Volume 2 — PLATE CXXIX. GLORIOSA SUPERBA. Superb Gloriosa.

CLASS V. ORDER I.

HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Six Chives. One Pointal.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx nullus.

Corolla. Petala sex, oblongo-lanceolata, undulata, longissima, totaliter reflexa.

Stamina. Filamenta sex, subulata, corolla breviora, recto-patula. Antheræ incumbentes.

Pistillum. Germen globosum. Stylus filiformis, staminibus longior, inclinatus. Stigma triplex, obtusum.

Pericarpium. Capsula ovalis, triloba, trilocularis, trivalvis.

Semina plura, globosa, baccata, duplici serie disposita.

Obs. Affinis Erythronio.

Empalement, none.

Blossom. Petals six, oblong-lance-shaped, waved, very long, totally bent back.

Chives. Six threads, awl-shaped, shorter than the blossom, spreading out at straight angles from the seed-bud. Tips sideways on the threads.

Pointal. Seed-bud globular. Shaft thread-shaped, longer than the threads, inclined. Summit triple, blunt.

Seed-vessel. Capsule oval, three-lobed, three-celled, three-valved.

Seeds many, globular, like berries, disposed in two rows.

Obs. The genus has an affinity to Erythronium, or Dog’s-tooth Violet.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Gloriosa soliis cirrhiferis.

Gloriosa with tendril-bearing leaves.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. A leaf of the Blossom, with its Chive, as they are fixed together at the base. 2. The Seed-bud, Shaft and Summit; the petals of the blossom being cut off.

The Gloriosa superba, a native of Guinea, as well as the coast of Malabar in the East Indies, is said to be every part poisonous. It is herbaceous, and the roots, which are formed upon the decay of the old one, should be taken from the pot in November, and kept in dry sand till the end of February, when they must be planted in rich earth, composed of one part old rotten dung, and two parts leaf mould or peat earth, then plunged in the bark-bed of a hot-house which is kept at pine heat, to insure their flowering the ensuing August.

Having received a most beautiful branch, of this magnificent plant from the collection of the Hon. the Marchioness of Rockingham, at Hillingdon, near Uxbridge; the impulse was too strong to be resisted, of giving a figure of it in the Bot. Rep. although against our general proposals, as this is certainly, neither a new, or rare plant; having been introduced so early as 1690, by Mr. Bentick. We therefore beg the indulgence of our friends, in this instance; for although the flower is common, and there are many figures of it, in different works, as, Rheede’s Hort. Malab. Vol. 7. frut. scand. 107. t. 57. Plukenet’s alma. 249. t. 116. f. 3. Commelin’s hort. 1. p. 69. t. 35. &c. &c.; yet, as these may not be in the possession of many of the purchasers of our work, we hope it may prove agreeable.

PLATE 129