SMALL FLOWERED DRYPETES. (37 
to Dr. Blodgett,) becomes a large tree. The wood 
appears to be whitish and close-grained, and that of D. 
alba is very hard, and much esteemed by carpenters. 
At St. Domingo, Poiteau remarked, that it generally 
seemed to prefer the protecting shade of other large 
trees with which it grew. It appears to be a very 
elegant evergreen; the twigs exuding a slightly aromatic 
resin, in small quantities, which, spreading over the 
petiole and mid rib of the leaves, communicates, at 
times, a white or glaucous hue. The leaf, to the taste, 
is slightly bitter and astringent, with some aroma aris- 
ing from the resin it possesses; and it has so much the 
flavour of tea, as almost to promise a succedaneum for 
that favourite beverage. 
The bark is of a light grey and warty. The leaves are 
from 3 to 3£ inches long, and from 1 to 1| wide, entire 
or slightly repand, attenuated into a short petiole, of a 
coriaceous consistence. The surface is delicately and 
lightly reticulated as in the leaf of the Bay ( Laurus ). 
The flowers are small and numerous, in axillary round- 
ish clusters; these in the male consist of a brownish- 
green calyx of 4 small ovate divisions, pubescent on the 
margin, containing 4 to 6 short stamens. The calyx of 
the female contains a germ with 2 short styles and capi- 
tate stigmas; there are 2 ovules in each cell; the drupe 
is villous, and when ripe is of the colour of saffron, 
containing but a single seed. The perisperm has the 
hot and acrid taste of strong mustard, but is, notwith- 
standing, the particular food of a small beetle. 
Plate LXIII. 
A branch of the natural size. a. The male flower, b. The 
female flower, c. The fruit. 
