ERICA ampullacea.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris basi bicornibus, inclusis; foliis quaternis, retortis; floribus viscosis, umbellatis, ampullaceis, striatis, sub-sesquipollicaribus.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis fruticosus, pedalis, ramosus; rami flexuosi, filiformes.
Folia quaterna, trigona, ciliata, retorta, mucronata, supra plana, subtus sulcata; petioli brevissimi, adpressi.
Flores umbellati, sæpe quatuor, viscosi, terminales; pedunculi longi, bracteis tribus spathulatis instructi.
Calyx. Perianthium tetraphyllum, foliolis spathulatis, margine ciliatis, viscosis, adpressis.
Corolla basi inflata, apice attenuata, longitudinaliter striata, sub-sesquipollicaria, ore arctata, saturate purpurea; laciniis ovatis, expansis.
Stamina. Filamenta octo capillaria; antheræ inclusæ, bifidæ, basi bicornes.
Pistillum. Germen clavatum, sulcatum. Stylus exsertus, filiformis. Stigma tetragonum, virescens.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mense Julii ad Octobrem.
REFERENTIA.
1. Folium unum lente auctum.
2. Calyx et Corolla.
3. Calyx lente auctus.
4. Stamina et Pistillum.
5. Stamina a Pistillo diducta; antherâ unâ lente auctâ.
6. Stylus et Stigma lente aucta.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with tips two-horned at their base, within the blossom; the leaves grow by fours, and are rolled back; the flowers are clammy, grow in bunches, are flask-shaped, striped, and nearly an inch and a half long.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem shrubby, grows about a foot high, and branching; the branches are crooked, and thread-shaped.
Leaves grow by fours, are three-sided, fringed, rolled back, sharp-pointed, smooth on the upper, and furrowed on the under surface; with short footstalks, pressed to the branches.
Flowers grow in bunches, mostly of four, are clammy, and terminate the branches; the fruit-stalks are long, having three spathula-shaped floral leaves.
Empalement. Cup four-leaved, which are spathula-shaped, fringed at the edges, clammy, and pressed to the blossom.
Blossom swelled at the base, and tapering to the top, striped longitudinally, nearly an inch and a half long, straightened at the mouth, which is of a deep purple; the segments egg-shaped, and spreading.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads; tips within the blossom, are cleft in two, and two-horned at their base.
Pointal. Seed-vessel club-shaped, and furrowed. Shaft without the blossom, and thread-shaped. Summit four-cornered, and green.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from the month of July till October.
REFERENCE.
1. A Leaf magnified.
2. The Empalement and Blossom.
3. The Empalement magnified.
4. The Chives and Pointal.
5. The Chives detached from the Pointal; one tip magnified.
6. The Shaft and its Summit magnified.
