Volume 3 — ERICA lanuginosa.
Reading edition
CHARACTER SPECIFICUS.
Erica, antheris barbatis inclusis, corollis axillaribus declinatis tomentosis acute oviformibus, verticillis foliorum ternatorum ciliatorum distinctis.
DESCRIPTIO.
Suffrutex pygmæus, at robustulus, subpedalis, erectus, ramis plerumque simplicibus, vix patulis.
Folia ternata, in verticillis distinctis, parum declinata, lanato-ciliata, subtus sulcata.
Flores axillares, sæpius solitarii, subsessiles, primo nutantes, demum cernui.
Calyx duplex, exterior minor, 3-phyllus, foliolis adpressis, ovatis acutis, extus convexis, carinatis et tomentosis: interior tetraphyllus, foliolis ut in exteriore, at plus duplo majoribus.
Corolla quadrifida, magna, ovata, subacuta, inflata, tomentosa, albido-lutescens, basi fusco-purpurascens, laciniis ovato-lanceolatis, convergentibus, obtusis.
Stamina octo, capillaria, basi latiora, 4 interiora erecta, 4 exteriora perflexuosa; antheræ barbatæ, inclusæ.
Pistillum. Germen tiaræforme: stylus filiformis: stigma tetragonum.
Habitat ad Caput Bonæ Spei.
Floret a mense Octobris ad Januarium.
REFERENTIA.
1. Calyx duplex. 2. Corolla. 3. Eadem expansa. 4. Stamina et Pistillum. 5. Stamen exterius lente auctum. 6. Pistillum, stigmate diducto lenteque aucto. 7. Germen tiaræforme lente auctum.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Heath, with bearded tips within the blossom, blossoms axillary bent downwards woolly and acutely egg-shaped, with the whorls of ternate ciliated leaves distinct.
DESCRIPTION.
A dwarf shrub, but stoutish, scarcely a foot high, erect, with chiefly simple, scarcely spreading branches.
Leaves in threes, in distinct whorls, a little bent downwards, lanately-ciliated, and furrowed beneath.
Flowers in the bosoms of the leaves, often solitary, nearly sessile, at first nodding, finally cernuous.
Empalement double, outer the smallest, 3-leaved, with the leaflets close-pressed to the blossom, egg-shaped, acute, outwardly convex, keeled, and woolly: interior four-leaved, with the leaflets as in the exterior one, but above twice as large.
Blossom four-cleft, large, egg-shaped, acutish, inflated, woolly, of a dingy yellow-white, purply-brownish at the base, with the segments egg-lance-shaped, converging, and obtuse.
Chives eight, hair-like, broader at the base, 4 interior upright, 4 exterior very much bent; tips bearded, within the blossom.
Pointal. Seed-bud turban-shaped: shaft thread-shaped: summit four-angled.
Native of the Cape of Good Hope.
Flowers from the month of October to January.
REFERENCE.
1. The double Empalement. 2. A blossom. 3. The same expanded. 4. The Chives and Pointal. 5. One of the exterior Chives magnified. 6. The Pointal, with the summit detached and magnified. 7. The turban-shaped stigma magnified.
