[274]
Borbonia Crenata. Heart-Leaved Borbonia
Class and Order
Diadelphia Decandria
Generic Character
Cal. acuminato-spinosus. Stigma emarginatum. Legumen mucronatum.
Specific Character and Synonyms
BORBONIA crenata foliis cordatis multinerviis denticulatis. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 643. Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 9.
FRUTEX æthiopicus leguminosus, foliis rusci majoribus in ambitu spinulis fimbriatis. Pluk. Alm. 159.
PLANTA leguminosa æthiopica, foliis rusci. Breyn. Cent. t. 28.
No274.
Borbonia is a genus of plants established by Linnæus in the 6th edition of his Genera Plantarum; of this genus there are six species enumerated in the 3d edition of the Species Plant. and two in the Hort. Kew. the latter of which, the crenata, introduced from the Cape by Mr. Masson, in 1774, is here figured.
It is a small shrubby plant, rarely exceeding the height of three feet, producing its flowers in a small cluster on the summits of the branches; these are of a yellow colour, and have nothing about them peculiarly singular, or beautiful; it is the foliage alone which renders this plant desirable in a collection.
It flowers from June to August, and in favourable seasons ripens its seeds, by which the plant is usually propagated.
[275]
Liriodendron Tulipifera. Common Tulip-Tree
Class and Order
Polyandria Polygynia
Generic Character
Cal. 3-phyllus. Petala 6. Sem. imbricata in strobilum.
Specific Character and Synonyms
LIRIODENDRON Tulipifera foliis lobatis. Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14. Murr. p. 507. Ait. Kew. v. 2. 250.
TULIPIFERA virginiana, tripartito aceris folio: media lacinia velut abscissa. Pluk. Alm. 379. t. 117. f. 5. & t. 248. f. 7. Catesb. Carol. 1. p. 48. t. 48.
LIRIODENDRON foliis angulatis truncatis. Trew. Ehret. t. x.
No275.
The Tulip-tree is a native of most parts of North-America, Marshall describes it as often growing to the size of a very large tree, 70 or 80 feet in height, and above 4 feet in diameter; he mentions two varieties, one with yellow and the other with white wood; that with yellow wood is soft and brittle, much used for boards, heels of shoes, also turned into bowls, trenchers, &c. the white is heavy, tough, and hard, and is sawed into joists, boards, &c. for building.
Ray informs us in his Hist. Pl. that this tree was cultivated here by Bishop Compton, in 1688: and from Miller we learn, that the first tree of the kind which flowered in this country, was in the gardens of the Earl of Peterborough, at Parsons-Green, near Fulham; in Mr. Ord's garden, at Walham-Green, there is, among other choice old trees, a very fine tulip-tree, which is every year covered with blossoms, and which afforded us the specimen here figured. It flowers in June and July, rarely ripens its seeds with us, though it does readily in America.
The foliage of this plant is extremely singular, most of the leaves appearing as if truncated, or cut off at the extremity; they vary greatly in the division of their lobes, the flowers differ from those of the tulip in having a calyx, but agree as to the number of petals, which is six; and so they are described in the sixth edition of the Gen. Pl. of Linn. but in Professor Murray's Syst. Veg. Ait. H. K. Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 13, by Gmelin, 9 are given, this in the first instance must be a mere typographical error arising from the inversion of the 6.
This tree is found to flourish most in a soil moderately stiff and moist, is usually raised from seeds, the process of which is amply described by Miller in his Dictionary.
[276]
Blitum Virgatum. Strawberry Blite
Class and Order
Monandria Digynia
Generic Character
Col. 3-fidus. Petala O. Sem. 1. calyce baccato.
Specific Character and Synonyms
BLITUM virgatum capitellis sparsis lateralibus. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 53. Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 7.
ATRIPLEX sylvestris mori fructu. Bauh. Pin. p. 519.
ATRIPLEX sylvestris baccifera. Clus. Hist. cxxxv.
No276.
This plant, not unfrequently met with in gardens, is known to most cultivators by the name of Strawberry Spinach; the leaves somewhat resembling those of the latter, and the fruit that of the former: C. Bauhine likens its berries to those of the Mulberry, to which they certainly bear a greater resemblance: in most of the species of this genus the calyx exhibits a very singular phenomenon, when the flowering is over, it increases in size, becomes fleshy, and finally pulpy, containing the ripe seed, which however it does not wholly envelope; thus from each cluster of flowers growing in the alæ of the leaves are produced so many berries, of a charming red colour, to which the plant owes its beauty altogether, for the flowers are small, herbaceous, and not distinctly visible to the naked eye; they can boast however of being of the first class in the Linnean system Monandria, to which few belong.
Strawberry Blite is a hardy annual, growing spontaneously in some parts of France, Spain, and Tartary; is not a very old inhabitant of our gardens, Mr. Aiton mentioning it as being first cultivated by Mr. Miller in 1759. Its berries are produced from June to September; in their taste they have nothing to recommend them, though not pleasant they are harmless.
Clusius we believe to be the first author who gives a figure and description of it.
It affects a dry soil, and open situation; in such there is no necessity to give any particular directions for its cultivation, as it comes up readily from seed spontaneously scattered, so much so as sometimes to prove a troublesome weed.
[277]
Mahernia Pinnata. Winged Mahernia
Class and Order
Pentandria Pentagynia
Generic Character
Cal. 5-dentatus. Petala 5. Nectaria 5 obcordata, filamentis supposita. Caps. 5-locularis.
Specific Character and Synonyms
MAHERNIA pinnata, foliis tripartito pinnatifidis. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 308. Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 398.
HERMANNIA foliis tripartitis, media pinnatifida. Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 3. p. 943.
HERMANNIA frutescens, folio multifido tenui, caule rubro. Boerh. Lugd. 1. p. 273.
No277.
Linnæus, in his Spec. Pl. regarded this plant as a species of Hermannia; finding afterwards that it differed materially in its fructification from that genus, he made a new one of it in his Mantissa, by the name of Mahernia; still, however, the two genera are very nearly related: one principal difference consists in the nectaria of the Mahernia, which are very remarkable.
This species was introduced from the Cape, where it is a native, by Mr. Masson, in 1774, and is now very generally met with in our green-houses. It produces its little bells, of a lively red when they first open, from June to August, or September; is a small delicate plant, and easily raised from cuttings.
[278]
Lilium Candidum. White Lily
Class and Order
Hexandria Monogynia
Generic Character
Cor. 6-petala, campanulata: linea longitudinali nectarifera. Caps. valvulis pilo cancellato connexis.
Specific Character and Synonyms
LILIUM candidum foliis sparsis, corollis campanulatis, intus glabris. Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 3. p. 433. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 324. Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 429.
LILIUM album flore erecto et vulgare. Bauh. Pin. 76.
LILIUM album vulgare. The ordinary White Lily. Park. Parad. p. 39. t. 37. f. 4.
No278.
We may rank the White Lily among the very oldest inhabitants of the flower-garden; in the time of Gerard it was very generally cultivated, and doubtless at a much earlier period; a plant of such stateliness, so shewy, so fragrant, and at the same time so much disposed to increase, would of course soon be found very generally in gardens, into which its introduction would be accelerated on another account; it was regarded as a plant of great efficacy; among other extraordinary powers attributed to it, we are gravely told that it taketh away the wrinkles of the face.
Linnæus makes it a native of Palestine and Syria; Mr. Aiton of the Levant.
Its blossoms, which open early in July, continue about three weeks, and when they go off leave the flower-garden greatly thinned of its inhabitants.
Of the White Lily there are three principal varieties:
1. With double flowers.
2. With flowers blotched with purple.
3. With striped leaves, or leaves edged with yellow.
The two first of these are to be esteemed merely as curiosities; in the third the plant acquires an accession of beauty which it has not originally; though many persons object to variegated leaves, as conveying an idea of fickliness, that complaint cannot be urged against the foliage of the striped Lily, to which the borders of the flower-garden are indebted for one of their chief ornaments during the autumnal and winter months; early in September these begin to emerge, and towards spring another set rises up in their centre, of more upright growth, and which announce the rising of the flowering stem.
Besides these varieties, Linnæus has considered the Lilium album floribus dependentibus s. peregrinum of C. Bauhine, the Sultan Zambach of Clusius, and the Hortus Eystettensis, as one of its varieties also: Miller regards this plant as a distinct species, and those who have attentively examined the figures and descriptions of Clusius and the Hort. Eyst. will be of the same opinion.
The Lily increases most abundantly by offsets, hence it becomes necessary that the bulbs should be taken up, and reduced every second or third year; but the striped leaved variety increasing much more slowly, should remain unmolested for a greater length of time.
There is scarcely a soil or situation in which the Lily will not grow, it will thrive most in a soil moderately stiff and moist; though a native of a warm climate no severity of weather affects it with us: we may learn from this, not to regulate the culture of plants invariably by the climate in which they grow spontaneously.
The best time for removing the bulbs of this plant is about the middle of August, before they shoot forth their leaves; but they may be transplanted any time from September to spring.