VEGETABLE sr. 



269 



value of tliis tree ought to induce farmers to cul- 

 tivate it. 



Carica pafiaya. This admirable tree, is certain- 

 ly the most beawtiful of any vegetable production I 

 know of ; the towering laurel magnolia, and exalted 

 palm, indeed exceed it in grandeur and magnificence, 

 but not in elegance, delicacy, and gracefulness; it 

 rises erect, with a perfectly straight tapering stem, 

 to the height of fifteen or twenty feet, which is smooth 

 and polished, of a bright ash colour, resembling leaf- 

 silver, curiously inscribed with the foot-steps of the 

 f:illen leaves, and these vestiges are placed in a very 

 regular, uniform, imbricated order, which has a fine 

 effect, as if the little columns were elegantly carved 

 all over. Tts perfectly spherical top is formed of a 

 very large lobe-sinuate leaves, supported on very long 

 footstalks ; the lower leaves are the largest, as well 

 as their petioles the longest, and make a graceful 

 sweep or flourish, like the branches of a sconce 

 candlestick. The ripe and green fruit are placed 

 round about the stem or trunk, from the lowermost 

 leaves, where the ripe fruit are, and upwards almost 

 to the top ; the heart or inmost pithy part of the 

 trunk is in a manner hollow, or at best consists of 

 very thin porous medullse or membranes ; the tree 

 very seldom branches or divides into limbs. It is 

 always green, orna.mented at the same time with 

 flowers and fruit, which, like figs, come out singly 

 from the trunk or stem....Bartram. 



Juglans nigra^ round black Virginia walnut. This 

 tree often rises to the height of fifty or sixty feet, and 

 to three feet or more in diameter, covered with a 

 dark furrowed bark, and dividing into many 



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