ERICA rupestris.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris aristatis inclusis, foliis quaternis obtusissimis margine cartilagineis, corollis terminalibus ternatis campanulatis trilinearibusque.
DESCRIPTIO.
Suffrutex pygmæus, humifusus, inter rupes.
Caulis sub-trientalis, ramosus, ramulis divaricatis et decumbentibus.
Folia quaterna, conferta, patula, linearia, at latiuscula et crassiuscula, obtusissima, lucida, marginibus, præcipue ad lentem, cartilagineis, subtus sulcata.
Flores terminales, plerumque ternati, nutantes, vel cernui, vel subinde erectiores; pedunculi longitudine corollæ, rubri, bracteis tribus alternis muniti.
Calyx tetraphyllus, foliolis adpressis, sublanceolatis, obtusissimis, obtuseque carinatis, marginem versus membranaceis.
Corolla campanulata, alba, laciniis semirotundis, patentibusque.
Stamina octo, capillaria; antheræ barbatæ, inclusæ.
Pistillum. Germen coronæforme. Stylus filiformis. Stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mense Julii ad Novembrem.
REFERENTIA.
1. Pagina inferior Folii. 2. Calyx et Corolla. 3. Calyx lente auctus. 4. Stamina diducta, antherâ unicâ lente auctâ. 5. Germen et Pistillum stigmate lente aucto. 6. Germen lente auctum.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with bearded tips within the blossom, leaves in fours very obtuse and cartilaginous on the margin, blossoms terminal in threes bell-shaped and three lines long.
DESCRIPTION.
A dwarfish little shrub, spread about upon the ground amongst rocks.
Stem three inches high, branched, with the little branches divaricating and decumbent.
Leaves in fours, crowded, spreading a little, linear, but broadish and rather thick, very obtuse, shining, and on the margin, especially in the magnifier, cartilaginous, and furrowed beneath.
Flowers terminal, and chiefly in threes, nodding, or cernuous, or sometimes more erect; peduncles the length of the blossom, red, and furnished with three alternate floral leaves.
Empalement four-leaved, with the leaflets close pressed to the blossom, somewhat spear-shaped, very blunt, and bluntly keeled, and membranaceous towards the margin.
Blossom bell-shaped, white, with the segments half round and spreading.
Chives eight, capillary; tips bearded, within the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-bud crown-shaped. Shaft thread-shaped. Summit four-angled.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from the month of July to November.
REFERENCE.
1. The under side of a Leaf. 2. The Empalement and Blossom. 3. The Empalement magnified. 4. The Chives detached, with one tip magnified. 5. The Seed-bud and Pointal with the summit magnified. 6. The Seed-bud magnified.
