We were favoured with the specimens in November from Lord Valentia’s
gardens at Arley, along with the Plectranthus barbata. His Lordship
received the seeds last year from Dr. Roxburgh in India, by the name of
Crotalaria tetragona. The plant appears to be shrubby. No account of the
species has before been published. Its place in the genus is near to the
Crotalaria juncea figured in our sixth volume.
[Illustration]
PLATE DXCIV.
PLECTRANTHUS BARBATUS.
_Bearded Plectranthus._
CLASS XIV. ORDER I.
_DIDYNAMIA GYMNOSPERMIA._ Four unequal Stamens. Naked Seeds.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
CALYX laciniâ summâ majore. Corolla resupinata, ringens; tubo
sursùm gibbo vel calcarato.
CUP with the upper division largest. Blossom lying on its back,
gaping; tube with a spur above or swelled out.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
PLECTRANTHUS racemis bracteatis, bracteis deciduis; foliis ovatis,
crenatis, pubescentibus, rugosis, per petioles decurrentibus:
corollæ labio superiore emarginato brevissimo; inferiore subovato,
concavo, hirsuto.
PLECTRANTHUS with bracts to the bunches, bracts falling off: the
leaves oval, scolloped, downy and wrinkled, running down the
footstalks; the upper lip of the blossom short, and slightly
notched; the lower nearly ovate, compressed and hairy.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The empalement.
2. A blossom with the segments cut off to expose the chives.
3. The seed-bud and pointal, summit magnified.
* * * * *
The stem of Plectranthus is four-sided with blunt corners, and woolly.
The leaves are fleshy, minutely dotted on both sides, and border their
footstalks down to the stem. The flower-stalks, the lower part of the
cups, and under lip of the blossom, are set with stiff clear bristles.
The tube of the blossom is without a spur, and swelled on the upper
side. Every part of the plant has a powerful fragrance. The specimens
were communicated in November by Mr. Giddings, gardener to Lord Valentia
at Arley; with a letter stating, that he raised the plants from
Abyssinian seeds sent home by his Lordship about four years ago, and
that they grow at Arley to about two feet in height, and thrive with the
common treatment of stove plants.
The first species known of this genus, Plectranthus punctatus, the
Ocymum punctatum of Linnæus, was also brought from Abyssinia by the
celebrated Bruce.
[Illustration]
PLATE DXCV.
PANAX FRUTICOSUM.
_Shrubby Panax._
CLASS XXIII. ORDER II.
_POLYGAMIA DIŒCIA._ Flowers Male, Female, and Hermaphrodite on different
Plants.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
HERMAPHRODITUS. Umbella. Calyx 5-dentatus, superus. Corolla
5-petala. Stamina 5. Styli 2 vel 3, sæpe cohærentes. Bacca 2-vel
3-sperma, infera.
HERMAPHRODITE. An umbel. Cup 5-toothed, above. Blossom 5-petalled.
Stamens 5. Shafts 2 or 3, sometimes cohering. Berry 2-or 3-seeded,
below.
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