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The _Clematis integrifolia_ is not an uncommon plant in the nurseries about London, and is deserving a place in gardens, if not for the beauty of its flowers, at least for their singularity.
It is a native of Germany, flowers in July, and is one of those hardy perennials which suit most people, requiring little more than an introduction.
Is propagated by parting its roots in Autumn.
[66]
~Pa.s.siflora alata. Winged Pa.s.sion-Flower.~
_Cla.s.s and Order._
~Gynandria Pentandria.~
_Generic Character._
Trigyna. _Cal._ 5-phyllus. _Petala_ 5. _Nectarium_ corona. _Bacca_ pedicellata.
_Specific Character._
Pa.s.sIFLORA _alata_ foliis indivisis cordatis integerrimis, petiolis quadriglandulosis, cauli membranaceo tetragono.
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This species of Pa.s.sion-flower is one of those which have been introduced into the English gardens since the time of MILLER; if it does not equal the _coerulea_ in elegance, it excels it in magnificence, in brilliancy of colour, and in fragrance, the blossoms being highly odoriferous: as yet, it is by no means so general in this country, as its extraordinary beauty merits, we have seen it flower this year, both summer and autumn, in great perfection in the stove of our very worthy friend JAMES VERE, Esq. Kensington-Gore; at the Physic Garden, Chelsea; and at Mr. MALCOM's, Kennington; at Chelsea, in particular, it afforded the richest a.s.semblage of foliage and flowers we ever saw.
It appears to the greatest advantage, when trained up an upright pole, nearly to the height of the back of the stove, and then suffered to run along horizontally.
By some it has been considered as a variety only of the _Pa.s.siflora quadrangularis_, others, with whom we agree in opinion, have no doubt of its being a very distinct species; it differs from the _quadrangularis_, in having leaves more perfectly heart-shaped, and less veiny; in having four glands on the foot-stalks of the leaves, instead of six; and in not producing fruit with us, which the _quadrangularis_ has been known frequently to do.
The Nursery-men report, that this species was first raised in this country, by a gentleman in Hertfords.h.i.+re, from West-India seeds.
The usual mode of propogating it here, is by cuttings.
[67]
~Mesembryanthemum pinnatifidum. Jagged-Leaved Fig-Marigold.~
_Cla.s.s and Order._
~Icosandria Pentagynia.~
_Generic Character._
_Cal._ 5-fidus. _Petala_ numerosa linearia. _Caps._ carnosa infera polysperma.
_Specific Character._
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM _pinnatifidum_ foliis pinnatifidis. _Linn. Syst.
Vegetab. p. 470. Suppl. p. 260._
[Ill.u.s.tration: 67]
This species of _Mesembryanthemum_, so different in the shape of its foliage from all the others. .h.i.therto introduced into this country, is first described in the _Supplementum Plantarum_ of the younger LINNaeUS, from which we learn that it grew in the Upsal Garden, into which it was most probably introduced by professor THUNBERG, as on his authority it is mentioned as a native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Mr. ZIER, Apothecary, of Castle-Street, was so obliging as to present me this summer with the seeds of this curious plant, I sowed them in a pot of earth, plunged in a tan pit, whose heat was nearly exhausted; they quickly vegetated, and though the summer was far advanced, they proceeded rapidly into flower, and bid fair to produce ripe seeds, as the Capsules have long since been formed.
The whole plant is sprinkled over with glittering particles like the ice plant, to which it bears some affinity in its duration, being an annual and requiring the same treatment.
The blossoms are small and yellow, and if the weather be fine, open about two or three o'clock in the afternoon, the stalks are of a bright red colour, and the foliage yellowish green.
[68]
~Sempervivum arachnoideum. Cobweb Houseleek.~
_Cla.s.s and Order._
~Dodecandria Dodecagynia.~
_Generic Character._
_Cal._ 12-part.i.tus. _Petala_ 12. _Caps._ 12. polyspermae.
_Specific Character._
SEMPERVIVUM _arachnoideum_ foliis pilis intertextis, propaginibus globosis. _Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 456._
SEDUM montanum tomentosum. _Bauh. Pin. 284._
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By the old Botanists, this plant was considered as a _Sedum_; and to this day it is generally known in the gardens by the name of the _Cobweb Sedum_, though its habit or general appearance, independent of its fructification, loudly proclaims it a _Houseleek_.
In this species the tops of the leaves are woolly; as they expand they carry this woolly substance with them, which being thus extended, a.s.sumes the appearance of a cobweb, whence the name of the plant.
