ERICA spicata.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris aristatis, inclusis; floribus pluribus, dense spicatis, subterminalibus; foliis subsenis.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis fruticosus, pedalis, erectus, ramis pluribus, confertis, adscendentibus.
Folia subsena, linearia, mucronata, patentia, glaberrima, subtus sulcata, petiolis brevissimis, cauli adpressis.
Flores plures, subterminales arcte stipati, in spicam duram; ima parte luteoli, summa virescens.
Calyx. Perianthium persistens, duplex; exterius polyphyllum, foliolis lanceolatis, inæqualibus; interius tetraphyllum, flavescens, foliolis aduncis, spathulatis, summa inflata, callosa, acuminata, connivente.
Corolla teretiuscula, basi attenuata, ore obtuso, quadrifido, æquali, connivente.
Stamina. Filamenta octo, capillaria, corollæ subæqualia, receptaculo inserta. Antheræ aristatæ, inclusæ.
Pistillum. Germen subrotundum. Stylus filiformis, staminibus longior. Stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a Novembri in Aprilem.
REFERENTIA.
1. Calyx et Corolla.
2. Calyx et Bractea lente aucta.
3. Stamina et Pistillum.
4. Stamina a Pistillo diducta, anthera una lente aucta.
5. Stylus et Stigma lente aucta.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with bearded tips, within the blossoms; which are numerous, on a close spike, nearly terminating the branches; leaves growing mostly by sixes.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem shrubby, growing a foot high, upright, with numerous, crowded, undivided, and ascending branches.
Leaves growing mostly by sixes, sharp-pointed, spreading, and smooth, channelled underneath, and pressed to the stem by short foot-stalks.
Flowers numerous, growing nearly at the end of branches, in hard close-set spikes; the lower part of a light yellow, the extremity of a light green.
Empalement. Cup permanent, double; the outer many-leaved, unequal, and spear-shaped; the inner four-leaved, which are yellow, crooked, and spatula-shaped; their upper part hard, inflated, sharp-pointed, and tending to each other.
Blossom somewhat cylindrical, with a tapered base; the mouth blunt, and divided into a four-cleft, equal border, whose segments tend to each other.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads, nearly of a length with the blossom, fixed into the receptacle. Tips bearded, and within the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-vessel roundish. Shaft thread-shaped, and longer than the threads. Summit four-cornered.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
In bloom from November till April.
REFERENCE.
1. The Empalement with the Blossom.
2. The Empalement and Floral-leaves magnified.
3. The Chives and Pointal.
4. The Chives detached from the Pointal, one tip magnified.
5. The Shaft and its Summit magnified.
