NARCISSUS autumnalis major. The greater Autumne or Winter
Daffodill. _Park. Parad. p. 77. 75. f. 7._
[Illustration: N^o. 290]
The Amaryllis lutea is a hardy perennial bulbous plant, a native of
Spain, and other of the more Southern parts of Europe, and was
cultivated in our Gardens in the time of Gerard, and Parkinson.
Flora, who commences her revolutionary reign, by enlivening the flower
border with the Spring Crocus, and its numerous varieties, terminates it
with flowers equally pleasing, and of similar hues; thus we have the
present plant, the Saffron Crocus, and the Colchicum, flowering nearly
at the same time, from the end of September, through October, and
sometimes part of November.
Similar as the Amaryllis is to the yellow Spring Crocus, in the colour,
and form of its flowers, it differs obviously in the number of its
stamina, the breadth of its leaves, and the size and colour of its root.
Authors describe it as varying in size, in the breadth of its leaves,
the height of its flowers, and multiplication of the Corolla.
The Dutch Florists export it under the title of yellow Colchicum,
following the name of some of the old writers.
It succeeds best in a soil moderately moist, in which it increases
considerably by offsets, and flowers to the most advantage when the
roots have remained for some few years undisturbed in the same spot.
[291]
Capparis Spinosa. The Caper Shrub.
_Class and Order._
Polyandria Monogynia.
_Generic Character._
_Cal._ 4-phyllus, coriaceus. _Petala_ 4. _Stamina_ longa. _Bacca_
corticosa, unilocularis, pedunculata.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
CAPPARIS _spinosa_ pedunculis unifloris solitariis, stipulis
spinosis, foliis annuis, capsulis ovalibus. _Linn. Syst. Vegetab.
ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 487._ _Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 221._
CAPPARIS _spinosa_ fructu minore, folio rotundo. _Bauh. Pin. p.
480._
[Illustration: N^o. 291]
We are happy in having it in our power to lay before our readers a
representation of the Caper shrub, whose blossoms are rarely seen in
this country, though its flower-buds are in very general use as a
pickle; indeed, so great is their consumption, that they form a very
considerable article of commerce.
The plant grows spontaneously in the more southern parts of Europe,
especially in Italy and the Levant; in its wild state it forms a shrub
of low growth, having numerous, spreading, spinous branches, somewhat
thickly beset with smooth roundish leaves; the blossoms grow alternately
on the branches, and when the plant begins to flower, one opens
generally every other morning, but so delicate are its parts, that on a
hot summer's day it fades before noon: the petals are white; the
filaments, which are extremely numerous, are white below, and of a rich
purple above; in these the beauty of the flower chiefly consists, as in
the pistillum or pointal does its great singularity; at first view, one
would be led to conclude, that the part so conspicuous in the centre of
the flower was the style terminated by the stigma in the usual way; but
if we trace this part of the flower to a more advanced state, we shall
perceive, that what we took for the style, was merely an elongation of
the flower-stalk, and what we took for the stigma, was in reality the
germen placed on it, crowned with a minute stigma, without any
intervening style; this germen swells, turns downward, and ultimately
becomes the seed-vessel, rarely ripening in this country.
Miller observes, that these plants are with difficulty preserved in
England, for they delight to grow in crevices of rocks, and the joints
of old walls and ruins, and always thrive best in an horizontal
position; so that when they are planted either in pots or the full
ground, they rarely thrive, though they may be kept alive for many
years.
It flowers in May and June, and is usually raised from seeds.
Mr. Aiton regards it as a greenhouse plant, and informs us that it was
cultivated by Gerard in 1596.
[292]
Passerina Grandiflora. Great-Flowered Passerina.
_Class and Order._
Octandria Monogynia.
_Generic Character._
_Cal._ 0. _Cor._ 4-fida. _Stamina_ tubo imposita. _Sem._ 1.
corticatum.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
PASSERINA _grandiflora_ glaberrima, foliis oblongis acutis concavis
extrinsecus rugosis, floribus terminalibus sessilibus solitariis.
_Linn. Suppl. Pl. p. 226._
[Illustration: N^o. 292]
The _Passerina_ here figured, distinguished from all the other known
species by the largeness of its flowers, is described in the _Suppl.
Pl._ of the younger Linnaeus, but not enumerated in the _Hortus Kewensis_
of Mr. Aiton: it is indeed a plant recently introduced to this country
from the Cape; we saw it last Summer in great perfection, at Messrs. Lee
and Kennedy's, Hammersmith; it forms a small neat shrub, somewhat like
the _Phylica ericoides_, is a hardy greenhouse plant, flowering in May
and June, and increased without difficulty from cuttings.
[293]
Catananche Caerulea. Blue Catananche.
_Class and Order._
Syngenesia Polygamia AEqualis.
_Generic Character._
_Recept._ paleaceum. _Cal._ imbricatus. _Pappus_ aristatus,
caliculo 5 seto.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
CATANANCHE caerulea squamis calicis inferioribus ovatis. _Linn.
Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 722._ _Ait. Kew. v. 3. p. 134._