Variety. O. f. 2 microphylla Dec., O. fruticosa Asso.-Leaf- 298 2. O. ROTUNDIFOLIA L. The round-leaved Restharrow. Identification. Lin. Sp., ed. 1. p. 719., but not ed. 2.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 161.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 160. Synonymes. 0. latifolia Asso Syn., 97., Lin. Mant., t. 11. f. 1.; Engravings. Jacq. Fl. Austr. Append., t. 49.; Lam. Ill., t. 616.; Spec. Char., &c. Leaves trifoliolate; leaflets ovate, and toothed. Variety. 0. r. 2 aristata Dec.-Peduncle bearing 3 flowers, bearded. p.161.) Though, perhaps, this is as much entitled to be treated as a herbaceous plant 3. O. (R.) TRIBRACTEA TA Dec. The three-bracted-calyxed Restharrow. Identification. Dec. Fl. Fr. Supp., 553.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 161.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 160. Synonymes. O. rotundifolia Lin. Sp., ed. 2., p. 1050., exclusive of the synonymes. Spec. Char., &c. Shrubby. Leaves trifoliolate; leaflets ovate, toothed. Peduncles usually 3-flowered. Calyx bracteated, with 3 leaves. (Don's Mill., ii. p. 160.) Its native country is not known with certainty, but it is reputed to be Carinthia. Is not the kind identical with O. rotundifolia? (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 161.) Introduced in 1800; growing to the height of 1 ft. or 2 ft., and producing its pink flowers from May to July. 4. O. NATRIX Dec. The Goat-root Restharrow. Identification. Lin. Sp., 1008.; Dec. Fl. Fr., 4. p. 514.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 159.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 158. Synonyme. Natrix pinguis Manch Meth., 158. Leaves Engravings. Mill. Icon., t. 37.; Bot. Mag., t. $29.; and our fig. 300. + 300 5. O. ARENARIA Dec. The sand Restharrow. Identification. Dec. Cat. Hort. Monsp., 128.; Fl. Fr. Suppl., p. 551.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 159.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 159. Synonyme. Anònis spinis càrens lùtea minor, Magn. Bot., 21. Spec. Char., &c. A branchy plant, suffruticose at the base. Branches clothed with clammy pubescence. Leaves divided into three linear-oblong serrated leaflets Pedicels 1-flowered, shorter than the leaves, and hardly awned. The standard yellow, and not streaked. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 159.) A native of sandy places on the coast near Montpelier. Introduced in 1819. From half a foot to 1 ft. high, and flowering in June and July. 6. O. CENI'SIA L. The Mount Cenis Restharrow. Identification. Lin. Mant., 267.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 161.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 160. Engraving. All. Fl. Ped., No. 1173. t. 10. f. 2. Spec. Char., &c. A many-stemmed, tufted, prostrate, glabrous plant, suffruticose at the base. Leaves palmately trifoliolate; leaflets cuneated, and, like the stipules, serrated. Peduncles 1-flowered, without an awn, and longer than the leaves. A native of rocky places in the Alps of Provence, Dauphiné, and Savoy. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 161.) Introduced in 1759; and producing its pink flowers in June and July. It rarely exceeds 1 ft. in height. Variety. O. c. 2 subaristata Dec., the 0. cenísia of Asso Syn., No. 674., is a native of the Pyrenees, and has each peduncle furnished with a kind of awn. It is rather more tender than the species. 7. O. ARAGONE'NSIS Asso. The Aragon Restharrow. Identification. Asso Syn. Arr., 96. t. 6. f. 2; Dec. Fl. Fr. Suppl., p. 562.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 159.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 162. Synonyme. O dumòsa Lapeyr. Arb., 410. Engraving. Magn. Hort. Monsp., 17. t. 21. Spec. Char., &c. A low shrub, with trifoliolate glabrous leaves, and roundish serrated leaflets. Flowers in pairs, almost sessile, and disposed in a leafless raceme. Calyx villous, and one half shorter than the corolla. A native of mountains in Valencia and Aragon, and of the Pyrenees in the part contiguous to France. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 164.) Introduced in 1816. It grows to the height of from 1 ft. to 2 ft., and produces its yellow flowers from May to July. App. i. Other suffruticose Species of Onònis. O. peduncularis Lindl. (Bot. Reg., t. 1446., and our fig. 301.) is a small shrub, not more than a foot high, introduced in 1829, from Teneriffe, with fragrant white and rose-coloured flowers. It is usually kept in a frame. It would do, with a little protection, for rockwork. It is in Messrs. Young and Penny's collection. O. crispa L., O. hispánica, O. vaginalis L., O. arachnoidea Lapeyr., O. longifolia Willd., O. falcata Willd., O. ramosissima Desf., O. tridentata L., O. angustifolia Lam., and O. fatida Schousb., are other species of Ondnis varying in height from 1 ft. to 3 ft., and usually kept in frames or cold-pits; but which, if protected in severe weather, would be very ornamental for rockwork. Descriptions of them will be found in our Hortus Britannicus, and in Don's Miller. Other species of Ononis marked in catalogues as herbaceous, are nearly as suffruticose as those last mentioned; and, where the object is to extend a collection, there are several that may be introduced in the arboretum. Indeed it may be safely assumed, that, where several species of a genus are ligneous or suffruticose, all the species of that genus are more or less so, and may, by culture, be prevented from dying down to the ground during winter; provided that genus has been formed on natural principles. GENUS XI. 301 AMORPHA L. THE AMORPHA, or BASTARD INDIGO. Lin. Syst. Mona Identification. Lin. Gen., 369.; Lam. Ill., t. 621.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 256.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 234. Synonyme. Bonafidia Neck. Elem., No. 1364. Derivation. From a, privative, and morphe, form; in reference to the deformity of the corolla, from the want of the wings and keel. Description. Large deciduous shrubs, natives of North America. Leaves impari-pinnate, having many pairs of leaflets that have transparent dots in their disks, and, usually, minute stipules at their base. The leaves have deciduous stipules. The flowers are disposed in lengthened spiked racemes, usually grouped at the tips of the branches; of a blue-violet colour. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 256.) The species are highly ornamental on account of their leaves, and more especially of their long spikes of flowers; which, though, when taken separately, they are small, and imperfect in regard to form, are yet rich from their number, and their colours of purple or violet, spangled with a golden yellow. The plants are not of long duration; and are liable to be broken by wind; for which reason they ought always to be planted in a sheltered situation. They produce abundance of suckers, from which, and from cuttings of the root, they are very readily propagated. The several sorts that are in the garden of the London Horticultural Society, and in the arboretum of the Messrs. Loddiges, appear to us only varieties of one and the same species. 1. A. FRUTICO'SA Lin. The shrubby Amorpha, or Bastard Indigo. Identification. Lin. Sp, 1003.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 256.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 234. Engravings. Schkuhr Handb., t. 197.; Mill. Icon., t. 27.; Bot. Reg., 427.; Krauss., t. 7.; N. Spec. Char., &c. Rather arborescent, somewhat villose or glabrous. Leaflets ellipticoblong, the lowest distant from the base of the petiole. Calyx somewhat villose; 4 of its teeth obtuse, I acuminate. The standard glandless. Legume few-seeded. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 256.) A native of Carolina and Florida, on the banks of rivers, where it grows to the height of from 9 ft. to 12 ft. In Britain, it produces its long close spikes of fine, rich, very dark, bluish-purple flowers in June and July. It was introduced into Britain in 1724, by Mark Catesby; who states that the inhabitants of Carolina, at one time, made a sort of coarse indigo from the young shoots. It is now a common shrub in Eu ropean gardens; and Thunberg is said to have observed it in those of the Island of Nipon, in Japan. Varieties. A. f. 2 angustifolia Pursh has the leaflets linear-elliptic. A. f. 3 emarginata Pursh has the leaflets notched, and the calyx hoary. There is a plant of it in the garden of the London Horticultural Society. A. f. 4 Lewisii Lodd. Cat., 1830, appears to have rather larger flowers and leaves than the species. There are finely flowering plants of it in the Goldworth Arboretum. A. f. 5 cærulea Lodd. Cat., 1830, has the flowers of somewhat a paler blue. There are plants of it in Loddiges's arboretum. Perhaps it is only a variation of A. cròceo-lanàta. Commercial Statistics. The price of plants, in the London nurseries, is 1s. 6d. each, and of seeds, 1s. per oz.; at Bollwyller, plants are 50 cents each, or seedlings 10 francs for 50; at New York, plants are 374 cents each, and seeds 4 dollars per lb. 2. A. (F.) GLA'BRA Desf. The glabrous Amorpha, or Bastard Indigo. Identification. Desf. Cat. Hort. Par., 192.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 256.; Don's Mill, 2. p. 234. Spec. Char., &c. Rather arborescent, glabrous. Leaflets elliptic-oblong, the lowest distant from the base of the petiole. Calyx glabrous, four of its teeth obtuse, one acuminate. Standard glanded on the outside. Legume containing few seeds. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 256) A shrub, growing from 3 ft. to 6 ft. high. Introduced in 1810, and flowering in July and August. 3. A. (F.) NA'NA Nutt. The dwarf Amorpha, or Bastard Indigo. Identification. Nutt. in Fras. Cat., 1813; Nov. Gen. Amer., 2. p. 91.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 256.; Don's TT Spec. Char., &c. Shrubby, dwarf, rather glabrous. Leaflets elliptical, mucronulate. Calyx glabrous, all its teeth setaceously acuminate. Legume 1seeded. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 256.) A native of herbage-covered hills near the Missouri, where it grows to the height of from 1 ft. to 2 ft. According to Pursh, it is an elegant little shrub, with purple flowers, which are fragrant. It was introduced in 1811, by Mr. Lyon; but it is not common in col lections. 4. A. (F.) FRAGRANS Sweet. The fragrant Amorpha, or Bastard Indigo. Identification. Swt. Fl.-Gard., t. 241.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 234. Synonyme. A. nana Sims in Bot. Mag., t. 2112, but not of others. Spec. Char., &c. Shrubby, pubescent. Leaves with 5. A.(F.) CRO'CEO-LANA TA Wats. The Saffron-coloured-woolly Amorpha, or tawny Bastard Indigo. Identification. Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 139.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 234. Engravings. Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 139.; and our fig. 304. Spec. Char., &c. Plant clothed with tawny pubescence. Racemes branched. Leaves with 6-8 pairs of oblong-elliptic, mucronulate, downy leaflets; the 3 upper teeth of calyx ovate, acute, the 2 lower ones very short, and rounded. (Don's Mill., ii. p. 234.) A native of North America, cultivated in British gardens in 1820, where it is a shrub from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high. Its flowers, which appear in July and August, are of a purplish blue. Plants of this sort are in the Fulham Nursery. 6. A. (F.) CANE'SCENS Nutt. The canescent Amorpha, or Bastard Indigo. Identification. Nutt. in Fras. Cat., 1813, and Gen. Amer., 2. p. 92.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 467.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 256.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 234. Synonyme. A. pubescens Pursh, 2. p. 467. Spec. Char., &c. Suffruticose, dwarf, all over whitely tomentose. Leaflets ovate-elliptic, mucronate, the lowest near the base of the petiole. Calyx tomentose; its teeth ovate, acute, equal. Ovary 2-ovuled. Legume 1seeded. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 256.) A native of Louisiana, on the banks of the Missouri and the Mississippi; producing its dark blue flowers in July and August. Introduced in 1812, by Lyon, but not common in collections. This sort, like every other kind of Amórpha (and indeed like all ligneous plants, the wood of which is not hard and compact, and the duration of which is consequently but temporary), requires to be well cut in every year, or otherwise to be planted in very poor, dry, sandy soil. Nothing but cutting in shrubs of this description in soils where they grow freely, will either make them assume handsome shapes, or preserve their vitality for any length of time. The same may be said of the peach, the almond, the hydrangea, the ribes, and many other soft-wooded trees and shrubs. GENUS XII. ROBINIA Lin. THE ROBINIA, or LOCUST TREE. Lin. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria. Identification. Dec. Mém. Lég., 6.; Prod., 2. p. 261.; Don's Mill, 2. p. 237. Synonymes. Pseudacàcia Tourn. Inst., t. 417.; Moench Meth., 145.; Robinier, Fr.; Robinie, Ger. Derivation. Named in honour of Jean Robin, a French botanist, once herbalist to Henry IV. of France, author, of Histoire des Plantes, 12 mo, Paris, 1620; printed with the second edition of Lonicer's History of Plants. His son Vespasian was sub-demonstrator at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and was the first person who cultivated the Robinia Pseud-Acàcia in Europe. Description. Deciduous trees, natives of North America, where one of the species is highly valued for its timber. In Europe, all the species are much prized both for their use and beauty. They are readily propagated by seeds, large truncheons of the stem and branches, cuttings of the roots, or by grafting; and they will grow in any soil that is not too wet. Their roots are creeping, and their branches very brittle: they grow rapidly, but are not generally of long duration. Their rapid growth is a property that they have in common with all trees and plants the principal roots of which extend themselves close under the surface; because there the soil is always richest: but the same cause that produces this rapidity at first, occasions the tree to grow slowly afterwards, unless the roots are allowed ample space on every side; since, as they never penetrate deep, they soon exhaust all the soil within their reach. For this reason, also, such trees are objectionable as hedgerow trees, or as scattered groups in arable lands; their roots proving a serious impediment to the plough, and the suckers thrown up by them choking the corn crops. Roots, on the other hand, which penetrate perpendicularly as well as horizontally, belong to more slowly, but more steadily, growing trees, which always attain a larger size in proportion to the extent of ground they occupy. 1. R. PSEU`D-ACACIA Lin. The common Robinia, or False Acacia. Identification. Lin. Sp., 1043.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 261.; Lam. Ill., t. €66. f. 1.; N. Du Ham. 2. t. 16.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 237. Synonymes. Eschynómene Pseudacàcia Roxb.; Pseudacàcia odorata Moench Meth., 145.; Locust Tree, Amer.; the Bastard Acacia; Robinier faux Acacia, Acacia blane, Carouge des Américains, Fr.; gemeine Acacie, or Schotendorn, Ger. Derivation. This tree, when first introduced, was supposed to be a species of the Egyptian acacia, (Acacia vèra), from its prickly branches and pinnated leaves, which resembled those of that tree. It was named the locust tree by the missionaries, who were some of the first collectors, and who fancied that it was the tree that supported St. John in the wilderness. It is not, however, a native of any other part of the world than North America. The name Carouge, is the French word for carob bean, the locust tree of Spain; which, being also a native of Syria, is, probably, the true locust of the New Testament. The German name of Schotendorn is composed of schote, a pod, or legume, and dorn, a thorn. Engravings. Lam. Ill. t. 666.; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 16.; our fig. 305.; and the plate of this species in Volume II. Spec. Char., &c. Prickles stipular. Branches twiggy. Racemes of flowers loose and pendulous; and smooth, as are the legumes. Leaflets ovate. The flowers are white and sweet-scented; the roots creeping, and their fibres sometimes bearing tubercles. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 261.) A native of North America, where it is found from Canada to Carolina. Varieties. The plant varying much in its different native localities, and also having been long cultivated from seeds in Europe, the varieties are numerous. Some of those included in the following list appear in our Hortus Britannicus, and in Don's Miller, as species; while some hybrids, such as R. hýbrida and R. intermèdia, might also have been considered as varieties, but we have preferred keeping them apart. YR. P. 2 flore luteo Dumont, 6. p. 140., has the flowers yellow. R. P. 3 inermis Dec. Prod., ii. p. 261., Dec. Cat. Hort. Monsp., 136.— Prickles wanting, or nearly obsolete. Leaflets flat. Plant of free growth, in which respect it differs from R. P. umbraculifera. Ꭲ Ꭲ ? |