4 



PLANTS IN THE PUBLIC GARDENS. 



Jamaica Pltjm or Tree Tomato. 



The Jamaica Plum {Cyphomandra hetacea) is an excellent fruit and is said to have a beneficial 

 action upon the liver. It can be eaten as a dessert fruit, cutting in two, and using a spoon, or it can 

 be cooked like an ordinary tomato. The following is a receipt for stewing: — Scald the fruit, and 

 remove the thin outer skin. Put the fruit into an enamelled saucepan with just enough water to 

 cover them. Add sugar to taste, and stew gently for 15 or 20 minutes. Serve up when cold. 



The Jamaica Plum is exceedingly well adapted for export as the skin is tough, and the fruit will 

 keep perfectly for a month after picking. 



This is a product which should be taken up for all the higher elevations of Jamaica, as it 

 will probably grow well from 2,000 to 5,000 feet. The plant is an erect shrub. Seedlings will bear 

 fruit in from one to two years, — cuttings in less than a year. 



It is a native of the Andes, and is met with occasionally in the hills of Jamaica, apparently wild. 

 It has been distributed from the Jamaica Botanic Gardens to the hills of India, Ceylon and Hong Kong. 



Napoleona. 



Napoleona imperialis, is a small tree, native of western tropical Africa. The structure of the 

 flower is interesting. The corolla consists of three rows : the outer is of a rich claret colour with a 

 cream, or apricot coloured margin ; it is divided into 5 lobes, each lobe with 6 or 7 ribs spreading from 

 the base like a fan; as it expands, it bends outwards concealing the calyx. The next row is some- 

 what like the "crown" of the passion flower, consisting of a number of whitish threads tipped with 

 pink. The third and innermost row is cup-shaped with the margin bent inwards and divided into 

 numerous pinkish teeth. Within this, come the stamens, about 20 in number, cream-coloured with 

 the points of a pale claret colour. The fruit is soft, somewhat like a pomegranate, the rind contains so 

 much tannin that a kind of ink is made from it in Africa. This ornamental tree can be now supplied 

 from the Public Gardens. 



CLOVES. 



The clove, Eugenia caryophyllata, Thunberg, is a tree 30 or 40 feet high when full grown. The 

 cloves of commerce are the unexpanded flower-buds, of which great numbers are produced. The 

 average weight of cloves produced by a tree in Amboyna is 2 or 2^lb8, and as it takes about 5,000 

 cloves to make a pound, each tree will have 10,000 to 12,000 flowers, and that twice in the year. 



One of the original trees planted by the French in Mauritius yielded in some years 125 lbs of 

 spice, and there must have been more than 600,000 flowers on this single tree during the year, a fact 

 says Bory de St. Vincent, " which would appear incredible, were we not to meation that this beauti- 

 ful tree is at least 40 ft. high, throwing out innumerable braaches, some of which falling down on all 

 sides, form a pyramid of verdure." 



At the end of the year the tree is covered with its lovely crimson buds, shown off by the back- 

 ground of dark-green leaves. The buds are picked by hand as soon as they turn crimson and before 

 opening. They are then dried in the sun. 



The form of the dried buds somewhat resembles a nail, — the French call the spice Clou, and the 

 Spanish Clavo, whence the English name Clove. 



The tree begins to flower at the age of 6 years, yields the largest crops at 12, and does not last 

 longer than 20 years. 



The spice appears to have come into use in Europe after the Portugese in the year 1511 discovered 

 the Moluccas, where it is a native. When the Dutch seized the Spice Islands, they tried to restrict 

 the cultivation, but the French introduced the tree into Maurititus in 1769, and from that island into 

 Cayenne 10 years later. 



At later periods they planted it in Haiti, Dominica, St. Kitt's and Martinique, whence it was 

 introduced to St. Vincent. It was first planted in Jamaica in 1769 by Dr. Thomas Clarke, Island 

 Botanist, who obtained it from Port-au-Prince. 



Cloves have been supplied commercially almost wholly from the island of Zanzibar. But with 

 the abolition of slavery there, the exports will fall off very considerably, and the supply must come 

 from elsewhere. 



The tree in the Castleton Gardens is now flowering, and there are 500 young seedlings ready for 

 planting, which will be delivered in Kingston at the rate of 2d each. 



Kangaroo Grass. 



Kangaroo Grass {Anthistiria ciliata, Linn.) is well known in Australia, and it is also found in the 

 warmer parts of Asia and Africa. It is not recorded from the New World, and it is probable there- 

 fore that it has been accidentally introduced into Jamaica. It was brought to my notice two or three 

 years ago as occurring in Trelawny, and now another correspondent from the same parish makes en- 

 quiries about it. 



This grass is recommended as a pasture grass for dry situations as it is perennial, and the lono 

 roots penetrate to a great distance in the soil. It is most autritious. and horses and cattle are so fond 

 of it that in an over-stocked pasture, it is liable to be killed out. Cut when flowering, it makes an 

 excellent hay. Baron von Mueller gives the chemical analysis as follows : — Albumen, 2.05 ; gluten, 

 4.67; starch, 0.69; gum, 1.67; sugar, 3.06. He says that in good seasons and in fair soil it will rise 

 to over man's height. 



Seed is only rarely produced, but it is propagated by division of the roots. W.F. 



