There are few flowers that do not secrete from some kind of a glandular substance, honey, or nectar, to a greater or smaller amount; in those of the present genus, this liquid is particularly abundant, even dropping from the flowers of the _major_, in considerable quantity; in the present species it flows not so copiously, but is retained in the lower part of the blossom, and is of a dark brown colour, an unusual phenomenon. There are only two species of this genus described, the _major_ and the _minor_, both of which are cultivated in our nurseries; the _major_ is by far the most common, the most hardy, and the most ornamental plant; its foliage indeed is peculiarly elegant: this species will succeed in the open border, especially if placed at the foot of a wall with a south or south-west aspect, taking care to cover the root to a considerable depth with rotten tan in severe frosts: the _minor_ is always kept in the greenhouse, in which, when it has acquired a certain age, it flowers regularly in the spring, and constantly so, as far as we have observed of the plants in Chelsea Garden; Mr. Aiton says in August, and Commelin the summer through. The _Melianthus minor_ grows to the height of three, four, or five feet; its stem, which is shrubby, during the flowering season is apt to exhibit a naked appearance, having fewer leaves on it at that period, and those not of their full size; but this, perhaps, may in some degree be owing to the plant's being placed at the back of others. The foliage when bruised has an unpleasant smell. It is a native of the Cape, and, according to Mr. Aiton, was cultivated by the Duchess of Beaufort, in 1708; is propagated readily by cuttings. [302] Mimosa Myrtifolia. Myrtle-Leaved Mimosa. _Class and Order._ Polyandria Monogynia. _Generic Character._ _Flores_ mere masculi reliquis intersiti. _Cal._ 5-dentatus. _Cor._ 5-fida aut 0. _Stamina_ 4-locularis. _Legumen. Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 13. Gmel._ _Specific Character._ MIMOSA _myrtifolia_ foliis ovato-lanceolatis obliquis undulatis acuminatis margine cartilagineis: primordialibus pinnatis. _Smith Trans. Linn. Soc. v. 1. p. 252._ [Illustration: N^o. 302] The seeds of this species of Mimosa having been sent over in plenty, with some of the first vegetable productions of New South-Wales, and growing readily, the plant has been raised by many cultivators in this country; Mr. Hoy, gardener to the Duke of Northumberland, produced a specimen of it in flower at a meeting of the Linnean Society in 1790; it is a shrub of quick growth, and a ready blower: a plant of it in the stove of Chelsea-Garden has this year (May 10, 1795) produced ripe pods, and perfect seeds. In the greenhouse, where it flowers from February to April, the blossoms go off without shewing any tendency to produce fruit.