CONVOLVULUS _Nil_ foliis cordatis trilobis, corollis semiquinquefidis, pedunculis petiolo brevioribus. _Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14. Murr. p. 209._ _Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 1. p. 209._ CONVOLVULUS caeruleus hederaceo anguloso folio. _Bauh. Pin. p. 295._ NIL Arab. _Gef. hor. Eyst._ CONVOLVULUS Caeruleus. Blew Bindweed. _Ger. Herb. p. 715. cum ic._ CONVOLVULUS trifolius five hederaceus purpureus. The greater purple Bindeweede or Bell-Flower with cornered leaves. _Park. Parad. Pl. 361. fig. 2._ All our writers on exotic botany treat of this plant, GERARD, one of the first, gives us the following account: "This beautiful Bindweed, which we call _Convolvulus Caeruleus_, is called of the Arabians _Nil_: of _Serapio_, _Hab al nil_, about Alepo and Tripolis in Syria, the inhabitants call it Hasmisen, the Italians _Campana azurea_, of the beautifull azured flowers and also _Fior de notte_, bicause his beautie appeereth most in the night:" he informs us, that it grew in his garden, but perished before it ripened its seeds. PARKINSON says, it thrives remarkably well in our country, if the year be any thing kindly: MILLER informs us, that it is a native of Africa and America, extols it as one of the most beautiful of the genus, observes, that it is a very distinct species from the purpurea, of which it has been considered by some as a variety; that it will grow to the height of eight or ten feet, that in favourable seasons the seeds will ripen in the open air, and that it requires the same treatment as other annuals usually raised on a hot-bed. Mr. AITON considers it as a stove plant, as indeed most of our tender annuals properly are. It flowers from July to September. Though apparently common in our gardens formerly, it is now very rarely met with. [Illustration] [189] ERICA GRANDIFLORA. GREAT-FLOWERED HEATH. _Class and Order._ OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. _Generic Character._ _Cal._ 4-phyllus. _Cor._ 4-fida. _Filamenta_ receptaculo inferta. _Antherae_ bifidae. _Caps._ 4-locularis. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ ERICA _grandiflora_ antheris muticis exfertis, corollis cylindraceis subincurvis glabris, stylo elongato, floribus axillaribus pedunculatis, foliis subsenis acerosis glabris. _Ait. Hort. Kew. vol. 2. p. 25._ ERICA _grandiflora_ foliis quaternis, stylo exserto, corolla cylindrica, calyce simplici, floribus lateralibus subcurvatis. _Linn. Suppl. Pl. p. 223._ The Erica here figured, is one of the many new and beautiful species, which within these few years have been sent from the Cape by Mr. MASSON, and which have contributed so greatly to enrich the royal garden at Kew. The description given of the _grandiflora_ in the _Suppl. Plant_. accords so ill with our plant, that we should be led to consider it as another species, did not the respectable authority of the _Hortus Kewensis_ silence all doubts on that head.