The seed of this plant should be sown in small pots filled with light
sandy earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed; sometimes the seeds
will lie a long time in the ground; so that if the plants do not appear
the same season, the pots should not be disturbed, but preserved in
shelter till the following spring, and then plunged into a fresh
hot-bed, which will bring up the plants in a short time if the seeds are
good. When the plants are fit to remove, they should be transplanted
into small pots, four or five in each pot, then plunged into a moderate
hot-bed, where they must have a large share of air in warm weather; when
they have obtained some strength, they must be gradually inured to the
open air; when exposed abroad, they should be mixed with such plants as
require little water, placed in a warm situation, and screened from
heavy rains, which are apt to rot them. The cuttings of this sort take
root if properly managed. _Miller's Gard. Dict._
[38]
~Viburnum Tinus. Common Laurustinus.~
_Class and Order._
~Pentandria Trigynia.~
_Generic Character._
_Calyx_ 5-partitus, superus. _Cor._ 5-fida. _Bacca_ 1-sperma.
_Specific Character and Synonyms_.
VIBURNUM _Tinus_ foliis integerrimis ovatis: ramificationibus venarum
subtus villoso-glandulosis. _Lin. Syst. Vegetab. p. 294._
LAURUS sylvestris, corni faeminae foliis subhirsutis. _Bauh. Pin. 461._
The wild Bay-tree. _Park. Parad. p. 400._
[Illustration: No 38]
We scarcely recollect a plant whose blossoms are so hardy as those of
the Laurustinus, they brave the inclemency of our winters, and are not
destroyed but in very severe seasons.
The beauties of this most charming shrub can be enjoyed by those only
who cultivate it at some little distance from town, the smoke of London
being highly detrimental to its growth.
It is a native of Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
Botanists enumerate many varieties of the Laurustinus, and so
considerably do some of these differ, that MILLER has been
induced to make two species of them, which he distinguishes by the names
of _Virburnum Tinus_ and _V. lucidum_; the last of these is the most
ornamental, and at the same time the most tender; there are some other
trifling varieties, besides those, with variegated leaves, or the gold
and silver-striped.
It is only in very favourable situations that these shrubs ripen their
seeds in England, hence they are most commonly propagated by layers,
which readily strike root: MILLER says, that the plants raised
from seeds are hardier than those produced from layers.
It thrives best in sheltered situations and a dry soil.
[39]
~Franklin's Tartar.~
_A Scarlet Bizarre Carnation._
[Illustration: No 39]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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