ROM DE LET I A. 



PL 1671. Willd. n. 3. (R. trifolia; Jacq. Amer. 60. 

 t. 43. " R. arborefcens, tini facie ; Ehret Pidt. t. 15.") — 

 Leaves on long hairy Italks, whorled, lanceolate, acute ; 

 fomewhat downy beneath. Stipulas pointed. Panicles 

 axillary, compound, hairy. — Native of Jamaica, flowering 

 in February. — An upright tree, twelve feet high. Young 

 branches obtufely triangular, hairy. Leaves three in a 

 whorl, lanceolate, acute, entire, three inches long ; fmooth 

 above ; flightly downy beneath ; with hairy footjlalks. 

 Stipulas roundilh, pointed, ternate, alternate with the leaves. 

 Clujlers axillary, one inch and a half or more in length, 

 hairy, unequal, branched. Flowers inodorous, fmall, red- 

 difh, feffile or (talked. Fruit not examined. Jacquin. — On 

 comparing Browne's fpecimen of his Petcjia, t. 2. f. 3, 

 with Jacquin's plate and defcription of this Rondeletia, we 

 are perfuaded they muft be the fame thing. Confequently 

 the Ixora americana of Liunseus, an ambiguous and obfeure 

 plant, ought to be expunged, and referred hither. (See 

 Ixora, n. II.) Swartz quotes this fynonym of Browne 

 for his racemofa, (fee the following) ; but a comparison of 

 fpecimens fhews them to be diltinct, though very nearly 

 akin. 



6. R. racemofa. Smooth Racemofe Rondeletia. Swartz 

 Ind. Occ. v. 1. 360. Willd. n. 7, excluding Browne's 

 fynonym. — Leaves on long fmooth italks, ovato-lanceolate, 

 pointed, fmooth on both fides. Stipulas abrupt, pointed. 

 Clutters axillary, three-forked, fpreading, fmooth. — Native 

 of uncultivated hills in Jamaica. Like the la (t in habit, 

 but the leaves are oppofite, mure coriaceous, and quite 

 fmooth, as well as the footjlalks and flonucr-Jlalks. The 

 fl'ipulas are fringed, like the bratleas and calyx. Corolla ex- 

 ternally finely downy, as in Browne's fpeeimen juit alluded 

 to under R. trifoliata. 



7. R. virgata. Long-branched Rondeletia. Swartz Ind. 

 Occ. 354. Willd. 11. 4. — " Leaves heart-fhaped, roundilh. 

 Branches fpreading, thread-fhaped. Flower-italks three- 

 cleft. Flowers three together, crowded. Stamens four." — 

 Gathered by Swartz in bufhy places, near the fea, in the 

 northern part of Hilpaniola, flowering and fruiting in 

 December. — A Jhrub about fix feet high, with very long, 

 fpreading, alternate, rough-barked twigs. Leaves half 

 an inch long, on fhort flalks, fomewhat reflexed, very 

 fmooth. Stipulas minute, acute. Flowerjlalks axillary and 

 terminal, oppofite, elongated and eredt, refembling branches, 

 and otten bearing a pair or two of leaves, three-cleft ; the 

 terminal ones leaflels, and bearing but three flowers. Flowers 

 terminal, brownifli-purple, iilky at the outiide; four-cleft, 

 with four very fhort Jlamens. Seeds feveral, minute, coin- 

 prefled. 



8. R. pilofa. Hoary Rondeletia. Swartz Lid. Occ. 

 v. 1. 356. Willd. n. 5. (R. triflora; Valil. Symb. v. 3. 

 34. t. 54. )— Leaves ovato-lanceolate, hairy on both fides. 

 Flower-italks axillary, fhorter than the leaves, three-flowered. 

 llamens four. — Native of the Welt India illauds, of Santa 

 Cruz, and Montferrat. A Jljrub, whofe young branches, 

 leaves, Jlalks, calyx, and outiide of the corolla, are clothed 

 with fine, foft, hoary pubefceuce. Leaves on itill more 

 hairy footjlalks, elliptic-lanceolate, with a fmall acute point, 

 twoorthree inches long, ribbed ; paler, or glaucous, beneath. 

 Flowerjlalks oppofite, axillary, rather lhorter than the 

 leaves, hairy, each bearing three flowers, of which the middle- 

 molt has the (horteft partial ltalk. BraSeas, and fegments 

 of the calyx, long, awl-lhaped. Corolla four-cleft ; fome- 

 what downy within, but mod without. We have no ac- 

 count of the colour, as Swartz feems not to have gathered 

 this fpecies himfelf. The dried Jlowers are brown, with 

 fome indication of a tawny hue. 



9. R. thyrfoidea. Tufted Rondeletia. Swartz Ind. Occ. 

 v. 1. 35s'. Willd. n. 6. — Leaves obloNg, acute, membra- 

 nous; downy beneath. Stipulas ovate, acute, fmooth. Clut- 

 ters axillary, denfe, many-flowered. — Native of dry barren 

 hills, in the weftern part ot Jamaica, flowering in May. A 

 fmooth, branchingyJrai, fix feet high, with long, fpreading, 

 bluntly quadrangular twigs. Leaves three inches long, acute 

 at each end, ribbed, veiny ; fmooth above. Footjlalks an 

 inch long, ftriated. Stipulas clofe-prefled, broad, ovate, acute, 

 fmooth, rigid. Clujlers denfe, oblong, (horter than the 

 leaves, on fmooth italks, their branches oppofite, eroding 

 each other, fubdivided ; the Lit ufually three-flowered. 

 Flowers fmall, yellowilh-white, or ruity-coloured, highly 

 fragrant at night. BraSeas minute, awl-(haped. Calyx 

 very minute, five-toothed. Corolla five-cleft, with five 



Jlamens. Seeds two in each cell, rounded, fomewhat angular, 

 ftriated. 



10. R. laurifolia. Laurel-leaved Rondeletia. Swartz 

 Ind. Occ. v. 1. 363. Willd. n. 8, excluding Browne'.', 

 fynonym. — "Leaves lanceolate-oblong, acute, fmooth on 

 both fides. Stipulas deltoid. Chillers axillary, compound, 

 eredt. Tube of the corolla very fhort." — Grows in bufh) 

 places in Jamaica.— Branches round, fmooth. Leaves laurel- 

 like, three or four inches long, ribbed, veiny ; paler be- 

 neath. Footjlalks an inch long, fmooth, flat on the uppei 

 fide. Stipulas broad, combined, deltoid, pointed, fpreading, 

 rigid, downy at the edge. Clujlers often as long as the 

 leaves, compound, their ultimate divifions moftly three- 

 flowered. Braclcas very minute. Flowers fmall, brownifh- 

 yellow, five-cleft. Seeds in an early ftate numerous, mem- 

 branous, but two only arrive at maturity, which are hemi- 

 fphencal. — We cannot but diflent from our learned friend 

 profellor Swartz, in his citation of Browne's t. 2. f. 2, 

 and confequent remarks. That plate certainly reprefents 

 the Pete/la JlipularU of Linnatus, whicll was defcribed from 

 Browne's own fpecimen, and the leaves are, on both fides, 

 finely downy, though no fuch character is exprefled in the 

 engraving. The injlorefcence is thyrfoid, and not half fo 

 long as the leaves. See the next fpecies. 



I I. R. tomentofa. Downy-leaved Rondeletia. Swart/ 

 Ind. Occ. v. 1. 365. Willd. n. 9. (Petefia tlipularis ; 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 160. P. fruticofa, foliis ovatis oppofitis, 

 &c. ; Browne Jam. 143. t. 2. f. 2.) — Leaves elliptic-lan- 

 ceolate, pointed, downy. Flower-italks three-forked, axil- 

 lary, much (horter than the leaves. — Native of ftony hills 

 in Jamaica, near the fliady road called Sixteen-mile walk, 

 not far from Spanifhtown. Swartz. A fpecimen from 

 the author fhews this to be precifely the above plant of 

 Linnaeus and Browne, as Swartz fufpected. We refer the' 

 reader to Petesia for its defcription, and for remarks on 

 the uncertainty of that genus, which perhaps mutt here- 

 after be funk in Rondeletia. 



12. R. umbellulata. Umbellate Rondeletia- Swartz 

 Ind. Occ. v. 1. 367. Willd. n. 10. — Leaves elliptic- 

 lanceolate, acute, fomewhat hairy. Stipulas ovate, pointed, 

 membranous, hairy. Flower-italks axillary, three-forked. 

 Flowers fomewhat umbellate. — Native of rocky ba;.iI;R of 

 rivers in Jamaica, flowering in April. Swartz. That 

 author fufpetts his plant may be the fame with Browne's 

 third Petefia, which we have adopted by the name of villa/a, 

 n. 4. This may poffibly be the cafe ; but having no 

 fpecimen of what Browne intended, we cannot determine the 

 point. Swartz's plant, communicated by himfelf, is a 

 branching upright flirub, two feet or more in height ; the 

 branches fmooth, fomewhat comprefitd ; hairy and leafy at 

 the iummit. Leaves about three inches long, clothed with 

 fhort fcattered hairs, and fupportcd by hairy f.alks, half 



