ERICA pyramidalis.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris muticis, inclusis; floribus umbellatis, sub-quaternis; corolla pyramidata, carnea, laciniis maximis, erectis; foliis sub-quaternis, linearibus, pilosis, obtusis.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis fruticosus, ramosus, flexilis; ramuli frequentissimi, verticillati, sub-quaterni, brevi, cernui.
Folia sub-quaterna, linearia, pilosa, tenuia, subtus sulcata; petiolis brevissimis, adpressis.
Flores in apicibus ramulorum umbellati, sub-quaterni; pedunculi recti, colorati, bracteis minutis, remotis.
Calyx. Perianthium tetraphyllum, foliolis, subulatis, adpressis.
Corolla campanulato-infundibuliformis, carnea; laciniis limbi acutis, maximis, semiovatis, apicibus parum patulis.
Stamina. Filamenta octo capillaria. Antheræ muticæ, inclusæ.
Pistillum. Germen sub-globosum, apice octo-partitum, compressum. Stylus filiformis, erectus, subexsertus. Stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mensi Septembris, in Decembrem.
REFERENTIA.
1. Calyx, et Corolla.
2. Calyx, lente auctus.
3. Corolla.
4. Stamina a Pistillo diducta.
5. Anthera una lente aucta.
6. Pistillum, lente auctum.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with beardless tips, within the blossom; flowers grow in umbels mostly of four; blossom pyramid-shaped and flesh coloured, the segments very large, and upright; leaves grow generally by fours, linear, hairy and blunt ended.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem shrubby, branching and flexible; small branches are numerous, grow in whorls, mostly by fours, short and hanging down.
Leaves grow most frequently by fours, are linear, hairy, thin and furrowed beneath; foot-stalks very short and pressed to the stem.
Flowers grow at the ends of the small branches in bunches, generally of four; the foot-stalks grow straight, are coloured, having the floral leaves at a distance from the blossom.
Empalement. Cup four-leaved, leaflets awl-shaped, and pressed to the blossom.
Blossom between bell and funnel-shaped, and flesh-coloured; the segments of the border are pointed, very large, half egg-shaped, with the ends a little spreading.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads. Tips beardless, and within the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-bud nearly globular, eight divisions at the top and flattened. Shaft thread-shaped, upright and just without the blossom. Summit four-cornered.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from September, till December.
REFERENCE.
1. The Empalement, and Blossom.
2. The Empalement, magnified.
3. The Blossom.
4. The Chives detached from the Pointal.
5. A Tip, magnified.
6. The Pointal and Seed-bud, magnified.
