POINTAL. Seed-vessel globular, large, and furrowed; the shaft nearly without the blossom, tapering from the base; the summit four-cornered. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. Flowers from April, till July. REFERENCE. 1. The Empalement, and Blossom. 2. The Empalement magnified. 3. The Chives and Pointal. 4. The Chives detached from the Pointal; one tip magnified. 5. The Pointal and Seed-vessel magnified. [Illustration] ERICA Banksia. CHARACTER SPECIFICUS. ERICA, antheræ muticæ, exsertæ, attenuata in filamenta plana; corolla cylindrica, viridi-lutea; caulis decumbens, sub-spithamæus; folia terna. DESCRIPTIO. CAULIS decumbens, rigidus, scaber, sub-spithamæus, ramosissimus; ramulis brevibus. FOLIA terna, subulata, trigona, acuminata, subtus tenuissime sulcata, supra plana, glabra, profundé viridia; petiolis brevissimis, adpressis. FLORES in ultimis ramulis, bini vel terni, cernui; pedunculi brevissimi, bracteis nullis. CALYX. Perianthium duplex, _exterius_ triphyllum, foliolis lato-ovatis, rigidis, carinatis, acuminatis; _interius_ tetraphyllum, foliolis flaccidis, linearibus, longioribus. COROLLA cylindrica, ad basin parum inflata, viridi-lutea, oris laciniis revolutis. STAMINA. Filamenta octo linearia, plana, corolla multoties longiora, receptaculo inserta. Antheræ muticæ, exsertæ, nec filamentis distinguendis. PISTILLUM. Germen sub-ovatum. Stylus filiformis, exsertus. Stigma tetragonum. Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei. Floret a mensi Februarii, in Julium. REFERENTIA. 1. Calyx, et Corolla, 2. Calyx lente auctus. 3. Stamina, et Pistillum. 4. Stamina a Pistillo diducta; anthera una lente aucta. 5. Stylus, et Stigma, lente aucta. SPECIFIC CHARACTER. HEATH, whose tips are beardless, without the blossom, and tapering into threads, which are flat; the blossom is cylindrical, of a greenish yellow; the stem droops, is scarce a span high; the leaves grow by threes. DESCRIPTION. STEM drooping, harsh, rough, less than a span in height, and very much branched; the smaller branches are short. The LEAVES grow by threes, are awl-shaped, three-sided, and sharp-pointed, slightly channelled on the under part, smooth on the upper, and flat, of a deep green colour, having short foot-stalks pressed to the stem. FLOWERS grow by twos or threes at the end of the smaller branches, hanging down; the foot-stalks are very short, without any floral leaves. EMPALEMENT. Cup double, the _outer_ three-leaved, which are of a broad egg-shape, harsh, keeled, and sharp pointed; the _inner_ is four-leaved, longer than the former, linear, and limber. The BLOSSOM is cylindrical, slightly swelled at the base, of a greenish-yellow; the segments of the mouth are rolled back. CHIVES. Eight linear, flat threads, much longer than the blossom, fixed into the receptacle. Tips beardless, without the blossom, and not to be distinguished from the threads. POINTAL. Seed-vessel nearly oval. Shaft thread-shaped, and without the blossom. Summit four-cornered.