B O 



fcatter, will grow, and becomeWeeds 

 in fuch Places. But, in England, the 

 Seeds mall be fown upon an Hot- 

 bed in March, and the Plants muft 

 be tranfplanted upon another mo- 

 derate Hot-bed, to bring them for- 

 ward ; where they may grow till 

 the Middle of June ; when they mull 

 be carefully tranfplanted into a B^d 

 of rich Earth, in a warm Situation ; 

 and they will perfect their Seeds in 

 Augufi, or the Beginning of Sep- 

 temb-r. 



BONDUC, The Nickar - tree, 

 *vulgo. 



The Characters are ; 



It hath a pol)petalous, or a mono- 

 petalous Flower, cut 'very deeply into 

 fi<veral Segments ; but is almojl of 

 an anomalous Figure: from wfrofe 

 Calyx arijes the Pointal, which af- 

 terward becomes a Pod btfet all oner 

 with Prickles, in which are contained 

 one or two round hard Seeds. 

 The Species are ; 



1. Bonduc vulgar e majus poly- 

 phyllum. Plum. Nov. Gen. The 

 yellow Nickar, or Horfe- nickar, 

 vulgo. 



2. Bonduc vulgare minus poly- 

 phyllum. Plum. Nov. Gen. The grey 

 or nib-colour 1 d Nickar. 



3. Bonduc caule reel a inermi, fo- 

 liis deciduis. Upright fmooth Ca- 

 nada Nickar-tree, which calls its 

 Leaves in Winter. 



The two firit Sorts are very com- 

 mon in "Jamaica, Barbados, and the 

 Caribbce- I/lands; where the Children 

 ufe the Fruit for Marbles j their 

 outer Coats being fo hard, as with 

 great Difficulty to be broken. Thefe 

 Fruits are often brought to England, 

 and formerly were uled for Buttons ; 

 but at prefent I don't know any 

 Ufe made of them. They com- 

 monly grow to the Height of ten or 

 twelve Feet, and twift themfelves 

 round any other Trees which grow 



near them. There is very little Dif- 

 ference between thefe two Plants, 

 except in the Colour of their Fruit, 

 and the fecond Sort having fmalier 

 and rounder Leaves than the firft. 



Thefe Plants are propagated by 

 Seeds, which are fo hard, as not 

 eafily to be made to vegetate in 

 England. The only Way by which 

 I have been able to get thefe Plants 

 from Seeds, is, to put the Seeds into 

 a warm Bed of Tanners Bark, under 

 a Pot, where the Heat of the Tan, 

 and the Moifture which gets thro* 

 the Pot, will caufe the Shell of the 

 Fruit to burft, and the young Plant 

 foon after appears : then they may 

 be taken out of the Tan, and put 

 each into a fmall Pot filled with 

 frefh Earth, and plunged into the 

 Tan again. Thefe Plants will make 

 confiderable Progrefs, if they are 

 kept in a warm Bed, and frequently 

 watered. They muft alfo be kept 

 in a Bark-ftove in Winter; other- 

 wife it will be difficult to preferve 

 them in this Country. Their Stems, 

 Branches, and Leaves, are all befet 

 with friarp crooked Spines ; which 

 faften themfelves to the Cloaths of 

 any Perfon who approaches them. 

 Thefe Plants are preferved for Va- 

 riety, by fuch as are curious in Exotic 

 Plants. 



The Seeds of the third Sort of 

 Nickar-tree were brought from C<z- 

 nada, where it grows to a Tree of 

 great Size. Thefe were raifed at 

 Paris, in the Royal Garden, where 

 they thrive in the open Air, and 

 produce Suckers from their Roots; 

 by which they have been propa- 

 gated, and difperfed into fome cu- 

 rious Gardens; but, at prefent, it 

 is very rare in England ; being only 

 in the curious Gardens of the late 

 Duke of Richmond, at Goodwood in 

 Sujftx ; and one Plant in the Phy- 

 fic-garden at Cbf/fea, which his late 



Grace 



