_Cal._ patens. _Cor._ carina, utrinque calcari subulato patulo. _Legumen_ lineare. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ INDIGOFERA _angustifolia_ foliis pinnatis linearibus, racemis elongatis, caule fruticoso. _Linn. Syst. Veget. ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 678._ _Mant. 272._ _Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 69._ This small, delicate, and rather elegant species of Indigo, to be found in most collections of greenhouse plants near town, rises with an upright, shrubby stem, to the height of several feet; its leaves, of a lively green colour, are furnished with pinnæ, which are numerous and unusually narrow, whence its name; its flowers, produced on long racemi springing from the sides of the stem or branches, are of a singular dull red colour, and rarely followed by seeds with us. It is a native of the Cape[8], from whence it was introduced by Mr. Masson, in 1774; flowers from June to October, and is usually increased by cuttings. There is a description of this species in the _Mantiss. Pl. Linn._ but we know of no figure of it that has yet been published. FOOTNOTE: [8] _Ait. Kew._ [466] [Illustration: Nº. 466] Calycanthus Præcox. Japan All-Spice. _Class and Order._ Icosandria Polygynia. _Generic Character._ _Cal._ 1-phyllus, urceolatus, squarrosus: foliolis coloratis. _Cor._ calycina. _Styli_ plurimi, stigmati glanduloso. _Sem._ plurima, caudata, intra calycem succulentum. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ CALYCANTHUS _præcox_ petalis interioribus minutis. _Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 3. p. 718._ _Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 220. tab. x._ OBAI _s. Robai_. Jasminum flore pleno suavi foetido, fructu turbinato, semine phascoli. _Kæmpf. Amæn. exot. p. 878._ The learned and instructive Kæmpfer in his _Amæn. Exot._ that vast fund of most useful information, gives a figure of this plant, in which it is represented both with flowers and seed-vessels, accompanied with a description and short account of it; from which we learn that it is cultivated in Japan as an ornamental plant, that the flowers are produced in February, before the leaves, that they have the scent of the violet, but become unpleasant on being long smelt to. Hearing that Lord Coventry was the first who possessed this plant in England, I took the liberty of writing to his Lordship in January 1799, to request some information on this point, as well as some others relative to its culture, &c. On the 13th of the same month, his Lordship had the goodness to send me a beautiful specimen of the plant in bloom, a seedling plant one year old, together with a seed-vessel of the year 1798, and some seeds; in the Earl's letter is the following passage:--"the beauty of the _Calycanthus præcox_ at this moment surpasses all description, it is covered with blossoms from top to bottom, and the fragrance of it may be perceived at the distance of fifty yards from the conservatory."