POLYGALOIDES procumbens foliis duris ovatis nervo aristato. _Hall.
Hist. n. 345._
[Illustration: N^o. 316]
Clusius, in his _Hist. Pl. rar._ gives an accurate description and good
figure of the present plant, before unnoticed (as he observes) by any
author; it has since been particularly described by Haller and Jacquin;
the former makes a distinct genus of it, by the name of _Polygaloides_.
It is an elegant little evergreen shrub of low growth, rarely exceeding
a foot in height, with leaves like those of box, producing flowers from
May to October, but most plentifully in May and June; each flower stands
on a peduncle proceeding from a kind of triphyllous cup, formed of
floral leaves, the true calyx is composed of three leaves, which are
nearly white; the two outermost petals, similar to the wings of a
papilionaceous flower, are also white, or nearly so; the third petal
which forms a kind of tube and contains the eight stamina with the
pistillum, is white at the base, but yellow towards the extremity, where
it changes by degrees to a bright bay colour: both Clusius and Jacquin
observed a variety of this plant, in which the calyx and wings were of a
beautiful purple; this variety, we believe, has not yet been introduced
to this country: the common sort was cultivated in the garden at Oxford,
in 1658.
Miller describes it as a plant difficult of cultivation; it is not now
regarded as such; both Clusius and Jacquin describe it as having
creeping roots; such plants are generally increased without difficulty,
and so is this; planted in bog earth on a shady border, it thrives
extremely well, and spawns much, so that there is no necessity for
having recourse to its seeds. It grows spontaneously on the Alps of
Austria and Switzerland.
[317]
Ononis Fruticosa. Shrubby Rest-Harrow.
_Class and Order._
Diadelphia Decandria.
_Generic Character._
_Cal._ 5-partitus: laciniis linearibus. _Vexillum_ striatum.
_Legumen_ turgidum sessile. _Filamenta_ connata absque fissura.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
ONONIS _fruticosa_ foliis sessilibus ternatis lanceolatis serratis,
stipulis vaginalibus, pedunculis subtrifloris. _Linn. Syst.
Vegetab. ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 653._ _Ait. Kew. 24._
ONONIS purpurea verna praecox frutescens, flore rubro amplo. _Moris.
Hist. 2. p. 170._
[Illustration: N^o. 317]
This charming little shrub, highly deserving of being more generally
known, is a native of the South of France; and was cultivated here by
Miller in 1748.
In favourable situations, it produces blossoms in great profusion during
most of the Summer, and ripens seed in abundance: the situation it
affects is dry and sandy, but it is a shrub by no means nice, as to soil
or place of growth, and so hardy as to have borne the severity of last
Winter, 1795, without injury.
In the collections about town we frequently find it in pots, kept with
greenhouse plants.
It is said to vary with white flowers.
The best mode of raising it is from seed.
[318]
Anthericum Liliastrum. Savoy Anthericum, or St. Bruno's Lily.
_Class and Order._
Hexandria Monogynia.
_Generic Character._
_Cor._ 6-petala, patens. _Caps._ ovata.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
ANTHERICUM _Liliastrum_ foliis planis, scapo simplicissimo,
corollis campanulatis, staminibus declinatis. _Linn. Syst. Vegetab.
ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 330._ _Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 449._