Volume 5 — PLATE CCCXLII.

COBBEA SCANDENS.

Climbing Cobbea.

CLASS V. ORDER I.

PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Five Chives. One Pointal.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx. Perianthium monophyllum, semiquinquefidum; laciniis cordatis, mucronatis, patentibus, persistens.

Corolla monopetala, campanulata, versus basin arctata, quinquefida; laciniis concavis, trilobis, ciliatis; squamulæ quinque lanatæ, ad basin sinus tubi, conniventes.

Nectarium, corpus carnosum, quinquangulare, decem sulcatum, germen cingens.

Stamina. Filamenta quinque, squamulis corollæ orta, declinata. Antheræ incumbentes.

Pistillum. Germen ovatum, sulcatum. Stylus filiformis, declinatus, staminibus longior. Stigmata tria, plana, recurvata.

Pericarpium. Capsula oblonga, trilocularis, trivalvis.

Semina plurima, valvulis affixa, compressa, imbricata.

Empalement. Cup one-leaf, half five-cleft; segments heart-shaped, ending in a point, spreading, persistent.

Blossom one-petal, bell-shaped, narrowed towards the base, five-cleft; segments concave, three-lobed, fringed; five woolly scales at the base of the bosom of the tube closing upon each other.

Honey-cup, a fleshy body, five-angled, ten-furrowed, embracing the seed-bud.

Chives. Five threads, arising from the scales of the blossom, declined. Tips lying upon the threads.

Pointal. Seed-bud egg-shaped, furrowed. Shaft thread-shaped, declined, longer than the threads. Summits three, flat, turned back.

Seed-vessel. Capsule oblong, three cells, three valves.

Seeds many, fixed to the valves, flat, tiled.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Cobbea foliis conjugatis, cirrhosis; floribus solitariis, pedunculis longissimis; caule scandenti.

Cobbea with conjugate leaves terminating in a tendril; flowers solitary, foot-stalks very long; stem climbing.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

The specimen, from which our drawing was taken, was communicated by Mrs. Long, from the Collection of the Honourable Charles Long, of Bromley Hill, Kent; where, we believe, the only plant of this fine Genus is at present to be found in Britain; and where it has flowered, for the first time, this year, in the month of September, 1803. It is a native of the East Indies, and must be kept as a hot-house plant; is propagated by cuttings, and thrives in rich earth; will grow, if permitted, to the height of twenty feet or more, and is still in flower this present month of November.