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It has not, that we know of, as yet ripened its seeds in this country; till it does, or good seeds of it shall be imported, it must remain a very scarce and dear plant, as it is found to increase very slowly by its roots: plants are said to be sold at the Cape for Three Guineas each.
_General Description of the STRELITZIA REGINae._
[Ill.u.s.tration: No 120]
From a perennial stringy root shoot forth a considerable number of leaves, standing upright on long footstalks, front a sheath of some one of which, near its base, springs the flowering stem, arising somewhat higher than the leaves, and terminating in an almost horizontal long-pointed spatha, containing about six or eight flowers, which becoming vertical as they spring forth, form a kind of crest, which the glowing orange of the Corolla, and fine azure of the Nectary, renders truly superb. The outline in the third plate of this number, is intended to give our readers an idea of its general habit and mode of growth.
_Particular Description of the same._
ROOT perennial, stringy, somewhat like that of the tawny Day-lily (Hemerocallis fulva); strings the thickness of the little finger, blunt at the extremity, extending horizontally, if not confined, to the distance of many feet.
LEAVES numerous, standing upright on their footstalks, about a foot in length, and four inches in breadth, ovato-oblong, coriaceous, somewhat fleshy, rigid, smooth, concave, entire on the edges, except on one side towards the base, where they are more or less curled, on the upper side of a deep green colour, on the under side covered with a fine glaucous meal, midrib hollow above and yellowish, veins unbranched, prominent on the inside, and impressed on the outside of the leaf, young leaves rolled up.
LEAF-STALKS about thrice the length of the leaves, upright, somewhat flattened, at bottom furnished with a sheath, and received into each other, all radical.
SCAPUS or flowering stem unbranched, somewhat taller than the leaves, proceeding from the sheath of one of them, upright, round, not perfectly straight, nearly of an equal thickness throughout, of a glaucous hue, covered with four or five sheaths which closely embrace it. Two or more flowering stems spring from the same root, according to the age of the plant.
SPATHA terminal, about six inches in length, of a glaucous hue, with a fine bright purple at its base, running out to a long point, opening above from the base to within about an inch of the apex, where the edges roll over to one side, forming an angle of about forty-five degrees, and containing about six flowers.
FLOWERS of a bright orange colour, becoming upright, when perfectly detached from the spatha, which each flower is a considerable time in accomplis.h.i.+ng. In the plant at Chelsea, the two back petals, or, more properly segments of the first flower, sprang forth with the nectary, and while the former became immediately vertical, the latter formed nearly the same angle as the spatha; four days afterwards the remaining segment of the first flower, with the two segments and nectary of the second came forth, and in the same manner at similar intervals all the flowers, which were six in number, continued to make their appearance.
COROLLA deeply divided into three segments, which are ovato-lanceolate, slightly keeled, and somewhat concave, at the base white, fleshy, and covered with a glutinous substance flowing in great quant.i.ties from the nectary.
NECTARY of a fine azure blue and most singular form, composed of two petals, the upper petal very short and broad, with a whitish mucro or point, the sides of which lap over the base of the other petal; inferior petal about two inches and a half in length, the lower half somewhat triangular, grooved on the two lowermost sides, and keeled at bottom, the keel running straight to its extremity, the upper half gradually dilating towards the base, runs out into two lobes more or less obtuse, which give it an arrow-shaped form, bifid at the apex, hollow, and containing the antherae, the edges of the duplicature crisped and forming a kind of frill from the top to the bottom.
STAMINA five Filaments arising from the base of the nectary, short and distinct; Antherae long and linear, attached to and cohering by their tips to the apex of the nectary.
STYLE filiform, white, length of the nectary.
STIGMA three quarters of an inch long, attached to, and hitched on as it were to the tip of the nectary, roundish, white, awl-shaped, very viscid, becoming as the flower decays of a deep purple brown colour, and usually splitting into three pieces, continuing attached to the nectary till the nectary decays.
Mr. FAIRBAIRN, to whose abilities and industry the Companies Garden at Chelsea is indebted for its present flouris.h.i.+ng state, being desirous of obtaining ripe seeds, I had no opportunity of examining the germen.
Such were the appearances which presented themselves to us in the plant which flowered at the Chelsea Garden; that they are liable to considerable variation is apparent from the figure of Mr.
MILLAR, which appears to have been drawn from a very luxuriant specimen, as two spathae grow from one flowering stem, the stigma is also remarkably convoluted, many other appearances are likewise represented, which our plant did not exhibit: in the figure given in the _Hortus Kewensis_, the stigma appears to have separated from the nectary on the first opening of the flower, and to be split into three parts, neither of which circ.u.mstances took place in our plant till they were both in a decaying state.
[121]
NARCISSUS INCOMPARABILIS. PEERLESS DAFFODIL.
_Cla.s.s and Order._
HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
_Generic Character._
_Petala_ 6 aequalia: _Nectario_ infundibuliformi, 1-phyllo: _Stamina_ intra nectarium.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
NARCISSUS _incomparabilis_ spatha uniflora, nectario campanulato plicato crispo petalis dimidio breviore, foliis planis.
NARCISSUS latifolius omnium maximus amplo calice flavo sive Nompareille.
The great Nonesuch Daffodil, or incomparable Daffodil. _Park. Par.
p. 68._
[Ill.u.s.tration: No 121]
This species of Narcissus, though well described and figured by the old Botanists, especially PARKINSON; has been overlooked by LINNaeUS.
It is undoubtedly the _incomparable Daffodil_ of PARKINSON, figured in his Garden of Pleasant Flowers; and the _incomparabilis_ of MILLER's _Dict. ed. 6. 4to._ the latter informs us, that he received roots of it from Spain and Portugal, which fixes its place of growth.
It is a very hardy bulbous plant, and flowers in April; in its single state it is very ornamental, the petals are usually pale yellow, and the nectary inclined to orange, which towards the brim is more brilliant in some than in others; in its double state, it is well known to Gardeners, by the name of b.u.t.ter and Egg Narcissus, and of this there are two varieties, both of which produce large shewy flowers, the one with colours similar to what we have above described, which is the most common, the other with petals of a pale sulphur colour, almost white, and the nectary bright orange; this, which is one of the most ornamental of the whole tribe, is named in the Dutch catalogues, the _Orange Phoenix_; its blossoms are so large as frequently to require supporting; its bulbs may be had of many of the Nurseries about London, and of those who, profiting by the supineness of our English Gardeners, import bulbs from abroad.
Like most of the tribe, this species will grow well without any care, the bulbs of the double sort should be taken up yearly, otherwise they are apt to degenerate.
[122]
HYACINTHUS RACEMOSUS. STARCH HYACINTH.
_Cla.s.s and Order._
HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
_Generic Character._
Corolla campanulata: pori 3 melliferi germinis.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
HYACINTHUS _racemosus_ corollis ovatis, summis sessilibus, foliis laxis.
_Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 336._ _Sp. Pl. 455._
HYACINTHUS racemosus caeruleus minor juncifolius. _Bauh. Pin. p. 43._
HYACINTHUS botryodes 1. _Car Clus. Hist. p. 181._
HYACINTHUS racemosus. _Dodon. Pempt. p. 217._
HYACINTHUS botroides minor caeruleus obscurus. The darke blew Grape-flower. _Park. Par. p. 114._
[Ill.u.s.tration: No 122]
