ERICA cerinthoides.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris muticis, inclusis; corollis tubulato-ventricosis, læte sanguineis, fasciculatis, hispidis; foliis quaternis, rigidis, ciliatis.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis flexibilis, erectus, cinereus, sesquipedalis; rami pauci, erecti, raro ramulosi.
Folia quaterna, ciliata, oblonga, convexa, subtus sulco exerata, petiolis brevibus, adpressis.
Flores magni, sessiles, aggesti in capitulum, cernui, pedunculi hispidi, bracteis tribus foliis similibus instructi.
Calyx. Perianthium tetraphyllum, foliolis lanceolatis, hispidis, foliis similibus.
Corolla, tubulato-ventricosa, læte sanguinea, hirsuta, ore obsolete quadrifida; pollicaria.
Stamina. Filamenta octo capillaria. Antheræ muticæ, inclusæ.
Pistillum. Germen cylindricum, hirsutum. Stylus filiformis, sub-exsertus. Stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mensi Augusti, in Aprilem.
REFERENTIA.
1. Calyx, et Corolla.
2. Calyx lente auctus.
3. Stamina, et Pistillum.
4. Stamina a Pistillo diducta; anthera una lente aucta.
5. Stylus, et Stigma, lente aucta.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with beardless tips, within the blossoms, which are of an inflated tubular shape, of a rich blood colour, hairy, and bundled together; the leaves grow by fours, are harsh, and lashed.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem grows upright, pliant, ash-coloured, and a foot and a half high; the branches are few, and upright, seldom branching.
The Leaves grow by fours, are lashed, oblong, rounded on the upper surface, and deeply furrowed on the under side, with short foot-stalks, pressed to the stems.
The Flowers are large, growing in close bunches, fixed altogether at the end of the branches, bending downward; the foot-stalks are hairy, having three floral leaves, similar to the other leaves.
Empalement. Cup four-leaved, which are lance-shaped, hairy, and like the other leaves.
Blossom, of an inflated tubular form, hairy, and of a rich red or blood colour, the mouth slightly cut into four segments; an inch long.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads. Tips beardless, and within the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-vessel cylinder shape, and hairy. Style thread-shaped, nearly without the blossom. Summit four-cornered.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from August, till April.
REFERENCE.
1. The Empalement, and Blossom.
2. The Empalement magnified.
3. The Chives, and Pointal.
4. The Chives detached from the Pointal; one tip magnified.
5. The Shaft, and its Summit, magnified.
