in botany: A genus of the pentandria order, belonging to the dioica class of plants; and in the natural method ranking with those that are doubtful. The calyx is tripartite; the corolla has three petals; the stamens from three to five, awl-shaped, and seem to join together at the base; there are two styli, which are short and bent backwards; the berry is roundish, and contains two oblong seeds, and sometimes one seed only. There is only one species, viz. the antidefine, or marjoe bush. This shrub is frequent in copses and about the skirts of woods in Jamaica, rising about eight or nine feet from the ground. The leaves are of an oval form, pointed and placed in an alternate form along the branches; the flower spikes are long, pendulous, and slender; the florets small and white: the berries are numerous; at first red, then of a jet black colour; the pulp is soft, and of a purple complexion.—The whole plant is bitter, and especially the berry. The negroes make a decoction of them, and use it in weaknesses of the stomach and in venereal cases.