Part 57

RECEPTACLE linear, growing to each valve of the seed-vessel.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Ophrys bulbo subrotundo; scapo nudo; foliis ovato-oblongis, radicalibus; nectarii labio integro; petalis dorsalibus linearibus.

Ophrys with roundish roots; stem naked; leaves oblong, egg-shaped, growing from the root; the two back petals linear.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. The Honey-cup cut off the blossom. 2. The Seed-bud and Pointal (natural size) shewn sideways. 3. The same (magnified) shewn in front, with the cup lifted up, to expose the parts of fructification.

Gronovius, in his arrangement of the plants discovered by Mr. J. Clayton in Virginia, P. i, page 185, has described this plant; and Linnæus after him, in his second edition of the Species Plantarum, page 1341, has it likewise, but thought it only a large variety of a species found in marshy grounds in Sweden; however that may be, it is perfectly new to Britain, as a plant in our gardens. This species of Ophrys seems much more easy to preserve than most of its congeners, as, since its introduction, the bulbs seem to acquire additional size, and the spikes of flowers to grow larger each year. Our drawing was taken from a plant in the extensive collection of the Right Hon. the Marquis of Blandford, Bill-hill, Berkshire, in the year 1797, about the beginning of the month of July; having been sent the preceding year from Philadelphia, by J. Lyons, gardener to William Hamilton, Esq. of that State. It is a hardy plant, and will thrive in a sheltered border, if planted in light earth, and kept moist; is propagated but slowly by the root, which seems the only method; as the seeds are too small of all this natural order to raise them by that means.

PLATE LXVI.

GLADIOLUS POLYSTACHIUS.

Branching Gladiolus.

CLASS III. ORDER I.

TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Three Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

COROLLA 6-partita, ringens.

STAMINA adscendentia.

BLOSSOM of six divisions, and gaping.

CHIVES ascending.

See Plate XI. GLADIOLUS ROSEUS.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Gladiolus foliis falcatis; caule polystachio; corollis sub-regularibus, carneis.

Gladiolus with cymitar-shaped leaves; stem many branches; blossoms nearly regular, and flesh colour.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. The Empalement. 2. A Blossom cut open, with the Chives attached. 3. The Pointal and Seed-bud, one summit magnified.

This species of Gladiolus has been long known in herbariums, as it is very common about Table mountain, at the Cape of Good Hope; Jacquin, Thunberg, Gmelin, Welldenow, &c. have it under the tribe of Ixia, with the specific names of Scillaris, Fabricii, &c. but notwithstanding, we have no hesitation in placing it under its true genus Gladiolus. The upright character of the chives, their insertion into the tube of the blossom, and not at the mouth, the difference in the shape of the petals, the situation of the summits behind the chives, &c. leave no room for doubt where its station should be. Although plentiful at the Cape, it has not been long an inhabitant of this clime; having flowered for the first time in the year 1797, at Bulstrode, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Portland. What contributes much to the value of this plant is, that it continues in flower at least two months, from the beginning of June till the end of July; propagates itself abundantly by the roots, which are not subject to rot, though not removed from the pots in which they have flowered. Thrives in peat earth.

PLATE LXVII.

GERANIUM INCISUM.

Jagged-leaved Geranium.

CLASS XVI. ORDER IV.