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[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 6]
We are not a little surprised that Mr. Miller should have taken no notice of the present species, as it must have been in the English gardens long before his time, being mentioned by Parkinson in his Garden of pleasant Flowers: it is nearly related to the _Pseudo-Narcissus_, but differs from it in many particulars except size, _vid. Lin. Sp. Pl._ and Parkinson above quoted.
Though its blossoms are not so large as those of the other species, yet when the roots are planted in a cl.u.s.ter, they make a very pretty shew, and have this advantage, that they flower somewhat earlier than any of the others.
Like the common Daffodil it propagates very fast by the roots, and will thrive in almost any soil or situation.
Though a native of Spain, it is seldom injured by the severity of our climate.
[7]
~Cynoglossum Omphalodes. Blue Navelwort.~
_Cla.s.s and Order._
~Pentandria Monogynia.~
_Generic Character._
Corolla infundibuliformis, fauce clausa fornicibus. Semina depressa interiore tantum latere stylo affixa.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
CYNOGLOSSUM Omphalodes repens, foliis radicalibus cordatis[B], _Lin. Sp.
Pl. p._ 193. _Syst. Vegetab. p._ 157. _Scopoli Fl. Carn. p._ 124. _t._ 3.
SYMPHYTUM minus borraginis facie. _Bauh. Pin._ 259.
BORAGO minor verna repens, folio laevi. _Moris. hist._ 3. _p._ 437. _s._ 11, _t._ 26. _fig._ 3.
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 7]
A native of Spain, Portugal, and Carniola, and an inhabitant of woods and shady situations, flowers in March and April: in the autumn it puts forth trailing shoots, which take root at the joints, whereby the plant is most plentifully propagated; thrives best under a wall in a North border.
[Footnote B: "Stolones repunt non caulis florifer, cui folia ovalia, et minime cordata. TOURNEFORTIUS separavit a SYMPHITO, et dixit OMPHALLODEM _pumilam vernam, symphyti folio_, sed bene monet LINNaeUS solam fructus asperitatem aut glabritiem, non sufficere ad novum genus construendum." _Scopoli Fl. Carn. p._ 124.]
[8]
~h.e.l.leborus Niger. Black h.e.l.lebore, or Christmas Rose.~
_Cla.s.s and Order._
~Polyandria Polygynia.~
_Generic Character._
Calyx nullus. Petala 5 sive plura. Nectaria bil.a.b.i.ata, tubulata. Capsulae polyspermae, erectiusculae.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
h.e.l.lEBORUS niger scapo sub-bifloro subnudo, foliis pedatis. _Lin. Syst.
Vegetab. p._ 431. _Sp. Pl. p._ 783.
h.e.l.lEBORUS niger flore roseo, _Bauh. Pin._ 186.
The true Black h.e.l.lebore, or Christmas flower. _Parkins. Parad. p._ 344.
[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 8]
As our Publication seems likely to fall into the hands of such as are totally unacquainted with Botany, or botanical writings, it must plead as an apology for our often explaining many circ.u.mstances relative to plants, which may be well known to adepts in the science.
This plant derives its first name from the black colour of its roots, its second from its early flowering, and the colour of its petals, which though generally milk-white on their first appearance, yet have frequently a tint of red in them, which increases with the age of the blossom and finally changes to green; in some species of h.e.l.lebore, particularly the _viridis_, the flower is green from first to last.
Black h.e.l.lebore grows wild on the Appenine and other mountains, preferring such as are rocky.
If the weather be unusually mild, it will flower in our gardens, in the open border, as early as December and January; it may indeed be considered as the herald of approaching spring.
Like most other alpine plants, it loves a pure air, a situation moderately moist, and a soil unmanured: as the beauty of its flowers is apt to be destroyed by severe frosts, it should be covered during the winter with a hand-gla.s.s, or if it be treated in the manner recommended for the round-leav'd Cyclamen, it may be had to flower in still greater perfection.
It is propagated by parting its roots in autumn: neither this species nor the _hyemalis_ thrive very near London.
[9]
~Iris pumila. Dwarf Iris.~
_Cla.s.s and Order._
~Triandria Monogynia.~
_Generic Character._
Corolla s.e.x-part.i.ta: Petalis alternis, reflexis. Stigmata petaliformia.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
IRIS pumila corollis barbatis, caule foliis breviore unifloro. _Lin.
Syst. Vegetab. p._ 78. _Sp. Plant. p._ 56. _Jacq. Fl. Austr. t._ 1.
CHAMaeIRIS minor flore purpureo. _Bauh. Pin._ 33.
