A L N 



©bovate, finely ferraled ; veins and their origin hairy beneath. 

 Stipulas elliptical, obtufe. — Native of North America. 

 Common every where in fwamps, and by river fides, flower- 

 ing in March. A.J}jrub, from lis to ten feet high, growing 

 in clofe thickets. Purjh. See BeTula n. 1 2. The lea-ues 

 do not appear to be glutinous, or at leaft not fo much fo as 

 the Common Alder, from which alfo they differ in being 

 regularly and finely ferrated, not notched, or jagged. 



ALOEXYLUM, ciXr,-n\\i\m,' Aloes-wood, a name given 

 to tlie tree which produces tliis precious wood, by Loureiro ; 

 Fl. Cochinch. 267. See Agallochu.m. — He refers it to 

 the Clafs and Order, Decandria Moitogynia, and its Natural 

 Order feems to be Lomentaces, Liim. Legumlnofa, JulT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of four acute, hairy, 

 deciduous leaves ; the lowermoft falcate, incurved, nearly 

 twice as long as the reft. Cor. Petals five, unequal, longer 

 than the calyx. Stam. Filaments ten ; anthers .... Pifi. 

 Germen fuperior, elongated, curved, comprefTed ; ftyle 



thread-lhaped ; ftigma Peric. Legume v/oody, 



fmooth, falcate. Seed folitary, oblong, curved, tunicated. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx of four acute deciduous leaves ; the 

 lower one longeft. Petals five, unequal. Legume curved. 

 Seed folitary, tunicated. 



I. A. Agallochum. Fragrant Aloes-wood. — Native of 

 the loftieft mountains of Cochinchina, near the great river 

 ■which runs between that kingdom and Laofios. A laro-e 

 lofty /rff, with ereft branches. Bark fibrous, brown, fmooth, 

 not thick. Leaves alternate, ftalked, lanceolate, flat, entire, 

 fmooth, rather coriaceous, eight inches long. Floiver-Jlalks 

 terminal, many-flowered. Loureiro. This genus is manifeftly 

 different from Aquilaria. (See that article.) Loureiro 

 defcribes the wood as white and inodorous, becoming refi- 

 nous and fragrant in confequence of fome injury, till the 

 tree dies. No part of this tree is milky, nor poifonous. 

 He adds, that all the forts of genuine aloes-wood are pro- 

 duced by this tree, even the rnoft precious, termed Calambac, 

 which is found no where but on the mountains of Cham- 

 pavac, belonging to Cochinchina, fituated about the 13th 

 degree of north latitude. The inferior fpecies, or rather 

 varieties, are obtained in various places, fometimes in pieces 

 weighing thirty pounds or more. " There are," fays Lou- 

 reiro, " other fragrant woods, called by ignorant perfons 

 Agallochum, and Lignum Aloe, differing greatly from each 

 other, and the produce of different plants." The common 

 writing paper of Cochinchina is made of tlie bark of this 

 tree. Yet the plant itfelf feems rare, Loureiro having long 

 enquired in vain for the flowers, and having obtained them 

 but once, in a bruifed and mutilated condition. 



Whether the Agallochum, or Calambac, Rumph. Amboin. 

 V. 2. 29, of which that author gives no figure, be the plant 

 of Loureiro, we cannot pofitively determine, though it feems 

 likely. The Agallochum fecundarium, or Garo, of the fame 

 volume, 34. t. 10, is certainly the Aquilaria. We have 

 received from Dr. Roxburgh fpecimens of the wood itfelf ; 

 as well as of the fruit, agreeing exadly with Rumphius's 

 figure, and evidently the Gyrinops Walla of Gasrtner, v. 2. 

 276. t. 140. In Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. 11. 230, the writer 

 of this has hinted at the probable affinity of Aquilaria to the 

 Euphorbiit. 



ALONSOA, a genus eftabhfhed by Ruiz and Pavon, 

 Fl. Peruv. Syfl:. 150, and adopted in Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 V. 4. 27, is founded on two fpecies of Hemimeris, (fee that 

 article,) nor can we difcover the leaft poffible charafter to 

 diftinguifh them from the latter ; whicli having been much 

 confufed in its hiftory by Linnseus, was perhaps not under- 

 ftood by the authors of the Flora Peruviana. Thefe fpecies 

 are our H. urticifoUa, (Alonfoa incififoha ; Fl. Peruv.) and 



Vol. XXXIX. 



A L N 



H. linearis, (A. linearis of the fame Work.) Profeffor Will- 

 denow, though he had never feen more than one Hemimeris 

 the montana, and that in a dried ftate, could not overtook 

 the identity of thefe genera, nor can we account for its 

 havmg efcaped the learned editors of the Hortus Kewenfis. 

 But It is evident from their generic character of Alonfoa that 

 they did not contraft the two genera ; for thefe are proved 

 the fame by the charafter itfelf, which nms thus, and is 

 equally fuitable to both. 



Calyx m five deep fegments. Corolla nearly wheel-fhaped, 

 reverfed, five-cleft ; the uppermoft fegment lai-geft. Stamens 

 dechnmg ; vnth fmooth filaments ; and converging uniform 

 anthers. Capfule of two cells. 



Hemimeris, being a long-eftablifhed Linnsean name, of 

 appropriate and unexceptionable meaning, muft, of courfe, 

 be retained. 



ALPINIA, the article already given requires reform- 

 ation, in confequence of fubfequent difcoveries, chiefly ownng 

 to Mr. Rofcoe's inveftigations. (See Scitamine.'e and 

 RoscoEA. ) Recurring to the original genus, founded by 

 Plumier, and adopted by Linnzus, as the bafis of the whole, 

 we do not, in quoting various authors, who have followed 

 thefe, confider as Alpinin all that they have included herein. 

 We fhall limit the charafters after Mr. Rofcoe's principles, 

 fo as to exclude what does not belong to this very natural 

 genus, and, on the other hand, to introduce what has, under 



other names, been improperly feparated from it Linn. 



Gen. 3. Schreb. 4. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 11. Mart. Mill. 

 Dia. V. I. Ait. Hort. Kew. V. I. 3. RofcoeTr.of Linn. 

 Soc. V. 8. 343. t. 20. f. 7. Sm, Ex. Bot. V. 2. 93. Roxb. 

 Afiat. Ref. V. II. diff. 7. Jufl". 63. Gxrtn. t. 12. (Al- 

 pina ; Plum. Gen. 26. t. 1 1. Renealmia ; Linn. Suppl. 7. 

 Schreb. 2. Willd. Sp. PI. V. t. 6. Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 4, 

 Catimbium ; JufT. 62. Zerumbet ; Wendl. Sert. Hannov. 

 t. 19. Jacq. Fragm. Bot. 50. t. 68.) — Clafs and order, 

 Monandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Scilamine^, Linn. Cannt, 

 JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth fuperior, of one leaf, tubular, 

 irregularly fplitting into two or three teeth. Cor. of one 

 petal, irregular, tubular at the bafe : Umb double, unequal ; 

 the outermoft two-lipped, in three deep fegments, of which 

 the upper one is ufually broadeft, and concave, the two 

 lower equal and narrower ; innemioft of a fmgle Hp, ftraight, 

 as long or longer than the outer hmb, dilated, lobed, or 

 jagged, at the extremity, furnifhed at the bafe with a pair 

 of awl-fliaped teeth. Stam. Filament one, oppofite to the 

 lip, (hort and ftout, quite fimple ; anther terminal, ereft, 

 thick, limple, without any appendage, convex at the back, 

 emarginate, divided in front into two parallel, clofe, oblong 

 lobes, burfting longitudinally. Pij}. Germen inferior, 

 elliptic-oblong, with three furrows ; ftyle thread-fhaped, 

 ere<S, fmooth, the length of the ftamen, embraced by the 

 lobes of the anther ; ftigma peltate, umbilicatcd, hrJry, 

 Peric. Capfule flefhy, oval, abrupt, um.bihcated, mth three 

 furrows, three valves, and three cells. Seeds numerous, 

 tunicated, ovate, angular, abrupt, inferted into a pulpy 

 receptacle. 



Eff. Ch. Anther two-lobed, terminal, embracing the ftyle, 

 ^vithout any appendage. Inner limb of the corolla a fimple 

 lip. Capfule flefhy. 



Dr. Roxburgh, who had opportunities of ftudying the 

 various fpecies of this, and many other Scitamineous geners, 

 in their native fituations, fpeaks of Alpinia as a good natural 

 genus, having, befides the proper charaders in the fruAifica- 

 tion, certain peculiarly ftrlking ones in the habit. The roctt 

 are perennial, tuberous, ftropg, thick, crooked, running 

 nearly horizontally, a little below the fuiface of the ground, 

 O o and 



