RON 



R O N 



RONDE, or Rhoxds, a fmall ifland of the Welt Indies, 

 near the north coafl of the ifland of Grenada. It has 

 about 500 acres of excellent land, employed in palhirage, 

 and the cultivation of cotton. 



Ronde Haye, La, a town of Frmcc, in the department 

 of the Channel ; 6 miles N. of Coutances. 



Roxde, Fr., in Mufu, a femibreve. See Time-table, 

 and Mufical Characters. 



Ronde de Table, Fr. a kind of chanfon a boire, or drinking 

 fong, with a refrain, or burden to it, and generally mixed 

 with fentiments of gallantry, compofed of different flanzas, 

 which are fung by turns at table, and in which all the guefts 

 join chorus in the refrain. 



RONDEAU, Fr., an air of two or more (trains, al- 

 ways returning to, and finifhing with the firlt. In order to 

 do this in an artful, pleating manner, the modulation fhould 

 pafs into fome kev relative to that of the firll itrain. 



Roufleau has very jultly cenfured the writing and fetting 

 vocal rondeaus, in which the thought is begun in one ftrain, 

 and continued or ended in another; or begins with a fnnile, 

 of which the application is made in the iecond itrain. 



The term rondeau, derived from rondel, is of great anti- 

 quity in France. In old Englifh it was called a roundelay. 



But Roufleau, after pointing out poetical and mufical de- 

 feats in the compofition of rondeaux, indicates the means of 

 avoiding both. " Whenever a fentiment, expreffed in the 

 firft ftrain, fuggefts a reflexion which confirms and enforces 

 it in the fecond ; whenever a defcription of the finger's ftate 

 of mind is the fubject of the firft ftrain, and illuftrates a 

 fnnile in the fecond ; whenever an affirmation in the firft 

 ftrain, contains its proof and confirmation in the fecond ; 

 every time, in fhort, that the firft ftrain contains a propofi- 

 tion to perform fome action, and a reafon for it is given in 

 the fecond ; in thefe, and fimilar cafes, a rondeau will be al- 

 ways well placed." 



RONDEL, in Fortification, a round tower, fometimes 

 erected at the foot of a baflion. 



RONDELETIA, in Botany, was fo named by Plumier, 

 in memory of William Rondelet, a phyfician of Montpel- 

 lier, who died chancellor of that univerfity in 1566, aged 

 fifty-nine. He is molt celebrated for his work on Fifties ; 

 but hii ftudies were much directed to Botany, fo far as con- 

 cerned the Materia Medica ; and he is faid to have deeply 

 inveftigated the writings of Diofcorides. — Plum. Gen. 15. 

 t. 12. Linn. Gen. 90. Schreb. 1 20. Willd. Sp. PI. 

 v. I. 930. Mart. Mill. Diet. v. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 1. 

 366. Swartz Obf. 66. t. 10. f. 2. JufT. 201. Lamarck 

 illultr. t. 162. ( Lightfootia ; Schreb. 122.) — Clafs and 

 order, Pentandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Stellatee, Linn. 

 Rubiacet, Jufl. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth of one leaf, fupcrior, in five deep, 

 acute, permanent fegments. Cor. of one petal, funnel- 

 fhaped ; tube cylindrical, longer than the calyx, very 

 flightly inflated at the funimit ; limb flat, fomewhat re- 

 flexed, in five deep roundifh fegments. Nec'tary a crenate 

 ring in the orifice. Stain. Filaments five, awl-fhaped, iu- 

 ferted into the middle of the tube ; anthers fimple. Pi/1. 

 Germen roundifh, inferior ; ftyle thread-fhaped, as long as 

 the corolla ; ftigma cloven. Peric. Capfule roundifh, 

 crowned with the calyx, of two cells. Seeds two or more 

 in each cell, rarely folitary. 



Efl'. Ch. Corolla funncl-fhaped, nectariferous at the mouth. 

 Capfule of two cells, with feveral feeds, roundifh, inferior, 

 crowned with the calyx. 



A genus of Weft Indian, fimple and entire-leaved, fhrubs, 

 to which the difcoveries of Swartz have added leveral fpe- 

 cies. Three only are mentioned in the Hortus Kewcnfx, 



Vol. XXX. 



nor are any of them in general cultivation, though fome pof- 

 fefs fragrance as well as elegance. Two have four-cleft te- 

 trandrous flowers. Juffieu terms the fruit a berry, which 

 feems incorrect. Rondeletia afiatica, Linn. Sp. PI. 244., is 

 perhaps an Jxora, or Pavetta. 



1. R. americami. Corymbofe Rondeletia. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 243. Willd. n. 1. Ait. n. 1. (R. arborefcens, tini 

 facie; Plum. Ic. 237. t. 242. f. I.) — Leaves elliptic-lan- 

 ceolate, acute. Panicles repeatedly forked, on long ftalks, 

 riling above the Item. — Native of the Weft Indies. Cul- 

 tivated by Miller, before the year 1752. Mr. Aiton fays it 

 flowers in the ftove in Auguft. We have feen no fpecimen, 

 neither had Linnaeus. His defcription is taken from Plu- 

 nder's figure, r.s follows. " Afbrnb, with oppofite, fertile, 

 lanceolate leaves. Common flower-fl tits folitary, very long, 

 naked, forming at the top a forked corymbus, in each of 

 whole lubdivifions is a fertile flower, with a two-leaved in- 

 •volucrum ;" more properly a pair of braSeas. The flowers 

 are very numerous, about an inch long. Leaves not quite 

 fertile, fomewhat deflexed, entire, two or three inches long, 

 and one or one and a half broad. 



2. R. odorata. Fragrant Rondeletia. Jacq. Amer. 59. 

 t. 42. Linn. Sp. PI. 1671. Willd. n. 2. Swartz Obf. 

 67. ( R. obovata, by an error of tranfeription ; Linn. 

 Syft. Nat. ed. 12. v. 2. 163.) — Leaves ovate, bluntifh, 

 rough ; fomewhat heart-fhaped at the bafe ; on fhort ftalks. 

 Flower-ftalks cymofe, three-cleft, terminal. Native of the 

 Weft Indies, but rare. Swartz. Jacquin found it in rocky 

 places, near the fea, at the Havannah, bearing flowers, as 

 well as ripe feeds, in January. The habit of this fhrub is 

 inelegant and ftraggling ; its height fix feet ; the young 



fhoots villous. Flowers in terminal tufts, each tuft about 

 two inches broad ; their fmell very fweet, refembling vio- 

 lets. The corolla has often fix fegments, though the ^7- 

 mens are never more than five ; its colour is vermilion, witti 

 an orange nectariferous ring. 



3. R. hirla. Hairy Rondeletia. Ait.Hort.Kcw.nl. 1 

 v. I. 227. ed. 2. n. 3. Willd. n. 13. Swartz Ind. Oc< 

 v. 1. 373. — Leaves oblong, pointed, hairy, rigid; ribbed 

 beneath. Flower-ftalks axillary, three-forked, erect. — Na 

 tive of Jamaica, from whence it was imported about the 

 year 1776, by John Blackburne, efq. of Orford, Lanca- 

 fhire. It blooms in the ftove in fummer. This is laid in 

 Hort. Kew. to be very nearly akin to R. odorata, differing 

 merely in its axillary iiiflorefcence ; larger, more acute, leaves, 

 not rough on their upper furface, nor fcarcely heart-fhaped 

 at the bafe ; and longer footflalls. The tube of the corolla 

 is but twice the length of the calyx. Style prominent be- 

 yond the mouth. Stigmas erect, converging. Corolla red- 

 difh-yellow. Swartz fays there are only two feeds perfected, 

 of a hemifpherica] figure, and that the foot/la/is are (hort 

 and hairy. His defcription agrees in other refpefls wit''. 

 Mr. Aiton's. 



4. R. laevigata. Smooth-leaved Rondeletia. Ait. n. ;. 

 — Leaves (talked, elliptical, acute, very fmooth, except the 

 rib underneath. Stipulas elliptical, membranous, fmooth 

 Panicles three-forked, axillary, fomewhat hairy. — Native of 

 the Weft Indies, flowering in our Itoves in faring or fummer. 

 It was introduced, in 1790, by Mr. William Anderfon. 

 The flemis (hrubby, fpreading, with forked round branches, 

 flightly hairy when young. Leaves two or three in< 

 long, acute at each end, rather flelhy : very fmooth above ; 

 paler beneath, with a reddilh, fometimes hairy, rib and 

 veins. Stipulas very large, elliptical, obtufe, reddifh. 

 Flowers reddilh, fmall, their tube fcarcely longer than the 

 limb. Bale of the calyx clothed with long hairs. 



c. R. trifoliata. Three-leaved Rondeletia. Linn. Sp 

 3 Q PI. 



