Botanical Description.--A tree with leaves 5' long, alternate, ovate, broad, entire, glabrous, palmately nerved. Petiole long with 2 persistent lateral stipules. Flowers dioecious, the male ones in panicles, the female solitary. Calyx gamosepalous, dividing unequally when the flower opens. The male flower has a corolla of 5-7 petals, violet-colored, concave, half oval, with pubescent borders; at its base a flat scale. Stamens free, numerous, thick filaments, anthers bilocular. In the female flower the perianth is the same as in the former, the stamens sterile. Ovary unilocular, with 2-4 parietal placentæ with many ovules. Fruit as large as a man's head, with thin woody pericarp and many seeds embedded within its pulp. PORTULACACEÆ. Purslane Family. _Portulaca oleracea_, L. Nom. Vulg.--_Verdolagas_, Sp.; _Olasiman_, _Kolasiman_, Tag.; _Purslane_, Eng. Uses.--The entire plant is edible, in the form of a salad or as a condiment with meat or fish. The leaves are succulent and acid, and the juice expressed from them is used as an eyewash to remove corneal opacities; it is also used in superficial erysipelas and other skin affections. The bruised leaves are used as a poultice for abscesses, contusions and on the temples for headache. The juice is given internally to check hæmoptysis and in diseases of the lungs and bladder; the seeds also are used in these complaints. Botanical Description.--A plant with prostrate stem. Leaves fleshy, wedge-shaped. Flowers small, sessile, terminal, pale yellow. Calyx of 2 large teeth, deciduous. Corolla, 4-5 petals with a notch at the end. Stamens 9-14. Style of equal length with the stamens. Stigma in 4-6 divisions. The seed vessel, which dehisces horizontally, contains many small, heart-shaped seeds. Habitat.--It grows in all parts of the islands. GUTTIFERÆ. Gamboge Family. _Garcinia mangostana_, L. Nom. Vulg.--_Mangostán_, Sp.; _Mangosteen_, Eng. Uses.--The seed of the fruit is astringent and is given internally as an infusion in dysentery and chronic diarrhoea. The decoction is very useful as an injection in leucorrhoea. The following potion has given excellent results to Dr. Ed. J. Waring in chronic dysentery and the diarrhoeas of tropical countries: Dried peel of mangosteen 60 grams. Cumin seed 5 grams. Coriander 5 grams. Water 1,200 grams. Boil till reduced to 600 grams. Take 120 grams twice a day. Tincture of opium may be added. An analysis of mangosteen peel by W. Schmidt demonstrated a large quantity of tannin, a resin and a crystallizable principle named _mangostin_ (C_20_H_23_O_5_) which exists in the form of fine, golden yellow laminæ, tasteless, soluble in alcohol, ether and the alkalies, insoluble in water. With the perchloride of iron it gives a blackish-green color, and sulphuric acid colors it red.