ERICA ventricosa.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris basi bicornibus inclusis; corollis oblongo-ovatis, ventricosis, glabris; foliis quaternis ciliatis.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis fruticosus, semipedalis, teres, crassiusculus, ramosissimus, ramis recurvato-adscendentibus.
Folia quaterna, linearia, acuta, basi recurvata, apice adscendentia, ciliata, supra plana, subtus revoluta, nitida, petiolis brevissimis adpressis.
Flores terminales, plures, fastigiati, erecti; pedunculi purpurei, basi instructa bracteis binis, parvis, oppositis.
Calyx. Perianthium tetraphyllum foliolis erectis, carinatis, ciliatis.
Corolla oblongo-ovata, apice arctata, limbo æquali, quadrilobo, subreflexo, albo-purpurascens, glabra, nitida.
Stamina. Filamenta octo capillaria, corollæ subæqualia, receptaculo inserta. Antheræ inclusæ, parvæ, bifidæ, basi bicornes.
Pistillum. Germen, oblongum, sulcatum. Stylus filiformis, filamentis æqualis; stigma sub-tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mensi Aprili ad Septembrem.
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 tips two-horned at their base, included within blossoms of an oblong-ovate form, inflated and smooth; leaves ciliate, growing by fours.
DESCRIPTION.
The Stem shrubby, about half a foot high, cylindrical, thickish, very much branched, the branches bend downward, then ascend.
Leaves growing by fours, linear, pointed with a recurved base, and an ascending point, ciliate, flat on their upper, and rolled back on their under, surface, shining, the leaf-stems very short, and pressed to the branches.
Flowers terminal, numerous, upright, level, and in bunches; the footstalks purple, having two small opposite floral leaves at their base.
Empalement. Cup four-leaved, erect, keel-shaped, and ciliate.
Blossom of an oblong-ovate form, narrowed toward the top, with a slightly reflexed border, of a whitish purple, smooth, and shining.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads, nearly of a length with the blossomed, fixed into the receptacle. Tips within the blossom small, cleft, and two-horned at their base.
Pointal. Seed-vessel oblong and furrowed. Shaft thread-shaped, of an equal length with the threads. Summit nearly four-cornered.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
In bloom from April till September.
REFERENCE.
1. The Empalement with the Blossom.
2. The Empalement and Floral-leaf magnified.
3. The Chives and Pointal.
4. The Chives detached from the Pointal, one tip magnified.
5. The Shaft, and its Summit magnified.
