Hernandia
(named after Francisco Hernandez, physician to Philip II. of Spain, and a writer on the Flora of Mexico). Jack-in-a-Box. ORD. Laurineae. A genus comprising five or six species of elegant stove evergreen trees, widely dispersed throughout the tropical regions of both hemispheres. Flowers yellowish, monoecious, in panicles; sepals petaloid. Leaves cordate, peltate, smooth. Hernandias require a compost of sandy loam and peat. Ripened cuttings, with leaves intact, root freely in sand, under a glass, if placed in brisk bottom heat. Probably the only two species now in cultivation are those here described.
H. Moerenhoutiana (Moerenhout's).* fl. dirty yellow, three in each involucre, two males and one female; peduncles axillary, equalling the leaves, nearly glabrous. October. l. coriaceous, 3in. to 5in. long, alternate, long-petioled; young ones elliptic; old ones broadly ovate-cordate, obtuse, entire, glabrous above, the nerves and midrib beneath pilose. Pacific Islands, 1869. A small tree. (B. M. 5839.)
H. sonora (sounding). fl. whitish-green, corymbose. l. simple, roundish, with a lively red centre. h. 50ft. India, 1693. This species forms a very handsome plant for sub-tropical gardening, for which purpose it is much employed on the Continent. The leaves produce a juice that is a powerful depilatory; it destroys hairs without pain wherever it is applied.