THE
Botanical Magazine;
OR,
Flower-Garden Displayed:

IN WHICH

The most Ornamental Foreign Plants, cultivated in the Open Ground, the Green-House, and the Stove, are accurately represented in their natural Colours.

TO WHICH ARE ADDED,

Their Names, Class, Order, Generic and Specific Characters, according to the celebrated Linnæus; their Places of Growth, and Times of Flowering:

TOGETHER WITH

THE MOST APPROVED METHODS OF CULTURE.

A WORK

Intended for the Use of such Ladies, Gentlemen, and Gardeners, as wish to become scientifically acquainted with the Plants they cultivate.

By WILLIAM CURTIS,

Author of the Flora Londinensis.

VOL. XIII.

LONDON:
Printed by Stephen Couchman, Throgmorton-Street,
For W. CURTIS, N^o 3, St. George's-Crescent, Black-Friars-Road;
And Sold by the principal Booksellers in Great-Britain and Ireland.
M DCC XCIX.

CONTENTS

[433]
Azalea Pontica. Yellow Azalea.

Class and Order.

Pentandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

Descr. Shrub from two to three feet or more in height, the thickest part of the stem not exceeding the size of the little finger, covered with a smooth brown bark, irregularly branched; Flowers appearing before the leaves are fully expanded, and produced in umbels at the extremities of the branches, from eight to twelve or more in an umbel, of a fine yellow colour and agreeable fragrance; each blossom is about the size of that of the horse-chestnut, and as some of them are produced much earlier than others, the plant of course continues a considerable time in bloom, standing on short peduncles; Calyx very short, viscous, and irregularly divided, most commonly into five ovato-lanceolate segments; Corolla, tube cylindrical, viscous, grooved, brim divided into five segments, undulated and somewhat wrinkled, ovate, pointed, three turning upwards, two downwards, of the three uppermost segments the middle one more intensely yellow than the others and inclining to orange, with which it is sometimes spotted; Stamina usually five, yellow, projecting beyond the corolla, and turning upwards near their extremities; Antheræ orange-coloured; Pollen whitish and thready; Germen somewhat conical, evidently hairy, and somewhat angular; Style yellowish, filiform, projecting beyond the stamina, and turning upwards; Stigma forming a round green head.

The figure and description here given were taken from a plant which flowered by means of artificial heat, in the spring of 1798, at Mr. Watson's, Nurseryman, Islington, and which had been introduced the same year, by Mr. Anthony Hove, of Warsaw.

As an hardy ornamental shrub, it bids fair to prove an acquisition truly valuable, its flowers produced in the months of June and July, being highly ornamental as well as fragrant.

We have the best authority for regarding this plant as the Chamærhodendros Pontica of Tournefort, it agrees with his own specimens in Sir Joseph Banks's Herbarium, it accords also with his description, and figures, more especially of those flowers which are of their natural size; nor have we any doubts of its being the Azalea Pontica of Prof. Pallas, figured in the Flor. Rossica, since it corresponds generally with his description, though not in all points with his figure, which bears evident marks of inaccuracy, the stigma, for instance, is represented as trifid.

Tournefort found this plant on the eastern side of the Black Sea, Mr. Hove on the north side near Oczakow, and elsewhere; Professor Pallas on Mount Caucasus.

As yet there has been no opportunity of ascertaining the best means of propagating this new denizen, but there is every reason to suppose that it will succeed with the treatment bestowed on the other Azalea's.

Prof. Pallas relates that the honey of bees frequenting the flowers of this plant is supposed to be narcotic, and that goats, kine, and sheep on eating its leaves have been poisoned thereby.

By permission and with the approbation of Mr. Anthony Hove, the following extracts from his journal are here inserted.

"June 9, 1796, found a few of this species of Azalea on the river Dnieper in swampy ground, four feet high, beginning to blow, called here the stupifying shrub, and considered by some as highly efficacious in curing the venereal disease.

"June 20, found this species on the river Dniester, on the estate of Count Stanislaus Sczesny Potocki, about sixteen English miles from the town of Mohilow, in peat earth, from four to twenty feet high; regarded by the common people as intoxicating, and used in the cure of various diseases.

"July 4, near Oczakow, found thousands of these plants fully blown, in a marsh, every spring-tide overflown by the sea; found there also, a Tartarian farmer, who lived entirely by the profits arising from the honey which the bees extracted from the flowers of this plant, sold to Constantinople and other parts of Turkey for medicinal uses.

"July 15, arrived at Trebizond, found a valley about ten English miles from the sea covered with these plants."

On cultivation, Mr. Hove relates that he found the Azalea's from Trebizond much more tender than those from the borders of the Dnieper and the Dniester, and was therefore inclined to regard them as strong varieties if not distinct species.

The leaves, when fully expanded, are in size and figure like those on the plate, hairy on both sides, and terminating in a very remarkable blunt mucro or point, which has not been noticed either by those who have described or figured the plant as it deserves, for it appears to form a very strong character.

[434]
Oxybaphus Viscosus. Viscid Umbrella-Wort.

Class and Order.

Triandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

The present is one of those plants which is entitled to our admiration, for its curious and singular structure, rather than for any extraordinary figure it makes in a collection; not that its flowers are without a certain share of beauty.

It is an annual, growing to about the height of two feet; the whole plant is viscous, and, if bruised, smells somewhat disagreeably; the flowers do not open at any particular time as those of the Mirabilis do, and each contains only three stamina; when they fall off, which they do soon after expanding, the calyx closes on the germen, enlarges, droops, and becomes deeply plaited; on the ripening of the seed it turns brown, expands, and is suspended like a little umbrella over the seed, which when perfectly ripe drops out on the ground; the expanded calyx in this state appears somewhat like the flower of a Physalis.

This plant flowers from June to October, and ripens its seeds in the open air; it is not difficult of culture, requires the same treatment as other tender annuals from Peru.

Our figure was drawn from a plant which flowered 1796, in the collection of the Marchioness of Bute, and was raised from Peruvian seeds, sent her by Prof. Ortega of Madrid, under the name of Mirabilis triandra; Mons. Cavanille has figured and described it as the Mirabilis viscosa; Mons. L'Heritier, from a consideration of all its characters, has been induced to make a new genus of it, which he has called Oxybaphus.

[435]
Gnaphalium Ericoides. Heath-Leaved Gnaphalium, or Everlasting.

Class and Order.

Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

In the 6th vol. of the Amœnitates Academicæ, Linnæus describes this species of Gnaphalium, most probably from dried specimens collected at the Cape, where it is a native; so insignificant did the plant appear to him, that in his description, he calls it misera; compared with the more magnificent species, such a term might not perhaps be inapplicable: but, though small, the plant possesses much beauty when cultivated, and hence is generally kept in our green-houses.

It flowers from March to August.

Its branches, naturally weak and trailing, require to be carefully tied up; if this business be executed with taste and judgment, the natural beauty of the plant may be considerably heightened.

It is readily increased by cuttings.

Was introduced to the royal garden at Kew, by Mr. Masson, in 1774.

[436]
Hibiscus Præmorsus. Bitten-Leaved Hibiscus.

Class and Order.

Monadelphia Polyandria.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

Though not so shewy a plant as many of the genus, we find this species of Hibiscus in most collections of green-house plants about London, flowering from June to September.

Its foliage is singular, its blossoms sulphur coloured with a tint of orange on the under side and without scent; if suffered to grow, this shrub will acquire a considerable height; it seeds freely, by which the plant is readily increased, and by these it requires to be renewed once in two or three years.

Is a native of the Cape, from whence it was introduced, by Mr. Masson, in 1774. Ait. Kew.

It will be seen by the synonyms, that authors have been divided in their opinions as to the genus of this plant; Linnæus the younger, in his Suppl. makes it an Hibiscus; Cavanille, a Pavonia; L'Heritier, an Urena; Mr. Aiton, an Hibiscus; not partial to the multiplying of genera, unless there be an obvious necessity for it, we have in the present instance followed the first and last of these writers.

[437]
Hydrangea Arborescens. Shrubby Hydrangea.

Class and Order.

Decandria Digynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

As a shrub commonly cultivated for ornament in our gardens and plantations, the Hydrangea arborescens has a right to appear in this work, nevertheless it is more with a view to illustrate a peculiar character of the genus that it is here figured.

This shrub is a native of Virginia, and was introduced in 1736, by P. Collinson, Esq. it is of low growth, rarely exceeding four feet in height; its flowers are produced on the summits of the branches, somewhat in the manner of the Laurustinus; they are small, crowded, nearly white, with a tinge of red in them which is not very brilliant, and some fragrance; they are produced in July and August, and sometimes followed by ripe seeds here.

Is easily propagated by parting its roots the latter end of October, prefers a moist soil, but will grow in a dry one; if in severe frosts the stalks, which are rather soft, should be killed, new ones will be put up the following Spring.

[438]
Hydrangea Hortensis. Garden Hydrangea.

It appears to be a point not yet fully determined, whether the present plant exhibits the appearances belonging to it in a state of nature, or those which are in a certain degree the effect of accident, or of art; in its fructification it certainly is not so completely barren as the Guilder Rose, Viburnum Opulus, cultivated in our gardens, since it has most of its parts perfect; yet as none of the authors who have seen it in China or Japan (where it is said not only to be much cultivated but indigenous[1]) describe its fruit, we are inclined on that account to regard it, in a certain degree, as monstrous.

It will appear by the synonyms, that authors have entertained very different opinions as to what this plant really is; Jussieu following Commerson makes it an Hortensia, Thunberg a Viburnum, Loureiro, ridiculously enough, a Primula, and Dr. Smith an Hydrangea.

In the original description of the characters of the genus Hydrangea by Linnæus, there is no mention made of two different kinds of florets, as in the Viburnum, nor has any author that I am acquainted with described the Hydrangea arbor. as producing such; yet, to my great surprise, in a plant of this sort which flowered in my garden at Brompton in July 1797, three of the Cymæ, and three only, threw out each of them from their circumference a very different flower from those in the centre, smaller indeed, but very similar to the flowers of the Hydrang. hort. see Pl. 437. In 1788, Mr. Walter published his Fl. Carolin. in which he describes a second species of Hydrangea, which he calls radiata,[2] having very distinctly, as in the Viburnum, two different kinds of florets in the same Cyma, this variation in the florets is added by him to the generic character: the similarity which exists between the flowers of Mr. Walter's Hydrangea radiata, and those of the present plant sufficiently justify Dr. Smith in making it an Hydrangea; the appearances observed by Loureiro[3] on dissecting the germen, and our discovery of the existence of two different kinds of flowers in the Hydrangea arborescens, tend still more to confirm its propriety; we may add, that in the very habit of these several plants there exists a considerable similarity; still, however, it is only by ripe seed-vessels of the present plant, that this doubtful matter can be satisfactorily cleared up; but it will not follow, that if it be not an Hydrangea it must be a Viburnum.

This magnificent and highly ornamental plant, according to Dr. Smith, was introduced from China to the royal garden at Kew, by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. in 1790; it was imported by Mr. Slater about the same time, with whom it is said to have first flowered in this country.

If room were allowed us, it would be superfluous to describe minutely a plant now so very common; suffice it to say, that from a strong perennial root, rise a number of half-shrubby, irregular, somewhat spongy stalks, strongly spotted when young with purple, from one to three feet high, terminated by large bunches of flowers, at first green, then rose-coloured, and finally green a second time; these are the most common changes to which they are liable: but it will sometimes happen that a plant which has produced red flowers one year, shall produce blue another, though growing in the same pot; this we saw happen in the year 1796 to a plant in the possession of the Countess of Upper Ossory, whose refined taste and superior judgment have in several instances contributed to render our works more acceptable to the public: the coloured changeable part of the flower is regarded as the calyx, in the centre of which is the corolla, containing the stamina, &c. all varying greatly in point of number; besides these, there are other flowers without any calyx, but the parts which they contain do not seem to be more perfect than those of the others, nor more productive of ripe fruit.

Since the introduction of this plant, trials have been made in regard to its hardiness, and it is found to survive mild winters if planted in very warm sheltered situations; but in others, both stalks and leaves are liable to be killed by slight frosts, though the roots are not; if persons are anxious to have it in the open border, the best mode will be to cut down the stems at the approach of winter, and cover over the root with rotten tan, or some light substance; in the spring fresh stalks will shoot forth, but it is more common to keep this plant during winter in a green-house or well secured frame; by artificial heat it may be brought to flower in April or May, without such, it begins to blossom about June, and continues in bloom till October; when successfully treated, it will acquire the height of three feet, and produce bunches of flowers supremely magnificent: such plants in pots are admirably adapted for decorating court-yards, balconies, &c. unless carefully cut in, it is apt to grow too large for the green-house, therefore it is proper to have a succession of young plants from cuttings, which strike very freely; this plant loves water, is indeed almost an aquatic, a rich soil, and plenty of pot room.

[439]
Illicium Floridanum. Red-flowered Illicium, or Aniseed-Tree.

Class and Order.

Polyandria Polygynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

Of the genus Illicium there are at present only two known species, viz. the anisatum and floridanum, the former a native of China and Japan, the latter of Florida; both of them are cultivated in this country, but the latter more generally, on account of the superior beauty of its flowers, which are of a fine deep red colour, and have the appearance of being double, though the petals are not preternaturally multiplied; when the plant is in bloom the peduncles hang down, when the petals drop they become erect; the blossoms are not distinguished by their fragrance, though the seed-vessels, and seeds (which do not come to perfection with us) are said to be strongly odoriferous; the foliage of this plant is also much admired: taking it indeed altogether, there are few shrubs held in higher estimation.

According to Mr. Aiton, this species was introduced by John Ellis, Esq. in 1776; but Isaac Walker, Esq. of Southgate, was the first who possessed it in this country, he informs me by letter, that he received plants of it from Pensacola in 1771, by the hands of Mr. John Bradley, and that he communicated some of them to Dr. Fothergill, Dr. Pitcairn, and Mr. Ellis. It flowers from April to July.

Cultivators differ widely as to their treatment of this plant, some keeping it in the stove, others in the green-house, while some have ventured to plant it in the open ground in warm situations; it probably is more hardy than we imagine; all agree in propagating it by layers, or by seeds if they can be procured. Linnæus, contrary to his usual practice, distinguishes the two species by their colour only, and Thunberg is disposed to regard them as mere varieties.

[440]
Erica Albens. Pallid Heath.

Class and Order.

Octandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

This species, a native of the Cape, has been introduced since the publication of the Hort. Kew. and is now to be found in most green-house collections near town.

In its habit, its foliage, and its flowers, it is very distinct from all our other heaths; flowers from April to June, is readily increased by cuttings, and easily kept with the common treatment.

[441]
Antholyza Merianella. Dwarf Antholyza.

Class and Order.

Triandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

This very rare species is perfectly distinct from the Meriana, of more humble growth, the flowering stem seldom rising to more than a foot in height, and producing from four to six flowers, which are proportionably longer, more closed, and of a deeper red colour than those of Meriana.

Was introduced from the Cape by Capt. Hutchinson, in 1754. Ait. Kew.

Is readily increased by offsets, and requires the same treatment as the Anthol. Meriana already figured.

Flowers in May and June.

Our drawing was made from a plant which flowered with Mr. Fairbairn, at the Apothecaries Garden, Chelsea, May 2, 1798.

[442]
Genista Linifolia. Flax-Leaved Broom.

Class and Order.

Diadelphia Decandria.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

The Genista linifolia is a native of Spain, and was introduced to the royal garden at Kew, by Sir Francis Drake, in the year 1786. Ait. Kew.

The bright yellow flowers, which are abundantly produced on this plant during May and June, joined to the silky appearance of its foliage, has rendered it worthy the notice of most lovers of plants, in whose collections it is now generally found.

It is most successfully propagated by seeds, which usually ripen in this country; it may also be raised from cuttings, but not readily, agreeing in this respect with leguminous plants in general.

We do not find in Linnæus's works any figure of this plant referred to; but there is a minute description of it in his Sp. Pl.

It is usually kept in the greenhouse; being a native of Spain, it may probably be more hardy than we imagine.

[443]
Erica Physodes. Sticky-Flowered Heath.

Class and Order.

Octandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

The Erica physodes is a native of the Cape, and another of those species which have been introduced since the publication of the Hort. Kew. of Mr. Aiton.

It is principally distinguished by the form, and delicate whiteness of its blossoms, which are so extremely viscid as to retain flies and other insects which settle on them.

Is scarcely to be increased by cuttings, more readily by seeds, which sometimes ripen here.

[444]
Canarina Campanula. Canary Bell-Flower.

Class and Order.

Hexandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Specific Character and Synonyms.