8 
THALAMI FLORAE. 
and 2 broad : petiole short, plane above. Peduncle opposite 
to a leaf, twice the length of the petiole, solitary, 1 -flowered, 
thick, terete, furnished with 2 scale-like braeteas. Flowers 
rather smaller than those of the common Sour- Sop. Calyx 
nearly 3-angular, 3-fid : divisions subacuminate, ciliated, with 
fulvous hair. Petals of an olive green colour, not stained on the 
back with purple, velutiuo-puberulous ; the 3 outer rotundo- 
ovate, subacuminate, thick, leathery ; the 3 inner of nearly the 
same size as the outer, but thinner, concave, rounded. Fruit 
subspherical, covered with fleshy subulate straight spinules. 
This, at first sight would appear to be nearly allied to A. 
muricata. On examination they will be found to be distinct 
species. The fruit is dry and not edible. 
3. Anona palustris. Alligator apple, or T'Cest India 
Cork-wood. 
Leaves oblong or ovato-oblong acuminate very 
glabrous, peduncles alternating with or opposite to a 
leaf, petals acute, fruit subareolated. 
Sloatie, II. 169. t. 228. f. I. — Swartz, Obs. 223 — De Cand. 
Syst. I. 469. 
HAB. Marshy land near the Sea. Rochefort. The Ferry. 
Morasses at the east end of the Island. 
FL. March — June. 
A tree 6 — 15 feet in height. Leaves slightly acuminate, 
finely nerved. Peduncles towards the end of the branches, 
about the same length as the petiole, solitary, 1 -flowered. 
Braeteas scale-like ; one external at the base of the peduncle ; 
the other on the inside and higher up. Flowers greenish 
yellow, resembling in size and appearance those of the common 
Sour-Sop. Petals; the 3 outer ones roundish-ovate, sub- 
acuminate, concave, thick, leathery ; the 3 inner half the size 
of the outer, acute, externally whitish, internally of a dark 
blood-colour. Berry size of the Sour-Sop, heart-shaped, green, 
glabrous, subareolated. 
The fruit of this species has a somewhat grateful smell ; but 
to the taste it is very disagreeable, and is said to be narcotic, 
and even poisonous. The Alligators, according to Long, sub- 
sist, at certain seasons, on the fruit of this tree, and he describes 
them as watching for it, when ripe, to drop into the water. 
The wood is very light, and is employed by the Negroes as a 
substitute for cork, to stop up the mduths of their Calabashes, 
and other rude vessels. The floats of fishing nets are also made 
of it. 
This, and the two preceding species are evergreens. In 
those which follow, the old leaves drop off some time previous 
to the complete development of the new ones. 
