6 



bed within the calyx, and surrounding the single pistil. The stamens are about 2 inches long and are 

 filamentous and therefore do not stand out in any star-like form, and the bees and wasps just cut them 

 down by the dozen to get at the two or 3 drops of nectar, secreting from the thalamus. The calyx is 

 small and four-fold. The corolla is also four-fold ; when it opens it folds back over the calyx, but it 

 remains without still quite green and within also of a silky sheeny green, and might, to me, easily be 

 taken for an inner foliation of the calyx. 



" These green petals of the corolla soon drop, or are just gnawed out by the bees and wasps, and 

 the calyx- leaves, or sepals, also soon after drop, and the stamens by that time have all disappeared also, 

 leaving just the bed and the pistil. 



" Hitherto the flower has been upright, and when in bloom its perfume is fine and delicate, not so 

 strong as the jasmine, and a little like the coffee ; but when the flower has dropped, the end of the 

 pistil begins to swell and the stalk of it to elongate, until as shewn in the samples sent the pistil turns 

 into a a bean-pod, 6, 8 or even 10 inches long ! 



" I have seen this morning 2 or 3 of these pods, they are not ripe yet, 10 inches long. I do not 

 pluck them as I want them for seed and when ripe I will send you some of them, if you care to have 

 them. The plants grow here naturally in the lowlands, and stand drought well. The wood is small 

 but krotty and close-grained. 



" The swelling of the pistil and turning itself at the extreme end into a bean pod seems to me 

 remarkable. The Leguminosae seems within their papilionaceous flowers to develop the seed-pod. 



" I have sent you specimens by which you can see this gradual transformation when in flower. 

 The head of the pistil is quite blunt even to a pocket magnifying glass, and seems just as fragile and 

 as likely to dry and fall off as the staminal filaments. 



" Wasps and ants at least feed upon the reddish fruity matter that lines the inside of the open pod." 



In the above notes, the Rev. H. Scotland has pointed out the economic value of this tree to bee- 

 keepers, and especially to those who live in dry situations, subject to droughts. 



The root tastes like Horse-radish, and Dr. Macfadyen states that it has been recommended as a 

 specific in dropsy. 



This plant is commonly known as the Bottle-cod Root. Its botanical name is Capparis cyno- 

 phallophora. It belongs to the Caper family (Capparidece.) Mr. Scotland has very well pointed out 

 a characteristic of the family,- the peculiar fruit with a long stalk. Another species, a shrub native 

 in the Mediterranean region, ( Capparis spinosa,) yields commercial capers, which are the flower-buds 

 preserved in salt and vinegar. The Garlic-Pear Tree, common in the Liguanea Plains, (Cratwva 

 gynandra.) belongs to the same fimily. The bark applied externally is said to produce vesication. 



The only other member of this family growing in -Jamaica which is of economic value is the Five- 

 leaved Bastard Mustard (Gynandropsis pentaphylla). It is an herbaceous plant, about 2 feet high, found 

 in dry places ; petals white with a slight tinge of purple ; stamens 6, united below; leaflets generally 

 5, sometimes 3. 



Macfadyen states: This plant has a warm bitter taste. It is said to be a very wholesome green, 

 and to be a preventative against belly-ache ; but to render it palatable, it requires a long boiling, and 

 the water to be frequently changed. The juice either plain, or mixed with sweet oil is a certain remedy 

 for the ear-ache. It ought to be warmed previous to being used. A preparation may be made by 

 ^eating up the young branches of the plant with sweet oil, in a mortar". 



FERNS : SYNOPTICAL LIST.— XII. 



Synoptical List, with description, of the Ferns and Fern- Allies of Jamaica, by G. S. Jenman, Superin- 

 tendent Botanical' Gardens, Demerara, ( continued). 



21 . Adiantum melanoleucum, Willd.— Rootstock shortly repent, fasciculate, densely scaly ; stipes 

 ft. 1. Blender or strong, dark, channelled, naked, slightly asperous or not; fronds bi-tri pinnate ft. 

 1. 8-10 in. w. chartaceous, dark green on both sides, upper rather glossy, rachis and costae slender 

 polished blackish, naked ; pinnae spreading or erect-spreading, 3-8 to a side, with a similar long terminal 

 one 3-8 in 1. f-l| in. w. the inferior ones branched at the base or not, segments close, numerous, 

 dimidiate, curved or sublunate, rarely straight, 5-8 li. 1. 2-3 li. w. oblong, usually rounded at the end, 

 barren finely dentate; veins free, radiating, repeatedly forked, fine, close; sori reniform or cres6ent- 

 ehaped, extending along the upper and decurved outer margin, with shallow incisions between. Plum, 

 t. 96. A. cubense, Hook. Sp. Fil. vol. 2. t. 73. .a. 



Var. nanum, Jenm. — Fronds very delicate, pinnate or rarely bipinnate at the base, 2-3 in. 1. |-1 

 in. w. ; segments 6-10 to a side with a larger subdeltoid or somewhat elongated terminal one. 



Abundai.t in different parts of the Island from sea level up to 1,000 or 1,500 ft. alt, preferring 

 wet calcareous rocks and banks. Very variable, there being apparently three or four distinct forms. 

 The largest state is tripinnate at the base, and of this Plumier's figure is a good representation. 

 Hooker's cubense, which is simply pinnate, was probably founded on an undeveloped plant. Appa- 

 N Qtly there arc one or two Jamaica forms uniformly bipinnate only smaller than the large state men- 

 tioned. The variety nanum which was gathered plentifully on the dripping perpendicular banks of 

 Si. deorge's spring, Chesterfield, St. Mary, is a delicate little plunt, two or three inches long, includ- 

 ing the filiform stipes, simply pinnate as a rule with relatively large segments and copious sori. The 

 shape of the segments vury in different forms. In some the upper margin is decurved, the under be- 



