diametrically opposite to its natural character, which, as its specific
indicates, is repent or creeping; instead of which, the branches of the
plant are bent from their natural habit, forced as upright as possible,
and fastened to a stick; in which situation the flowers only would
compare with our figure. But so averse is it to this confined mode of
treatment, that, as soon as the branches are liberated, they instantly
take the direction most natural to them, and which is certainly the most
graceful. Although repens is the more general title of this Protea, yet
we have heard it sometimes called amplexicaulis, a name given by some
cultivators to a plant whose foliage is so nearly resembling the one now
figured, that, when it arrives at a flowering state, it will most
probably prove to be no more than a variation of culture. It is a
difficult matter to say in what stage the flower is most beautiful,
whether in the bud state, before the pointals are released, or
afterwards. From their long confinement, the pollen adheres so strongly
to them, that when relieved they appear like the antheræ. Our drawing
was made at the Hibbertian collection from a plant in fine bloom in the
month of February.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLIV.
URTICA BACCIFERA.
_Berry-bearing Nettle._
CLASS XXI. ORDER IV.
_MONŒCIA TETRANDRIA._ Chives and Pointals separate. Four Chives.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
* _Masculi flores._
CALYX. Perianthium tetraphyllum.
COROLLA nulla. _Nectarium_ in centro floris cyathiforme.
STAMINA. Filamenta quatuor, subulata, longitudine calycis.
* _Feminei flores vel in eadem vel distincta planta._
CALYX. Perianthium bivalve, persistens.
COROLLA nulla.
PISTILLUM. Germen ovatum. Stylus nullus. Stigma villosum.
PERICARPIUM nullum.
SEMEN unicum.
* _Male flowers._
EMPALEMENT four-leaved.
BLOSSOM none. _Honey-cup_ is formed in the centre of the flower,
like a small cup.
CHIVES. Filaments four, awl-shaped, and the length of the cup.
* _Female flowers in the same, or in separate plants._
EMPALEMENT. Cup two-valved, and remaining.
BLOSSOM none.
POINTAL. Seed-bud ovate. Shaft none. Summit hairy.
SEED-VESSEL none.
SEED one.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
URTICA baccifera, foliis alternis, cordatis, dentatis, aculeis
tectis: calyces fœminei, baccati, alternatim in ramos longos
divaricatos positi, dependentes, læte rubri, et aculeis tecti:
caulis aculeis magnis tectus.
BERRY-BEARING NETTLE with leaves alternate, heart-shaped, toothed,
and covered with prickles: empalement female, having berries, and
alternately situated upon long straggling branches, hanging down,
of a bright red colour, and covered with prickles: stem covered
with large prickles.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A flower magnified.
2. The same with the summit detached, magnified.
This plant is most completely armed in all directions, and known by the
appellation of the Horrid Nettle. The fierceness of its exterior evinces
grandeur, and the bright red flower-stems combine some share of beauty:
and notwithstanding its ferocious aspect, the Common Wild Hedge Nettle
suffers a light approach with less impunity than this terrific plant;
thus proving the old axiom of an open enemy, however powerful, being
less injurious than a pretended friend, whose insidious character, like
the Hedge Nettle, unheeded stings. In the Hortus Schœnbrunnensis of
Jacquin it is described and figured, and also in the Icones of Plumier,
p. 259, tab. 260, who gives it the additional specific of arborescens:
and there is but little doubt of its forming a tree-like appearance in
the Antilles and Blue Mountain Valley of Jamaica, where it is
indigenous. The figure represents the upper part of a large specimen,
communicated by A. B. Lambert, esq. with whom it flowered in the summer
of 1804.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLV.
POLYGALA MIXTA.
_Mixt Polygala._
CLASS XVII. ORDER III.
_DIADELPHIA OCTANDRIA._ Two Brotherhoods. Eight Chives.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
CALYX 5-phyllus: foliolis duobus alæformibus, coloratis: legumen
obcordatum, biloculare.
Cup 5-leaved, with two of the leaves like wings, coloured: pod
inverse heart-shaped, two-celled.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
POLYGALA floribus imberbibus, axillaribus, purpureis: foliis
fasciculatis, 5-6 in singulo fasciculo, linearibus, acutis, valde
confertis inter flores: caule suffruticoso: ramulis filiformibus,
patentibus.
POLYGALA with beardless flowers, growing from the axillæ of the
leaves, and of a purple colour: the leaves grow in fascicles, 5 and
6 in each fascicle, linear, sharp-pointed, and very much crowded
amongst the flowers: stem shrubbyish: branches thread-shaped, and
spreading.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The empalement magnified.
2. The keel magnified.
3. One of the wings magnified.
4. The chives magnified.
5. The pointal magnified.
6. Flower of a white variety.
Amongst the numerous introductions of novelty to the gardens of G.
Hibbert, esq. the Hesteria section of the genus Polygala (although not
splendid) are all of them particularly desirable, from their lively,
long, and (of this species) we may say continual bloom; it having been
seen in flower throughout the whole year. There is a variety of it with
white flowers of equal durability, and so perfect a fac-simile in every
other particular, that a separate figure will by no means be requisite,
especially as in the winter season the purple flowers are sometimes
almost bleached by the cold, and the distinction in consequence less
apparent. It is well known by the cultivators under the appellation of
_mixta_; a specific given to it from the promiscuous manner in which the
flowers and leaves are profusely mixt together.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLVI.
LACHENALIA FLAVA.
_Yellow-flowered Lachenalia._
CLASS VI. ORDER I.
_HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Six Chives. One Pointal.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
COROLLA 6-petala, infera; petalis 3 interioribus longioribus:
stamina erecta: capsula sub-ovata, trialata: semina globosa.
BLOSSOM 6-petalled beneath; the three inner petals the longest:
chives erect: capsule nearly egg-shaped, three-winged: seeds
globular.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
LACHENALIA foliis geminis, lanceolatis: scapo erecto, colore
cinereo-cæruleo in modum marmoris variato: corollis flavis,
sub-pendulis, sub-cylindraceis, cum limbo petalorum interiorum
permagno et expanso: tria petala exteriora angusta, et apice
virescentia.
LACHENALIA with leaves in pairs, and lance-shaped: flower-stem
upright, and of a slaty-colour obscurely marbled: blossoms yellow,
nearly hanging down, somewhat cylindrical, with the border of the
inner petals very large and spreading: the three outer petals are
narrow, and greenish at the point.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A flower spread open.
2. Seed-bud and pointal, summit magnified.
3. The seed-bud cut transversely, magnified.
This Lachenalia may be regarded as a perfectly new species, there not
being a figure of it extant, nor is it enumerated in the Species
Plantarum of Willdenow. We were at first inclined to have called it
ringens, from the wide-gaping character of the mouth of the flower: but
as so many of this genus have received a specific title in reference to
their colour, the appellation of flava in the present instance will
doubtless be generally as well accepted. The figure was made, from the
only plant that has as yet flowered in this country, at the nursery of
Mr. Williams of Turnham Green, who informs me that he has had the plant
three or four years, but has found it difficult to flower, and slow of
increase.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLVII.
BANKSIA SPINULOSA.
_Thorny-leaved Banksia._
CLASS IV. ORDER I.
_TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Four Chives. One Pointal.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
RECEPTACULUM commune elongatum, squamosum: corolla tetrapetala:
stamina limbo inserta: capsula bivalvis, disperma, dissepimento
mobili interjecto: semina alata.
COMMON receptacle elongated, scaly: blossom of four petals: chives
inserted into the limb of the blossom: capsule with two valves, two
seeds, and a moveable partition between them: seeds winged.
See Banksia serrata, Pl. LXXXII. Vol. II.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
BANKSIA foliis linearibus, longis, margine revolutis, sub-apices
spinulosis: ramis patentibus, ad basin foliis sparsis, superne
fasciculatis.
BANKSIA with long linear leaves, rolled back at the edges, and
towards the ends furnished with little thorns: branches spreading,
thin of leaves at the base, which are bundled together on the upper
part of the branches.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A flower.
2. A blossom spread open, one chive magnified.
3. The pointal, summit magnified.
The flowers of this Banksia bear a considerable degree of affinity to
the B. ericæfolia already figured in Pl. 156, but very distinct in the
foliage. From the small thorns on the upper part of the leaves it has
acquired the specific title of spinulosa. It is not very often seen in
bloom, although an old plant; which is accounted for in the slowness of
its growth, and the size it generally attains to before it becomes a
flowering plant: and as this character is prevalent through the whole
genus, it no doubt prevents them from being so generally cultivated as
they would otherwise be; since, when in flower, they are certainly both
curious and beautiful. Our figure was taken from a plant in the
collection of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, at Sion-House near
Brentford; where, under the care of Mr. Hoy, several fine species of
this genus are in very great perfection.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLVIII.
EUGENIA MALACCENSIS.
_Malay Apple Tree._
CLASS XII. ORDER I.
_ICOSANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Twenty Chives. One Pointal.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
CALYX. Perianthium monophyllum, superum; in medio orbiculus, supra
quem quadripartitum est: laciniis concavis, persistentibus.
COROLLA. Petala quatuor, calyce duplo majora, obtusa, concava.
STAMINA. Filamenta plurima in orbiculo calyci inserta, longitudine
corollæ: antheræ parvæ.
PISTILLUM. Germen turbinatum, inferum. Stylus simplex, longitudine
staminum. Stigma simplex.
PERICARPIUM. Drupa quadrangularis, coronata, unilocularis.
SEMINA. Nux subrotunda, glabra.
EMPALEMENT. Cup of one leaf, above: in the middle is a little
circle, above which it is four-divided: the segments are hollow,
and remaining.
BLOSSOM. Petals four, twice the size of the calyx, obtuse, and
hollow.
CHIVES. Threads many in a little circle inserted into the calyx:
tips small.
POINTAL. Seed-bud top-shaped, beneath. Shaft simple, the length of
the stamens. Summit simple.
SEED-VESSEL. A berry four-angled, coronet-shaped, and one-celled.
SEED. A nut nearly round, and smooth.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
EUGENIA foliis oppositis, alternis, latis, ovalibus, apice acuto,
leviter torto, glabris, lucidis. Caulis erectus. Ramuli superiores
dumosi, cortice rugoso, colore pulliginoso: ramis floriferis
oppositis, alternis, rectis: corollis alternatim oppositis,
purpureis.
EUGENIA with opposite alternate leaves, broad, and of an oval form,
with an acute point, slightly twisted, smooth, and shining. Stem
upright. The branches above are bushy. The bark is wrinkled, and of
a light brown colour. The flower-branches are opposite, alternate,
and straight out. The blossoms are alternately opposite, and
purple.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A petal.
2. A chive, one tip magnified.
3. The empalement and pointal.
4. A half-ripe fruit.
The figure of this Eugenia was made from the finest plant in this
country in the hot-house of G. Hibbert, esq. where we were in hopes it
would have perfected its fruit; but were disappointed, as in a very
forward state towards ripening it fell off. But, as far as it was
advanced, we have represented it, as in this climate it might probably
never arrive at greater maturity, unless a larger house were constructed
for it: otherwise the degree of heat necessary to preserve the smaller
tropical plants would always be subject to injure those of a large size,
from the natural extension of their roots approaching too near the
flues. But although so much care is required for it in this clime, in
the warmer regions of Macassar, Amboyna, and the Moluccas, where it is
indigenous, not the least attention is necessary; for, such is the
extreme indolence of the natives, that it is imagined, if any care had
been requisite for its preservation, it would soon have been lost for
want of it. In the Hortus Malabaricus of Rheede there is an uncoloured
figure of it, with descriptions, in which it is said to be a fruit-tree
of great general utility to the country from its extreme abundance,
grateful taste, and salubrious quality, flowering twice in the year. The
fruit in an unripe state is of a bitterish and rather astringent
character; but, when ripe, of a fine flavour, exceedingly wholesome, and
beneficial as an allayer of inflammation in feverish habits. The flowers
are by the Dutch at Amboyna preserved, and frequently eaten by way of
salad. It is said to form a tall umbrageous tree, and when in fine bloom
must certainly be an object of great beauty.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLIX.
LASIOPETALUM QUERCIFOLIUM.
_Oak-leaved Lasiopetalum._
CLASS V. ORDER I.
_PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Five Chives. One Pointal.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
CALYX triphyllum, tomentosum, persistens. Corolla monopetala,
lanuginosa, 5-fida. Filamenta 5, germinis basi affixa. Germen
superum. Capsula 3-locularis, 3-valvis.
EMPALEMENT 3-leaved, downy, and remaining. Blossom one-leafed,
woolly, and five-cleft. Threads 5, fixed to the base of the
seed-bud. Seed-bud above. Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
LASIOPETALUM quercifolium, ternatum: foliis duobus ad basin
minoribus; supra viridibus, subtus nervosis, ferrugineis, stellatim
setis tectis: racemis floriferis longis, foliis oppositis: corollis
purpureis. Rami et ramuli, pedunculi, &c. setis stellatim tecti,
ferruginei. Caulis humilis.
WOOLLY flower with oak-shaped leaves, by threes; two at the base
are smallest; green on their upper surface, veined beneath, of a
rusty iron colour, and beset with hairy star-like specks.
Flower-branches long, and opposite to the leaves. Blossoms purple.
The small and larger branches, footstalks, &c. are beset with
star-like specks, and of a rusty colour. Stem low.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The empalement.
2. Seed-bud, chives, and pointal.
3. A chive magnified.
4. The same shown from the outer side.
5. Seed-bud and pointal.
Throughout almost all the plants as yet introduced from New South Wales,
there is a strong marked leading feature that proclaims them of Botany
Bay extraction, either in the upright strictness of their habit, a hard
harsh character in the foliage, or a rough and rusty exterior. Of the
last description is our present figure; but it is nevertheless a very
handsome plant, and the only addition (to this otherwise solitary genus)
as yet in cultivation with us. Labillardiere, in his Description of New
South Wales, has given a figure of a plant under the title of
Lasiopetalum triphyllum, very much resembling our quercifolium--probably
a variety of it--or, if intended to represent the same plant, there must
be a considerable inaccuracy in the delineation. Our figure was taken
from a plant at the nursery of Messrs. Colville.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLX.
LACHENALIA SESSILIFLORA.
_Sessile-flowered Lachenalia._
CLASS VI. ORDER I.
_HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Six Chives. One Pointal.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
COROLLA 6-petala, infera; petalis 3 interioribus longioribus:
stamina erecta: capsula sub-ovata, trialata: semina globosa.
BLOSSOM 6-petaled beneath; the three inner petals the longest:
chives erect: capsule nearly egg-shaped, three-winged: seeds
globular.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
LACHENALIA sessiliflora: foliis geminis, lanceolatis: scapo erecto,
semi-pedali: floribus prope apices confertis, purpureis: petalis
exterioribus cuneatis: interioribus duplo longioribus, angustis,
truncatis.
LACHENALIA with sessile flowers: leaves by pairs: stem upright,
half a foot high: flowers grow crowded together near the top, and
are of a purple colour: the outer petals are wedge-shaped: the
inner ones twice the length, narrow, and appearing cut off at the
end.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A flower spread open.
2. The inside of the same.
3. Seed-bud and pointal, summit magnified.
This Lachenalia is perfectly new, an attraction that may counterbalance
its want of speciosity. From the total absence of footstalks to the
flowers we have derived its unoccupied specific title. Professor Jacquin
has figured many handsome species of this genus not yet introduced to
this country, and amongst the number two equally sessile with our plant,
but in no other particular resembling it. From a drawing made for the
collection of G. Hibbert, esq. in 1803 our figure was taken; since which
period we have not seen any vestige of the plant, and therefore imagine
that, like many other Cape bulbs, it is lost to us for the present: but
it probably may soon reappear amongst the frequent importations we are
in the constant habit of receiving from that inexhaustible botanic
mine.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLXI.
PROTEA TERETIFOLIA.
_Cylindric-leaved Protea._
CLASS IV. ORDER I.
_TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Four Chives. One Pointal.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
COROLLA 4-fida, seu 4-petala. Antheræ lineares, petalis infra
apices insertæ. Calyx proprius, nullus. Sem. solitaria.
BLOSSOM four-cleft, or of four petals. Tips linear, inserted into
the petals below the points. Cup proper, none. Seeds solitary.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
PROTEA teretifolia, foliis obtusis: junioribus adscendentibus,
senioribus patentibus: floribus luteis, capitatis, terminalibus,
foliis circumsessis: post florescentiam conus formatur.
PROTEA with cylindrical leaves blunt-ended: the younger ascending,
and the older ones spreading: flowers yellow, headed, terminal, and
surrounded by the leaves: and after flowering a cone is formed.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A flower.
2. A chive magnified.
3. Seed-bud and pointal.
4. Flower-branch of a small variety.
This little Protea is more desirable, by way of contrast to those
splendid imbricated species, than for any beauty it possesses, and
exhibits powerfully the great diversity of character annexed to this
numerous genus. Attached to the dissections is part of the branch of a
minor variety, and which is by some considered as specifically distinct:
and were extension our object, it certainly might be made a separate
species, from the difference of its character after flowering, the
larger one forming a cone the size of an egg; which the lesser one does
not. It also differs in the manner of its growth; but only in the dried
specimens which we have seen that have been collected from old plants at
the Cape; and in them the small variety forms its branches after the
manner of a corymbus, and the plant has thence received the appellation
of corymbosa. But had we given a separate figure of it, we could not
(without making an awkward apology) have adopted a specific title whose
characteristic appearance it might never acquire in this climate, and
which our figure would not have possessed. By placing it amongst the
variations these objections are obviated, and the appearance of
repetition avoided: a desirable object in a genus so extended as Protea;
and we shall take every opportunity of abbreviating as much as possible
the number of slight varieties, particularly when their attractions are
not considerable. Our drawing was made from plants in the Hibbertian
collection.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLXII.
MALUS JAPONICA.
_Scarlet-flowering Japan Apple._
CLASS XII. ORDER V.
_ICOSANDRIA PENTAGYNIA._ Twenty Chives. Five Pointals.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
CALYX. Perianthium monophyllum, concavum, quinquefidum, persistens.
COROLLA. Petala quinque, subrotunda, concava.
STAMINA. Filamenta viginti, subulata, corollâ breviora, calyci
inserta. Antheræ simplices.
PISTILLUM. Germen inferum. Styli 5. Filum longitudine staminum.
Stigmata simplicia.
PERICARPIUM. Pomum subrotundum, umbilicatum, carnosum,
membranaceum: loculis quinquelocularibus.
SEMINA. Nonnulla oblonga, obtusa, basi acuminata, hinc convexa,
inde plana.
EMPALEMENT. Cup one leaf, hollow, five-parted, and remaining.
BLOSSOM. Five petals, nearly round, and hollow.
CHIVES. Twenty, awl-shaped, and shorter than the blossom, and
inserted into the cup. Tips simple.
POINTALS. Seed-bud beneath. Shafts 5. Thread the length of the
stamens. Summit simple.
SEED-VESSEL. An apple nearly round, navelled, fleshy, skinny:
partitions five loculaments.
SEEDS. Some oblong, obtuse, pointed at the base, convex on the
side, and then flat.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
MALUS japonica, foliis alternis, lanceolatis et spathulatis,
glabris, et lucidis: marginibus serrulatis, suffruticibus, et
interdum arborescentibus. Rami et ramuli alterni, recti, ad basin
nodosi, colore schisti: floribus fasciculatis, plerumque quaternis,
læte coccineis: petalis concavis, quinque vel decem. Floret in
Martio et Aprili.
JAPAN Apple, with alternate leaves lance-and spathula-shaped,
smooth, and shining: with finely sawed margins, shrubbyish, and
sometimes growing to a tree. The small and large branches are
alternate and straight out, knotty at the base, and of a slaty
colour. Flowers grow in bunches mostly of four together, of a
bright scarlet colour. The petals are concave, and from five to ten
in number. Flowers in March and April.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A petal.
2. The empalement, chives, and pointals.
3. The same spread open, one tip magnified.
4. Seed-bud and pointals, summit magnified.
This handsome fruit-tree will doubtless soon become an object of general
cultivation in this country, from the brilliance and duration of its
fine scarlet blossoms. It is perfectly hardy, but flowers with most
freedom in the shelter of the green-house. The fruit is about the size
and shape of a walnut. Why or wherefore Pyrus is the generic title
adopted for Apple we were at first at a loss to conjecture, but upon
investigation find it built on the egotism too inseparable from human
nature, and must confess ourselves very sorry to be under the necessity
of placing the defect to its original source; the celebrated Linnæus,
who it appears altered it from Malus (the genus of Tournefort) to Pyrus,
for no other reason but that his own system (unquestionably the best in
almost every other particular) might not bear any resemblance to that of
Tournefort. Jussieu in the Introduction to his Genera Plantarum,
commenting on this very subject, concludes with this most excellent
remark: “Such is the love of undivided praise!” We have therefore
returned the genus back to its old standard, not through any desire to
alter, but absolute necessity; regarding the absurdity of its nomination
under the generic title of Pyrus as already too long retained; for
whilst the tree is known by its fruit, that fruit should certainly be
called by its name.
For the introduction of this fine plant we are indebted to the Hon. C.
Greville, in whose conservatory at Paddington it first flowered, and
from whence our figure was taken.
[Illustration]
PLATE CCCCLXIII.
PÆONIA PAPAVERACEA.
_Poppy-like Pæony._
CLASS XIII. ORDER VI.
_POLYANDRIA HEXAGYNIA._ Many Chives. Six Pointals.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
CALYX 5-phyllus. Petala 5. Styli 0. Capsulæ polyspermæ.
CUP 5-leaved. Petals 5. Pointal none. Capsules many-seeded.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
PÆONIA caule suffruticoso ramoso: folia alternatim bipinnata,
subtus glauca: petiolis longis, canaliculatis, amplexicaulibus:
floribus semi-duplicibus, albis, ad basin eleganter purpureo
radiatis: capsula orbiculata, continens sex loculamenta, in quibus
singulis sunt duo semina.