a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the pentandra class of plants; of which there is only one species, viz. the americana. It rises with a woody, branching, rough stem, six or eight feet high; garnished with oblong entire leaves on footstalks, and large whitish flowers by threes or fours at the ends of the branches, succeeded by round saffron-coloured soft fruit. This plant may be raised from seeds sown in pots in the spring, and plunged in a bark-bed. It may also be propagated by cuttings planted in pots in the same season, plunging them also in a bark-bed or other hot bed under glass. The plants must always remain in the stove.