ERICA melastoma.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheræ muticæ, exsertæ, attenuata in filamenta plana; corollis sessilibus, solitariis, luteis, terminalibus; oris laciniis nigris; calyx duplicatus, heptaphyllus, imbricatus; foliis subulatis, quaternis.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis laxus, erectus, bipedalis; rami pauci, simplices; ramuli sparsi, brevissimi, frequentissimi, foliosi.
Folia quaterna, subulata, apice, recurvata, sub-scabrida, rigida; petiolis brevissimis, adpressis.
Flores sessiles in apicibus ramulorum, solitarii, dependenti; pedunculi brevissimi.
Calyx. Perianthium duplex; interius tetraphyllum, foliolis concavis, ovatis, glabris, imbricatis, integris, luteis; exterius triphyllum, priori brevioribus, consimilibus.
Corolla conica, lutea, parum curvata, basi quadrifariam sulcata, apice attenuata; laciniis erectis, obtusis, longissimis, adpressis, nigris.
Stamina. Filamenta octo, plana, linearia. Antheræ muticæ, lineares, exsertæ, longitudine corollæ, attenuata in filamenta.
Pistillum. Germen ovatum, glabrum, integrum. Stylus exsertus, filiformis, staminibus paulo longior. Stigma marginatum, virescens.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a Mensi Februarii, in Julium.
REFERENTIA.
1. Calyx.
2. Corolla, et Stamina.
3. Stamina, et Pistillum.
4. Stamina a Pistillo diducta.
5. Stamen unum, lente auctum.
6. Pistillum, lente auctum.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with beardless tips, without the blossom, tapering into the threads which are flat; blossoms sitting close to the branches singly, are yellow, and terminate them; the segments of the mouth are black; the cup is doubled, of seven leaves and tiled; leaves awl-shaped, growing by fours.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem weak, upright, grows two feet high; the branches are few, and simple; the small branches are scattered, very short, numerous, and covered with leaves.
Leaves grow by fours, awl-shaped, bent back at the point, roughish and stiff; foot-stalks very short, and pressed to the stem.
Flowers sitting on the ends of the smaller branches are solitary, and hang down; the foot-stalks are very short.
Empalement. Cup double; the inner one has four leaves, which are concave, egg-shaped, smooth, tiled, entire, and yellow; the outer three-leaved, shorter than the former, and like them.
Blossom conical, yellow, slightly curved, having four furrows at the base, and tapering at the point; the segments of the border grow upright, are blunt, very long, pressed to the chives, and black.
Chives. Eight flat, linear, threads. Tips beardless, linear, without the blossom, and of its length, tapering into the threads.
Pointal. Seed-bud egg-shaped, smooth and entire. Shaft without the blossom, thread-shaped, a little longer than the chives. Summit bordered, and greenish.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from February, till July.
REFERENCE.
1. The Empalement.
2. The Blossom, and Chives.
3. The Chives, and Pointal.
4. The Chives detached from the Pointal.
5. A Chive magnified.
6. The Pointal magnified.
