Volume 4 — PLATE CCXXXIV. PROTEA SPICATA. Spike-flowered Protea.

CLASS IV. ORDER I.

TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Corolla 4-fida seu 4-petala. Antheræ lineares, insertæ petalis infra apicem. Calyx proprius nullus. Semina solitaria.

Blossom 4-cleft or 4-petalled. Tips linear, inserted into the petals below the point. Proper cup none. Seeds solitary.

See Protea formosa, Plate XVII. Vol. I.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Protea foliis bipinnatis, subfiliformibus, pinnulæ canaliculatæ, apice glandulosæ; capitula spicata, quadriflora.

Protea with twice-divided leaves nearly thread-shaped, small divisions channelled and glandular at the end; small heads in spikes and four-flowered.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. The Empalement.

2. One of the small heads of flowers, not yet expanded.

3. The same, with the flowers open.

4. A flower taken from the general cup, with one of the petals detached, magnified.

5. The Pointal, the Summit detached, magnified.

From a plant now in flower, May 1802, in the Hibbertian collection, our figure was taken. It is one of those described by Thunberg in his Dissertatio de Protea, n. 11, and in his Prodromus 25, under the title we have given it; and which is, certainly, very appropriate; although many have the flowers growing in spikes. We believe this is the first time it has flowered in Britain, and that, at present, it is very scarce; having been introduced by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy in the year 1790. It is a hardy greenhouse plant, is increased by cuttings, and thrives in a sandy loam with a small portion of sandy peat earth. Native of the Cape of Good Hope.