Spec. Char., &c. Leaves obovate, glabrous and glossy above, and hirsutely villous beneath. Flowers in terminal groups. Calyx externally silkily villous; its lobes ovate, obtuse. (Wikström, quoted in Bot. Reg., t. 822.) A low shrub, with pretty pinkish blossoms. Found abundantly on low hills, andon the banks of rivers, in the south of Italy, where it grows to the height of 3 ft., and flowers from January to June. It was first discovered by Tournefort in the Isle of Candia (the ancient Crete); and afterwards by Sir J. E. Smith in the kingdom of Naples, in 1787. It was introduced in 1752, and is frequent in collections. It well deserves a place in every daphnetum. Grafted plants, grown in a border sheltered from the north by a wall, thrive well; and form thick bushes, with nearly level heads, covered with flowers. The branches always take an upright direction, and are tipped with groups of pale pink blossoms, which are extremely fragrant, and expand very early in the spring. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 1s. 6d. each. 11. D. (c.) NEAPOLITA'NA Lodd. The Neapolitan Daphne. Identification. Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 719.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 719.; Bot. Reg., t. 822.; and our fig. 1188. Spec. Char., &c. "This pretty plant is surely a mere variety of D. collina, from which it differs, as far as we can observe, after comparing the living plants, chiefly in the want of pubescence on the under surface of the leaves. Like many other plants with which the catalogues and floras of the present day are augmented, it is a sport of nature, which the ingenious acuteness of modern botanists have brought into notice; but which, if unmolested upon its native hills, would quickly have passed away into the type from which it sprang." (Lindley in Bot. Reg., t. 822.) In cultivation in British gardens since 1822. Price of plants 2s. 6d. each. 12. D. (c.) OLEÖI'DES L. The Olive-like Daphne. Engravings. Alpin. Exot., t. 43.; Schreb. Dec., 13. t. 7.; Bot. Mag., t. 1917.; Spec. Char., &c. Leaves obovate-lanceolate, terminated with 13. D. (c.) SERI CEA Vahl. The silky-leaved Daphne. Identification. Vahl Symb., 1. p. 28.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 423. 1188 Synonymes. Thymela a crética oleæ folio subtus villoso Tourn. Cor., 41.; Daphne oleæfòlia Lam, Encycl., 3. p. 424.; Seidenartiger Seidelbast, Ger. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves lanceolate, bluntish, glabrous above, villous beneath. Flowers terminal, aggregate, villous, sessile. Lobes of the calyx obtuse. It differs from D. (c) oleoides in its leaves being villous beneath, in the number of its flowers, and in the lobes of the calyx being oblong. (Willd.) A native of Candia and Naples, introduced in 1820; but we have not seen the plant. D. sericea Don, noticed in p. 175., is a native of the Himalayas, and is quite a different plant from that just described. 14. D. STRIATA Trat. The striated-calyxed Daphne. Identification. Tratt.; Spreng. Syst.; 2. p. 237. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves subspathulate-linear, sessile, tipped with a small mucro, glabrous. Flowers terminal, aggregate, sessile, glabrous, striated. Lobes of the calyx acute. A native of Switzerland and Hungary. (Spreng. Syst., ii. p. 237.) This plant is said to have been introduced in 1819, and to have purplish flowers; but we have never seen it. D. Erect. Leaves persistent. Flowers in Racemes. 15. D. GNI'DIUM L. The Gnidium, or Flax-leaved, Daphne. Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 311.; Mill. Dict., n. 7.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 420.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. Thymela'a foliis lini Bauh. Pin., 463.; Spurge Flax, Mountain Widow Wayle; Daphné Gnidium, Lauréole à Panicule, Fr.; Rispenblättriger Seidelbast, Ger. Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 150.; and our fig. 1190. Spec. Char., &c. Evergreen. Leaves linear-lanceolate, with a cuspidate tip. Flowers in terminal, panicled racemes. (Willd.) A native of Spain, Italy, and Narbonne, where it grows to the height of 2 ft., and flowers from June to August. It was introduced in 1797, and is frequent in collections. An elegant little shrub, with terminal panicles of sweet-smelling pink flowers, which are succeeded by small, globular, red berries. The same deleterious properties are attributed to this shrub, as to the common mezereon. It is rather tender, but would be suitable for conservative rockwork. Dr. Lindley observes of this plant, that both it and Passerina tinctòria are used in the south of Europe to dye wool yellow. (N. S. of Bot.) The price of plants, in the London nurseries, is 2s. 6d. each. E. Prostrate. Leaves persistent. Flowers terminal, aggregate. 1190 16. D. CNEO`RUM L. The Garland-flower, or trailing, Daphne. Identification. Lin. Sp., 511., Syst., 371.; Willd. Sp. PL., 2. p. 422.; Bot. Mag., t. 313.; Lodd. Cat. ed. 1836. Synonymes. Cnedrum Matth. Hist., 46., Clus. Hist., 89.; wohlriechender Seidelbast, Ger. Engravings. Jacq. Aust., 5. t, 426.; Bot. Mag., t. 313.; Bot. Cab., t. 1800.; and our fig. 1191. Spec. Char., &c. Evergreen. Stems trailing. Leaves lanceolate, glabrous, mucronate. It flowers twice a year. The flowers are terminal, aggregate, sessile, red upon the upper side, and the groups of them are surrounded by leaves. (Willd.) It is wild in Switzerland, Hungary, the Pyrenees, Mount Baldo, Germany, and France, where it grows a foot high, and flowers in April and September. Varieties. D. C. 2 foliis variegàtis. · at the edges. The leaves have a narrow portion of yellow D. C. 3 flore albo.-Clusius, in his Hist., has Description, &c. This plant is seldom more than a foot high, but it is ornamented by numerous pinkish flowers, which are disposed in terminal umbels, and are remarkably fragrant. The berries are white, small, and globose, but they are seldom produced in England. The plant is valuable for rockwork, and growing in pots, on account of its dwarf habit, 1191 and the beauty and delightful fragrance of its flowers. It is commonly propagated by layers, and it thrives best in peat soil, kept rather moist. App. i. Half-hardy Species of Daphne. D. odora Thunb. Fl. Jap., 159., Banks Ic. Kæmpf., t. 16., Ait. Hort. Kew., ii.p. 26., N. Du Ham., 1. p. 28., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; D. sinensis Lam. Dict.; the sweet-scented Daphne, Lauréole de Chine, Daphné odorant, Fr.; wohlriechender Seidelbast, Ger.; has the leaves lanceolate, thin, and glabrous; and the flowers terminal and sessile. (Lois. in N. Du Ham., i. p. 28.) It is a native of China and Japan, which was introduced into Britain in 1771, and forms an erect shrub, greatly resembling D. póntica in general appearance. The branches are glabrous, and the flowers, which are disposed in terminal umbels, are remarkably sweet. The flower buds are pink in their exterior, and the petals of the flowers, after expansion, are pink on the outside, though they are white within. D. odòra was first brought to England by Benjamin Torrens, Esq., and being confounded with the D. indica of Linnæus, from which it differs in having sessile flowers and alternate leaves, it was at first kept in the stove. By degrees it was tried in a green-house, and is now found to stand in the open air in sheltered situations. Du Hamel classes it with the myrtle and the orange as to hardiness. There is a plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden, which has stood out since 1832. Varieties. D. o. 2 variegata Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has variegated leaves, and quite white flowers, D. o. 3 rubra D. Don, Brit. Fl. Gard., 2d ser., t.320., and our fig. 1192., has lanceolate leaves, and flowers of a rich deep pink colour. The flowers are produced at the extremities of the shoots; "they are of a dark red in the bud state, but become paler and glossy after expansion, and they are then highly fragrant." There are plants in the nursery of Mr. G. Smith, at Islington, which appear very nearly hardy, having borne a considerable degree of frost without protection. (See Gard. Mag., xii. p. 75.) 1912 D. hybrida Swt. Brit. Fl. Gard., 1st ser. t. 200., Bot Reg. t. 1177., and our fig. 1193.; the D. delphinia of the French gardeners; and the D. dauphínii, or dauphin's daphne, of the English gardeners; has the branches pubescent when young, but afterwards becoming glabrous. Leaves alternate, oblong-elliptic, glossy above, and pubescent beneath. Flowers in terminal groups, nearly sessile, and covered on the outside with silky hairs. (Swt. Brit. Fl. Gard.) This is a highly esteemed kind, and one that is much propagated in the London nurseries. It grows freely, has large handsome glossy leaves, and produces its purplish flowers, which have a most delightful fragrance, in great abundance. It is supposed to be a hybrid between D. collina and D. odòra; but it is not known when, or by whom, it was originated. It is generally kept in the green-house, but would succeed perfectly in the open air, if planted in light sandy soil, against a south wall where it could be protected in very severe weather. It flowers under glass in February, but would probably be a month or six weeks later in the open ground. (Sweet and Lindl.) D. indica L., the Indian or Chinese daphne, is a small shrub, with acute entire leaves, and terminal sessile flowers. Introduced in 1800, but much more tender than either of the preceding species. 1193 D. papyracea Wal., D. cannábina Wal., is a Nepal species, from the inner bark of which a soft kind of paper has been made in India. It was introduced in 1824. GENUS II. DI'RCA L. THE DIRCA, or LEATHER-WOOD. Lin. Syst. Octándria Monogynia. Identification. Lin. Amoen. Acad., 3. p. 12.; N. Du Ham., vol. iii. p. 193.; Bot. Reg., t. 292. Derivation. From dirke, a fountain; from the plant growing in watery places. 1. D. PALU'STRIS L. The Marsh Dirca, or Leather-wood. Identification. Lin. Amen. Acad., 3. p. 12.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 2. p. 424.; Bot. Reg., t. 292.; N. Du Ham., iii. p. 193.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes Moorwood; Bois de Cuir, Bois de Plomb, Fr.; Sump. Lederholz Ger. Engravings. Lin. Amen. Acad., 3. t. 1. f. 7.; Du Ham. Arb., 1. t. 212.; Bot. Reg., t. 292.; and our fig. 1194. Description, &c. A low deciduous shrub with the habit of a miniature tree, a native of Virginia, where it grows about 5 ft. or 6 ft. high, producing its yellow flowers in March and April. It was introduced in 1750, and is common in collection of peat-earth shrubs. It has a branchy and fastigiate habit, and has a tumidity at the base of each branch on the under side. The bark is brown and glabrous. Linnæus has remarked that the wood and bark are so tough, that it is scarcely possible to divide the substance of either without a knife, and this quality has obtained for the plant the English name of leather-wood. The leaves are lanceolate, oblong, alternate, of a pale green, villous beneath, and deciduous. The flowers are produced while the plant is leafless, and, in England, they are seldom, if ever, followed by seeds. The bud of the shoot of the same year is enclosed in the bud of the inflorescence. The young plants are very liable to be eaten by snails. (Bot. Reg.) Though quite a tree in its habit of growth, it is rarely seen in England above 3 ft. high. In Canada, the twigs are used for rods, and the bark for ropes, baskets, &c., for which it is very suitable, being equal in strength and toughness to the bark of the lime tree. In British gardens, D. palústris is propagated by layers, which require two years to root properly. The soil in which the plant grows best is peat kept moist. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 5s. each; at Bollwyller, 3 francs; and at New York, 25 cents. App. I. Half-hardy ligneous Plants belonging to the Order Thymelàcea. Gnidia imbricata L.; G. denudata Bot. Reg., t. 757.; has grey villous leaves, and pale yellow flowers. There were plants of this species in Knight's Exotic Nursery, King's Road, Chelsea, in 1830, one of which was upwards of 4 ft. high. Passerina filiformis L. is a plant well known in old collections. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, which was introduced in 1752; and in a conservatory it will grow to the height of 8 ft. It has slender, twiggy, spreading branches, which have the leaves imbricated along their terminal parts in 4 rows. It bears its white flowers plentifully on the terminal parts of the branches. Nearly all the species of Passerina are low shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, which might probably stand out against a conservative wall. Pimelea drupacea Lab., Bot. Cab., t. 540., the cherry-fruited pimelea, is tolerably hardy. It is an evergreen shrub, about 2 ft. high, a native of New Holland, which was introduced in 1817. Its flowers, which are white, are produced in May, and they are succeeded by a berry-like sessile fruit, which is quite black when ripe, and has a striking appearance on the plant when produced abundantly. CHAP. XCVI. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER SANTALA CEE. THE only hardy genus is Nýssa L., to which the following character belongs: NY'SSA L. Flowers bisexual and male: the two kinds upon distinct plants, and without petals.-Bisexual flower. Calyx connate, with the ovary in its lower part; it has a free 5-parted limb. Stamens 5. Ovary ovate, containing 1 pendulous ovule (2 in some instances, Nuttall). Style simple, revolute (curved inwards, Rees's Cyclop.). Stigma acute. Fruit a roundish drupe: nut elliptical, acute, angular, somewhat irregular, grooved lengthwise, contain ing 1 seed which is albuminous, and has an embryo that has large leafy cotyledons and a superior radicle. Male flower. Calyx 5-parted, spreading. Stamens 5, 8, 10, and 12; surrounding a shield-shaped gland (? an unformed pistil).-Trees. Leaves alternate, entire. Inflorescence axillary, peduncled, of 1 flower, or several aggregate flowers. ? The male flowers in a corymb. Fruit red or blackish purple, suffused with a frosty appearance. (Nutt. Gen., Lindl. N. S. of Bot., Rees's Cycl., other sources, and observation.) OSY RIS L. Flowers apetalous, unisexual, at least in effect; those of the 2 sexes upon distinct plants.-Male. Flowers borne in lateral racemes, about 3-5 in a raceme, and disposed in 1-2 pairs, with a terminal odd one. Calyx spreadingly bell-shaped, 3-parted; its æstivation valvate. Nectary disk-like, 3-cornered. Stamens 3, arising from the nectary, alternate to its angles, and opposite to the lobes of the calyx; anthers of 2 separate lobes that open inwards. (T. Nees ab E.) Scopoli (Fl. Carn.) has seen the rudiments of an ovary, and of styles, in the male flower. (Willd. Sp. Pl.) Female. Flowers solitary. Calyx urceolate; its tube connate with the ovary; its limb free, 3-cleft. Style single. Stigmas 3. There are not any rudiments of stamens. (T. Nees ab Esenb.) Rather the flower is bisexual, but it does not bear seed unless a male plant is contiguous. (Willd. Sp. Pl.) Fruit globose, fleshy exteriorly, crowned by the limb of the calyx, and the remains of the style. Carpel with crustaceous, brittle walls. Seed affixed by its base. Embryo incurved, in the centre of fleshy albumen.-O. álba L., the only known undisputed species, is a shrub with twiggy branches, alternate, linear-lanceolate, small leaves, white flowers, and red fruit. (T. Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. Pl. Flora Germanicæ.) GENUS I. NY'SSA L. THE NYSSA, or TUPELO TREE. Lin. Syst. Polygamia Dice'cia; or rather, according to Smith in Rees's Cyclopædia, Decándria Monogynia. Identification. Lin. Gen., 551.; Lin. Gen., ed. Schreb., No. 1599.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 1112.; Mill. Dict. v. 3.; Rees's Cyclop. Derivation. From Nyssa, a water nymph so called; a name given to this plant by Linnæus, because "it grows in the waters." (Hort. Cliff) Tupelo appears to be an aboriginal name. Description, &c. Deciduous trees, natives of North America, and, though several sorts have been described by botanists, probably all referable to two, or at most three, species: viz. N. biffòra, N. cándicans, and N. tomentosa, the last two being very nearly allied. In the case of Nýssa, as in those of Fraxinus and Quércus, there are seeds of several alleged species procured from America; and though plants from these may come up tolerably distinct, we do not consider that circumstance sufficient to constitute each sort a species. The trees of this genus are of little use for their timber; but the fruit of N. cándicans, N. tomentosa, and N. denticulàta, gathered a little before maturity, and preserved with sugar, forms an agreeable conserve, tasting somewhat like cranberries. (Nuttall Gen.). In British gardens, two or three of the sorts occasionally occur; but they are not common in collections. The largest nyssa that we know of in England is at Richmond, where, in 1836, it was 45 ft. high. The trees which have flowered in England have, as far as we are aware, only produced male blossoms; but, to compensate for the want of fruit, the foliage of all the species of the genus dies off of an intensely deep scarlet. The different sorts are almost always raised from seeds; and seeds with the names of N. denticulata, N. tomentosa, N. aquática (N. biflòra), N. cándicans, and N. sylvática, according to Charlwood's Catalogue for 1836, are sold at Is. a packet. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 2s. 6d. each; at Bollwyller 2 francs; and at New York, from 25 cents to 1 dollar. |