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_Cla.s.s and Order._
HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
_Generic Character._
_Petala_ 6-aequalia. _Nectario_ infundibuliformi, 1-phyllo. _Stamina_ intra nectarium.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
NARCISSUS _odorus_ spatha sub-biflora, nectario campanulato s.e.xfido laevi dimidio petalis breviore, foliis semicylindricis. _Lin. Syst.
Vegetab. p. 317._
NARCISSUS angustifolius, five juncifolius maximus amplo calice.
The Great Jonquilia with the large flower or cup. _Park Parad. p. 89.
fig. 5._
[Ill.u.s.tration: No 78]
We shall be thought, perhaps, too partial to this tribe of plants, this being the fifth species now figured; but it should be remembered, that as the spring does not afford that variety of flowers which the summer does, we are more limited in our choice; the flowers of this delightful season have also greater claims to our notice, they present themselves with double charms.
This species, which, as its name implies, possesses more fragrance than many of the others, is a native of the South of Europe, flowers in the open border in April, is a hardy-perennial, thriving in almost any soil or situation, but succeeds best in a loamy soil and eastern exposure.
Varies with double flowers, in which slate it is often used for forcing.
No notice is taken of this species by MILLER, except as a variety of the N. _Jonquilla_, from which it differs _toto calo_.
[79]
LOTUS JACOBaeUS. BLACK-FLOWER'D LOTUS.
_Cla.s.s and Order._
DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA.
_Generic Character._
_Legumen_ cylindric.u.m strictum. _Alae_ sursum longitudinaliter conniventes. _Cal._ tubulosus.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
LOTUS _Jacobaeus_ leguminibus subternatis, caule herbaceo erecto, foliolis linearibus. _Lin. Syst. Veg. 601._
LOTUS angustifolia, flore luteo purpurascente, infulae S. Jacobi. _Comm.
hort. 2. p. 165. t. 83._
[Ill.u.s.tration: No 79]
This species of _Lotus_ has been called black-flower'd, not that the flowers are absolutely black, for they are of a very rich brown inclined to purple, but because they appear so at a little distance; the light colour of the foliage contributes not a little to this appearance.
"It grows naturally in the Island of St. James; is too tender to live abroad in England, so the plants must be kept in pots, and in the winter placed in a warm airy gla.s.s cafe, but in the summer they should be placed abroad in a sheltered situation. It may be easily propagated by cuttings during the summer season, and also by seeds, but the plants which have been two or three times propagated by cuttings, seldom are fruitful." _Miller's Gard. Dict._
It continues to flower during the whole of the summer; as it is very apt to die off without any apparent cause, care should be taken to have a succession of plants from seeds, if possible.
[80]
SPIGELIA MARILANDICA. MARYLAND SPIGELIA, OR WORM-GRa.s.s.
_Cla.s.s and Order._
PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
_Generic Character._
_Corolla_ infundibuliformis. _Capsula_ didyma. 2-locularis, polysperma.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
SPIGELIA _Marilandica_ caule tetragono, foliis omnibus oppositis. _Lin.
Syst. Veg. p. 197._ _Mant. 2. p. 338._
LONICERA _Marilandica_, _Spec. Pl. ed. 3. p. 249._
PERICLYMENI virginiani flore coccineo planta marilandica spicata erecta foliis conjugatis. _D. Sherard Raii Suppl. p. 32._ _Catesb. Carol.
11. t. 78._
ANTHELMIA Indian pink. _Dr. Lining. Essays Physical and Literary, Vol.
1. and Vol. 3._
[Ill.u.s.tration: No 80]
This plant, not less celebrated for its superior efficacy in destroying worms[A], than admired for its beauty, is a native of the warmer parts of North America; the older Botanists, and even LINNaeUS, at one time considered it as a _honeysuckle_, but he has now made a new genus of it, which he has named in honour of SPIGELIUS, a Botanist of considerable note, author of the _If.a.gog. in yem herbar_. published at _Leyden_ in 1633.
"This plant is not easily propagated in England, for the roots make but slow increase, so that the plant is not very common in the English Gardens at present; for although it is so hardy as to endure the cold of our ordinary winters in the open air, yet as it does not ripen seeds, the only way of propagating it is by parting of the roots; and as these do not make much increase by offsets, so the plants are scarce; it delights in a moist soil, and must not be often transplanted." _Miller's Dict._
The scarcity of this plant, even now, is a proof of the justness of Mr.
MILLER's observation; it is in fact a very shy plant, and scarcely to be kept in this country but by frequent importation.
It flowers in June and July.
[Footnote A: _Vid. Lewis's Mater. Medica._]
