H E L 
HELICONI'ADES, or Helicon'ides, a name given 
to the Mufes, becaufe they lived upon mount Helicon, 
Which was facred to them. 
HELICGS'OPHY, f. Gr. a fpiral, and c roQuz, 
wifdom.] The adt of delineating fpiral lines on a plane. 
HELICTE'RES, f. [ £ ?uf, Gr. fpiral; from the form 
of the fruit.] In botany, a genus of the clafs gynandria, 
order decandria, (decandria monogynia, Schreber, mona- 
delphia decandria, Swartz,) natural order of columni- 
ferae, (malvaceae, JuJf.) The generic characters are— 
Calyx : perianthium one-leafed, tubulous, half-ovate, 
obliquely fpreading, unequally five-cleft, coriaceous. 
Corolla : petals five, oblong, equal in breadth, fixed to. 
the receptacle, longer than the calyx ; claws long, with 
a tooth on each fide at the bafe ; nedtary of five petal- 
Ihaped, lanceolate, very fmall, leaflets, covering the 
germ. Stamina: filaments five, ten, or more, very Ihort; 
antherae oblong, lateral. Piftillum: receptacle filiform, 
very long, bowed back, bearing an ovate germ at the 
tip; fiyle fubulate, longer than the germ; fligma fub- 
quinquefid. Pericarpiutn : capfules five, often twifted 
fpirally, one-celled. Seeds: very many, angular.— 
EJfential CharaEler. Pentagynous. Calyx one-leafed, ob¬ 
lique; petals five; neCtary of five leaflets; capfules five, 
twifled. 
Species, i. Helidteres Baruenfis, or fmall-fruited fcrew- 
tree : decandrous; leaves cordate, ferrate; fruit twill¬ 
ed, with llraight tips. This is an upright tree, about 
twelve feet in height, branching but little ; the younger 
branches, peduncles, and petioles, are tomentofe. Leaves 
acute, wrinkled, tornentofe and whitiflf underneath, 
fomewhat hairy on the upper furface, petioled, alter¬ 
nate, deciduous. The flowers have no fcent ; calyx 
greenilh yellow, with a white excavation, and lips fonte- 
times entire or fcarcely divided • petals whitilh. Seeds 
about fifty in each capfule, obovate, angular, fmooth, 
of a brown chefnut colour. The bark of the trunk and 
principal branches, being ealily peeled off, and very 
tough, is tiled inltead of ropes. Native of the ifland of 
Barn, in woods near the coalt: of the Welt Indies. 
2. Helidteres ifora, or great-fruited fcrew-tree: decan¬ 
drous; leaves cordate, ferrate ; the whole fruit twilled: 
(leaves elliptic, fubcordate; fruit fubulate at the tip. 
Son) This alfo is a fmall upright tree, about twelve 
feet high, branching but little. This curious Ihrub, as 
Browne calls it, is very frequent in the low gravelly 
hills of Jamaica. 
3. Helidteres hirfuta: decandrous; leaves cordate, 
ferrate; fruit five-celle’d, llraight, very hirfute. Stem 
Ihrubby, fix feet high, upright, round, hairy, with dif- 
fufed branches. In this and the fifth fort the Itamens 
are not gynandrous, but rather monad.elphous; nor 
ought the pedicel fupporting the germ to be looked 
upon as a receptacle, lor it is entirely detached from 
the Itamens. Native of Cochin-china, in woods. 
4. Helidteres undulata: decandrous; leaves lanceo¬ 
late, waved; flowers in heaps; liliques five, ftellate. 
This is a middling-fized tree with fpreading branches. 
It is a native of Cochin-china, m woods, 
5. Helidteres angultifolia : decandrous; leaves lanceo¬ 
late, quite entire; fruit ovate, llraight. Stem Ihrubby, 
five feet high, upright, branched. Flowers pale purple. 
Native of China, about Canton. 
6 . Helidteres pentandra : pentandrous; leaves ovate, 
floral leaves coloured. Native of Surinam. 
7. Helidteres Carthagenenfis: polyandrous; leaves 
cordate, ferrate; fruit oblong, llraight. An upright 
tree, about twelve feet high. Leaves tomentofe on both 
ijdes. Flowers extremely fetid, generally coming out 
with the leaves, but fometimes before them; calyx 
brownilh yellow; petals purple. It has fo much the 
habit of the firlt fort, that it can hardly be diltinguilhed 
from it, except in the flower and fruit. Native of Car- 
thagena in New Spain, in woods ; flowering there in 
June and July. 
H E L - S23 
8. Helidteres paniculata : polyandrous; leaves ovate, 
acute; flowers panicled ; filiques five, ftellate. This is 
a large tree, with fpreading branches. Leaves quite en¬ 
tire, flat, fmooth, petioled. Flowers in loofe panicles, 
moftly terminating; calyx none ; coVoIla of a reddilh 
colour, and fpreading very much. Native of Cochin- 
china, in woods. 
9. tjelidteres apetala : dodecandrous, apetalous; leaves 
five-lobed ; filiques divaricate. This is an elegant tree, 
forty feet in height, with a large handfome head. Leaves 
plaited, fmooth above, fubvillofe beneath, upwards of 
afoot in diameter. Flowers numerous, very fetid, dirty 
yellow with purple fpots, without either petals or nec¬ 
tary ; in large loofe panicles at the ends of the twigs. 
It is apparent that the filaments are the continuation of 
the bark or outer part of the receptacle ; but that the 
germ fprings from the pith of it. Native of Carthagena, 
in woods; flowering from May and June to September. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants are propagated 
by feeds, which miift be fown upon a hot-bed in the 
fpring, and when the plants are come up ftrong enough 
to remove, they fliould be each planted in a feparate 
fmall pot, filled with light earth, and plunged into a 
moderate hot-bed of tan, obferving to fhade them from 
the fun till they have taken new root; then they fliould 
be treated in the fame way as other tender plants from 
hot countries, raifing the glafles every day in proportion 
to the weather, that the plants may enjoy frefh air, which 
will ftrengthen them, and prevent their drawing up 
weak. In the fummer the plants may remain under the 
frames, if there be fufficient height for them to grow ; 
but in autumn they muft be plunged into the tan-bed in 
the ftove, where they fliould always remain, being care¬ 
ful to fhift them into larger pots when they require it, 
and not give them too much wet in the winter; but in 
fummer they fhould have a large ftiare of air in warm 
weather, and require to be often refrelhed with water ; 
the fecond year from the feeds thefe plants have often 
flowered in tile Chelfea garden, and the feeds have fome 
years ripened there, but the plants will live feveral years 
with proper management. 
HELIOCAR'PUS,/. [from Gr. the fun, and 
7r#{, fruit, which, being furrounded with rays, refem- 
bles the fun as it is commonly reprefented. ] In botany, 
a genus of the clafs dodecandria, order digynia, natural 
order of columniferre, (tiliaceae, JuJf.) The generic cha¬ 
racters are—Calyx : perianthium four-leaved, coloured ; 
leaflets linear, long, broadilh, fpreading, deciduous. 
Corolla : petals four, linear, much fliorter than the ca¬ 
lyx, narrower. Stamina: filaments fixteen, awl-fliaped, 
almoftthe length of the calyx ; antherae twin, linear, in¬ 
cumbent. Piftillum : germ roundifh ; ftyles two, Am¬ 
ple, upright, length of the Itamens; ftigmas acute, dif- 
tant. Pericardium : capfule turbinate-ovate, peduncled, 
compreffed furrounded perpendicularly on both fides 
with rays pinnately branched ; two-celled, tw'o-valved, 
with the partition contrary. Seeds: folitary, fubovate. 
—EJfential CharaEler. Calyx four-leaved ; corolla four-pe- 
talled ; ftyles Ample ; capfule two-celled, comprefled, 
longitudinally radiated on both ftdes ; (fuperior, club- 
fhaped, furrounded with filiform feathered rays, Gartner.) 
Heliocarpus Americana, or American heliocarpus, the 
only fpecies known, rife? with a thick, foft, woody, (talk, 
from fifteen to eighteen feet high, fending out"feveral 
lateral branches towards the top. Leaves heart-ftiaped s 
full of veins, ferrate, ending in acute points, alternate, 
on oblique petioles three inches long. The flowers are 
produced at the ends of the (hoots, in branching drif¬ 
ters, and are of a yellowifh-green colour. This tree is 
very nearly allied to Triumfetta. The calyx is four¬ 
leaved, and the corolla four-petalled ; both are of a 
whitifh or herbaceous colour, and have the appearance of 
a corolla with eight petals. It was difeovered by Dr. 
Houftoun (before 1733), growing naturally about Li 
Vera Cruz in New Spain, whence he fent the feeds to 
4 , England; 
