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BOTANY.
CHAPTER
LII
BOTANY.
IN commencing this chapter upon botany, I deem it proper to mention first the forest trees, confining myself to those vegetating in Antigua. As, however, it will be neeessary to insert the botanical names, as well as their classifications, and wishful of throwing as much interest into the subject as possible, I have, along with my own observations upon these beauties of the creation, consulted other and more efficient botanists. It must be remarked, that nearly all the West Indian trees continue to bud and blossom throughout the year; so that there is no naked sprays and branches to be seen, as in old England's woods in winter, but instead, evengrove presents an unchanging canopy of the deepest green. One of the commonest flowers in Antigua is the FOUR O'CLOCK, mirabilis jalapa, or marvel of Peru, so called from the circumstance of its opening its pretty petals at that hour of the day. The leaves are of dark green, and shaped like a heart; the flowers are of a tubulous form, and of the several colours of red, white, or purple—the latter are the most common. The seeds are black and hard, and of a conical structure ; the leaves are of much repute among the old nurses of Antigua, for their efficacy in relieving tumours, &e., but if it be only fancy, or if they really possess some medicinal qualities, i leave the gentlemen of the lancet to de-
termine. The PALMETTO, areca oleracea, cabbage palm, or mountain cabbage, is the most beautiful tree in Antigua, and richly deserves the epithet of king of the West Indian forests. The trunk rises straight and smooth, and is of a most graceful M 3