Volume 3 — ERICA acuminata.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris muticis inclusis; corollis subcylindricis, purpureis; floribus umbellatis, subterminalibus; foliis quaternis, retortis, acuminatis, glabris.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis fruticosus, pedalis, ramosissimus; rami flexuosi, filiformes.
Folia quaterna, trigona, retorta, acuminata, lucida, supra plana, subtus sulcata; petiolis longis, adpressis.
Flores umbellati, sub-terminales; pedunculi breves, bracteis tribus subulatis instructi.
Calyx. Perianthium tetraphyllum; foliolis subulatis, carinatis, acuminatis.
Corolla sub-cylindrica, ore arctata, pollicaria, purpurea; laciniis ovatis, revolutis.
Stamina. Filamenta octo capillaria; antheræ muticæ, inclusæ.
Pistillum. Germen tiaræforme, sulcatum, superne villosum, ad basin glanduliferum. Stylus filiformis. Stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mense Julii in Octobrem.
REFERENTIA.
1. Folium. 2. Idem lente auctum. 3. Calyx lente auctus. 4. Stamina a Pistillo diducta; antherâ unâ lente auctâ. 5. Germen et Pistillum, stigmate lente aucto. 6. Germen lente auctum.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with beardless tips within the blossom; which is nearly cylindrical, and purple; flowers grow in umbels, nearly terminal; leaves by fours, rolled back, sharp-pointed, and smooth.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem shrubby, a foot high, very branching, branches flexuose, and thread-shaped.
Leaves by fours, three-sided, rolled back, sharp-pointed, and shining, flat on their upper surface, and furrowed beneath; footstalks long, and pressed to the branches.
Flowers grow in bunches, nearly terminal; footstalks short, and furnished with three awl-shaped floral leaves.
Empalement. Cup four-leaved; leaflets awl-shaped, keeled, and sharp-pointed.
Blossom nearly cylindrical, narrowed at the mouth, an inch long, and purple; the segments of the border are egg-shaped, and rolled back.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads; tips beardless, and within the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-bud turban-shaped, and furrowed, villose on the upper part, and glandular at the base. Shaft thread-shaped. Summit four-cornered.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from July till October.
REFERENCE.
1. A Leaf. 2. The same magnified. 3. The Empalement magnified. 4. The Chives detached from the Pointal, one tip magnified. 5. Seed-bud and Pointal, summit magnified. 6. Seed-bud magnified.
