ERICA vestita purpurea.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris muticis, subexsertis; foliis senis, linearibus, tremulentibus, attenuata in petiolos capillares, semiunguiculares; floribus axillaribus, clavatis, purpureis.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis fruticosus, bipedalis, erectus, basi simplicissimus, dein verticillatim ramosus, ramis simplicibus, adscendentibus.
Folia sena, linearia, tremulanta, acuta, glabra, subtus leviter sulcata, attenuata in petiolos capillares, semiunguiculares.
Flores in ramulis mediis verticillati, recti; pedunculis brevibus, bracteis tribus instructis.
Calyx. Perianthium tetraphyllum, foliolis lanciolatis, basi serratis, viridis, glabris.
Corolla clavata, pollicaria, obtusa, recta, purpurea, ore arctato, limbo quadrifido, reflexo.
Stamina. Filamenta octo, capillaria, receptaculo inserta. Antheræ muticæ, subexsertæ.
Pistillum. Germen turbinatum, apice, pilis longis, plumosis, octofarium coronatum. Stylus filiformis, exsertus. Stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mensi Julii in Januarium.
REFERENTIA.
1. Folium unum cum petiolo.
2. Calyx et Corolla.
3. Calyx lente auctus.
4. Stamina et Pistillum.
5. Stamina a Pistillo diducta; anthera una lente aucta.
6. Stylus et Stigma lente aucta.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with beardless tips, almost without the blossom; leaves grow by sixes, linear, tremulous, and tapering into hair-like foot-stalks a quarter of an inch long; the flowers grow from the base of the leaves, are club-shaped, and purple.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem shrubby, grows two feet high, and upright, simple at the base, then branching out from a whorl into simple ascending branches.
Leaves grow by sixes, are linear, tremulous, sharp-pointed, smooth, lightly furrowed on the under part, and tapering into hair-like leaf-stems a quarter of an inch in length.
Flowers are in whorls about the middle of the branches, straight out, having short foot-stalks with three floral leaves.
Empalement. Cup four-leaved, which are lance-shaped, sawed at the base, green, and smooth.
Blossom club-shaped, an inch long, blunt, straight, and purple, compressed at the mouth, with a four-lobed, reflexed border.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads fixed into the receptacle. Tips beardless, and nearly of a length with the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-vessel turban-shaped, the top crowned by eight plumes of long hairs. Shaft thread-shaped, and without the blossom. Summit four-cornered.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from July till January.
REFERENCE.
1. A leaf with its foot-stalk.
2. The Empalement and Blossom.
3. The Empalement magnified.
4. The Chives and Pointal.
5. The Chives detached from the Pointal; one tip magnified.
6. The Shaft and its Summit magnified.
