258 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 



flowers five petals, the nectarium is cylindric, and bears anthers, 

 the capsule is five-celled, ligneous, and opens at the base. The 

 seeds are imbricated and winged like those of firs and pines. 



The hearree-tree commonly grows to above twenty feet in 

 height, and is covered by a rough grey bark, cloathed in a 

 white moss. It has a few branches near the top, with rough 

 green leaves. This tree grows near rivers, and at a distance 

 from any other trees. It is esteemed a strong poison, and is 

 said not to suffer any other vegetable to grow near it. If one 

 of these trees be found on a plantation it is not destroyed, be- 

 cause the smoke of the wood when burning, is fatal to all 

 kinds of animals. . 



The cocoa-tree, which is cultivated in the plantations, is 

 seldom suffered to grow higher than fourteen feet, although 

 in the interior of Guyana it grows wild to great heights. The 

 trunk is about six inches in diameter, covered with a light 

 green coloured bark, and destitute of branches as high as eight 

 feet. The leaves are pinnated, nine inches long and three 

 broad, of a light green color on the upper, of a dark green 

 on the under surface, which is ribbed. The flowers arise from 

 the trunk, or from the lower branches near the trunk. It 

 consists of six petals of a flesh color spotted with red. When 

 the petals fall off, the pod appears about the size and form of 

 a melon, pointed at the end and having longitudinal grooves. 



