Volume 3 — ERICA hirta, Var. viridiflora.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris aristatis, inclusis; floribus ternis, cylindraceis, viridibus; foliis ternis et quaternis, linearibus, obtusis, hirtis; caule erecto; ramis simplicibus.
DESCRIPTIO.
Caulis erectus, bipedalis, villosus; ramuli terni, verticillati.
Folia terna et quaterna, linearia, recta, obtusa, hirta, supra plana, subtus sulcata.
Flores in ramulis terminales, plerumque terni, patento-cernui; pedunculi brevissimi, bracteæ tres lanceolatæ, ciliatæ, longitudine calycis, adpressæ.
Calyx. Perianthium tetraphyllum, foliolis lanceolatis, ciliatis, sulcatis.
Corolla cylindracea, pollicaris, viridis; laciniis obtusis, erectis.
Stamina. Filamenta octo capillaria; antheræ aristatæ, inclusæ.
Pistillum. Germen tiaræforme, sulcatum. Stylus filiformis, sub-exertus. Stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mense Octobris in Januarium.
REFERENTIA.
1. Folium lente auctum. 2. Calyx. 3. Stamina diducta, antherâ unicâ lente auctâ. 4. Germen et Pistillum, stigmate lente aucto. 5. Germen lente auctum.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with bearded tips within the blossom; flowers by threes, of a cylinder-shape and green; leaves by threes and fours, linear, blunt, and hairy; stem upright; branches simple.
DESCRIPTION.
Stem upright, two feet high, and hairy; the smaller branches grow by threes in whorls.
Leaves by threes and fours, linear, straight, blunt, and hairy, flat on their upper surface, and furrowed beneath.
Flowers terminate the smaller branches mostly by threes, between spreading and hanging down; footstalks very short, with three floral leaves, lance-shaped, fringed, and pressed to the cup.
Empalement. Cup four-leaved; leaflets lance-shaped, fringed, and furrowed.
Blossom cylindrical, an inch long, and green; the segments of the border are obtuse, and upright.
Chives. Eight hair-like threads; tips bearded, and within the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-bud turban-shaped, and furrowed. Shaft thread-shaped, and just without the blossom. Summit four-cornered.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from October till January.
REFERENCE.
1. A Leaf magnified. 2. The Empalement. 3. The Chives detached, one tip magnified. 4. Seed-bud and Pointal, summit magnified. 5. Seed-bud magnified.
