Gouania
(named in honour of Anthony Gouan, 1733-1821, Professor of Botany at Montpelier). SYN. Retinaria. ORD. Rhamneae. A genus containing about thirty species of usually evergreen stove scandent shrubs, of botanical interest only. They are natives of the forests of tropical America, Asia, and Africa. Flowers small, usually produced in clusters along leafless branches, forming slender spikes. Leaves alternate, petiolate, with veins running straight from the midrib to the margin. The species require a compost of peat and loam. Cuttings will root freely if inserted in sand, under a glass, in heat. The most interesting species of the genus is G. domingensis, the Chaw-stick of Jamaica.