugar-cane has been abandoned. It 

 is suggested by Dr. Hamilton, of Plymouth, that the Caesalpinia coriaria 

 might be advantageously substituted in such estates for the sugar-cane, and 

 he thinks it would prove equally profitable. 



Rapid Vegetation in the United States. — Some English peas brought out 

 by the British brig Catherine, Donald, from Liverpool, were sown by Mr. 

 Cooper, of St. Simmonds (Georgia), on the 10th January. On the 27th of 

 February, that gentleman sent Captain Donald a peck of fine green peas, 

 the produce of the same seed. An apricot, measuring S^in. in circumfe- 

 rence, which grew in an open garden in New York, was exhibited at the 

 Meeting of the Horticultural Society, on the 22d of April. Such is the rapid 

 progress of vegetation in this country. (Netv York JEvenhig Post, April 23. 

 1828.) 



Season at Charleston, South Carolina, Feb. 5. 1828. — A gentleman showed 

 us a ripe pear, matured without any peculiar cultivation in the open air. 

 {Gordon's MS. Journal of a Visit to America in 1828.) 



Orange Trees in Florida, Jan. 1. 1828. — The orange trees here are bear- 

 ing upon their boughs four different crops, in various stages of growth ; 

 other trees are also in bloom, and many are budding. {Ibid.) 



Kosegay at Fredewicks, in Virginia, Feb. 6. — Saw, on Sunday last, a 

 nosegay, consisting of the following flowers : a full-blown white hyacinth, 

 two kinds of violets, daffodils, and wallflowers. They were grown in a 

 situation unprotected from the weather, in the garden of Mr.C. C. Welford, 

 of this town. {Ibid.) 



