Cotton Shrub, or _gossypium,_ rises to the height of six or seven feet. The flower is bell-shaped, and consists of one leaf deeply cut into several segments, enfolding one another, and of a pale primrose. From the centre of the flower rises a kind of hollow cylinder, adorned with chives or filaments. The pointal becomes a globular fruit, or pod, composed of five cells, containing small, hard, black seeds, closely enwrapped in the wool, (or cotton, as it is more generally termed,) which, when ripe, bursts open at the apex, and discloses the snowy interior. Castor Plant, or _palma Christi,_ is a very pretty shrub, rising to the height of about fifteen feet. It expands into numerous branches, from which spring dark green leaves, deeply lobed, and standing upon long footstalks. The flowers are insignificant in appearance; the germen becomes a three-celled, globular pod, covered with slender spines, and contains three beautifully-polished, oblong seeds, of a black and silver-grey colour. The best castor oil is obtained from these seeds, by pressure; but the common practice in use among the negroes is to boil them in water, and skim off the unctuous matter as it rises to the top. Cassada, or cassava, is made from the roots _jatropha,_ or _janipha manihot_. This plant belongs to the natural order _euphorbiaceæ,_ and abounds in a juice, the smallest dose of which is highly dangerous from its poisonous qualities. It, however, forms a nutritious food after the juice is well expressed, when it is baked in the form of thin cakes, and supplies the want of bread. _Farina_ and tapioca are other preparations from this root, half a pound of which, per diem, is said to be sufficient to support the strongest man. Arrow-root, and _tout-les-mois,_ is the fecula obtained by a similar process from those several roots, the nutritious qualities of which are too well known in the sick chamber to call for further mention. The petals of the arrow-root are of a clear white, while those of the _tout-les-mois_ are of a fine crimson, and start from long sheath-like leaves. The French gave the name to this latter plant, from the fact of its flowering every month.