P. c. 2 angustifolia Hort. has the lobes of the leaves narrow, and flowers rather later than the species. P. c. 3 glaucophylla Hort. has the leaves glaucous beneath. P. c. 4 Colvillii Swt. Fl.-Gard., t. 126., has the lobes of the leaves oblong-lanceolate, and the flowers whitish, tinged with blue and purple. It is a hybrid, which was raised in Colvill's Nursery; and it is considered as hardy as the species. P. c. 5 racemosa Hort. Trans., 4. t. 9., is a hybrid between P. cærulea and the stove species, P. racemosa, originated in 1820. It has purplish flowers; and is not so hardy as P. cærulea. P. incarnata L. (Bot. Reg., t. 332.; and our fig. 710.), the flesh-coloured Granadilla, or May Apple, is a native of South America and Virginia, with flesh-coloured flowers, and fruit about the size of a small apple, orange-coloured, with a sweetish yellow pulp. It may almost be considered as herbaceous, as the shoots die down nearly to the ground every year; on which account the roots, or stool, may, with the greater ease, be preserved against a conservative wall. P. tiliafolia L., the Lime-tree-leaved Passion Flower, is a native of Peru, with cordate entire leaves, red flowers, and fruit globose and Tacsònia pinnatistipula Juss., Swt. Fl.-Gard., new series, 2. t. 156.; Passiflora pinnatistipula Cav.; is a climbing shrub, a native of Chili, introduced in 1828. The leaves are white from velvety down on their under surface; the stipules are pinnate; and the flowers rose-coloured, or purplish, with the crown a deep blue. The plant, which is exceedingly beautiful, has flowered magnificently, and ripened its round yellow fruit, in the conservatory of Mrs. Marryat, at Wimbledon; and it has flowered on the open wall of the garden of Englefield House, near Reading. There are several other species of this genus, but they have not yet been introduced. Hybrids will, no doubt, be raised between this genus and Passiflora; and perhaps something might be gained in hardiness by grafting T. pinnatistípula on Passiflora cærulea. The flexible shoots of all the plants noticed in this chapter admit so readily of protection, by tying them in bundles, and enveloping them in straw and matting, that no conservative wall ought to be without them. CHAP. LI. OF THE HARDY AND HALF-HARDY SPECIES OF THE ORDER SE DUM populifolium L. (Willd. Sp. Pl., ii. p. 762., Bot. Mag., t. 211.); the Poplar-leaved Sedum, or Stonecrop; Anacampseros populifolia Haworth Syn. Plant. Suc., p. 113.; is a hardy miniature shrub, a native of Siberia, which was introduced in 1780, and flowers in July and August. Sempervivum arboreum L., the Tree Houseleek, (Bot. Reg., t. 29.; and our fig. 712.) is a native of Portugal, Barbary, and Candia, where it grows to the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft.; producing its yellow flowers from March to December. It is an old inhabitant of our greenhouses, and, with the proper protection, would stand against a conservative wall. There are two varieties: one with variegated leaves, and one with leaves which take a rich brown in summer or autumn. CHAP. LII. OF THE HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER FICÖIDA'CEE, OR MESEMBRYA CEE. Mesembryanthemum L. There are a great many species and varieties of this genus described by botanists, no fewer than 339 being enumerated in Don's Miller. Most of them are natives of dry sandy soils at the Cape of Good Hope, and in other parts of Africa; and many sorts will live through the winter on rockwork, in the neighbourhood of London, if protected with dry litter. When they can be preserved through the winter, they make a splendid appearance in the summer, with their brilliant flowers of scarlet, yellow, purple, or white. Several species have stood through the winter, without any protection, on the rockwork in the Chelsea Botanic Garden; and a number of sorts were, till lately, preserved in a cold-pit in the garden of the London Horticultural Society. CHAP. LIII. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER NITRARIA CEA. THIS order includes only one genus, so that the following generic characters will portray the chief of the characteristics of the order: NITRA RIA L. Calyx inferior, in 5 deep divisions. Petals 5, arising from the calyx, their æstivation inflexed and valvular. Stamens 15, perigynous. Ovary with 3 or more cells, with a continuous fleshy style, at whose tip are as many stigmatic lines as there are cells. Fruit drupaceous, opening by 3 or 6 valves. Seeds solitary, pendulous by a long funiculus. Embryo straight, dicotyledonous. Shrubs, with deciduous, succulent, alternate leaves, which, in some instances, are in fascicles; and with flowers in cymes, or solitary. Properties, slightly saline. (Lindl. Introd. to N. S.) GENUS I. NITRA'RIA L. THE NITRARIA. Lin. Syst. Dodecándria Monogynia. Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 602.; Lam. Ill., t. 403.; Gærtn. Fruct., 1. t. 58. ; Dec. Prod., S. p. 456.; Don's Mill., 3. p. 155. Derivation. So named by Schober, from one of the species being discovered in certain nitre-works in Siberia, along with other saline plants. Description, &c. Shrubs, seldom rising more than 4 ft. in height; and, in British gardens, thriving best in a dry soil, composed partly of lime rubbish, which should be, about once a year, strewed with a thin coat of salt. Propagated by cuttings. 1. N. SCHO'BERI L. Schober's Nitraria. Identification. Lin. Sp., 638.; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 456.; Don's Mill., S. p. 155. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves oblong, perfectly entire. Drupes ovate. It varies, with branches spiny, and not so. A native of the neighbourhood of salt lakes in Russia. (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 456.) Introduced in 1788. Varieties. N. S. 1 sibirica; N. sibírica Pall. Fl. Ross., t. 50. f. A., Gmel. Sib., 2. t. 98., Lam. Ill., t. 403. f. 1.; and our fig. 713. Fruit of a blackish blue colour. A native of Siberia. N. S. 2 cáspica; N. cáspica Pall. Fl. Ross., t. 50. f. B.; and our 2. N. tridenTA`TA Desf. The 3-toothed-leaved Nitraria. Identification. Desf. Fl. Atl., 1. p. 372.; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 456.; Don's Mill., 3. p. 155. Synonyme. Péganum retùsum Forsk., according to Delil. in his Ill. Fl. Ægypt. Spec. Char., &c. Branches spiny. Leaves wedge-shaped, retuse, toothed with about 3 teeth. Fruit ovate. (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 456.) A native of sandy fields of Barbary and Egypt; growing to the height of from 1ft. to 2 ft. Introduced in 1820; but not frequent in collections. CHAP. LIV. OF THE HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF the order CACTA CEEÆ. Opuntia vulgaris Mill.; Cactus Opuntia L., Mill. Icon., t. 191.; the common Indian Fig, or Prickly Pear; is a native of North America, in the southern states, and is found abundantly in gardens in the neighbourhood of New York. It is also very common in Italy, and various parts of the south of Europe. In Virginia, it is valued for its refreshing fruit; and it has been cultivated for the same purpose on dry rockwork, in the neighbourhood of London. (See Encyc. of Gard., edit. 1835, p. 979.) It will live many years, with little or no protection, at the bottom of a dry warm wall; and, though usually prostrate, yet, if the shoots are nailed to the wall, it will grow to the height of several feet. It deserves a place in a collection of half-hardy ligneous succulent plants, for the sake of its singular appearance; and various other genera and species belonging to the same order are, probably, nearly as hardy. CHAP. LV. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER GROSSULA'CEÆ. THIS order consists of the genus Ribes only; and the following characteristics of that genus are the chief of those of the order: RIBES L. Calyx superior, having 4-5 coloured lobes; and bearing from its throat 5, 4, or ? 0, small petals; and 5, very rarely 6, stamens. The lobes of the calyx, the petals, and the stamens, are, in most instances, 5 each; and, in such, are alternate with one another. The two sexes are present, in most kinds, in the same flower; in a few dioecious, at least in result. Ovary with 1 cell, and 2 parietal placentas. The ovules numerous. Style 1. Fruit a subglobose berry, tipped with the remains of the part of the flower that is distinct from the ovary. The seeds many, oblong, subcompressed; each suspended in the pulp by a long, slender, funiculus; and having an aril, horny albumen, and an embryo that is minute, dicotyledonous, and situate at the smaller end of the seed, contiguous to the hilum, but with the radicle pointing to one side. Shrubs, unarmed or prickly. Leaves alternate, lobed or cut, plaited when folded in the bud, deciduous. A bractea is at the base of every pedicel, and two smaller are upon it below the ovary. Flowers greenish, whitish, yellow, or red. (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 477., and Lindl. Introd. to N. S.) M. Spach, in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles for 1835, has subdivided the genus Ribes into the genera authenticated as his among our synonymes. REESE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY GENUS I. RIBES L. THE RIBES. Lin. Syst. Pentándria Monogýnia. Identification. Lin. Gen., 281.; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 477.; Don's Mill., 3. p. 177. Synonymes. Grossulària Tourn., Gærtn.; Chrysobotrya, Calobotrya, Coreósma, and Rèbes Spach; Groseiller, Fr.; Johannisbeere, Ger.; Kruisbes, Dutch; Uva Spina, Ital.; Grossella, Span. Derivation. The word is from the name of an acid plant mentioned by the Arabian physicians, which has been discovered to be the Rheum Ribes; Grossulària is from the Latin grossulus, á little unripe fig. Description, &c. This genus consists of low deciduous shrubs, two of which (the common currant and gooseberry) are well known in British gardens, for their valuable fruits. We shall here consider all the species of the genus entirely in the light of ornamental shrubs, taking little notice of the varieties cultivated in gardens for their fruit. Many of the sorts here set down as species are, we have no doubt, only varieties; but, as we are not able to refer these to their aboriginal forms, we have followed the usual authorities, and more especially the nomenclature adopted in the Horticultural Society's Garden; a synopsis of the sorts in which, by Mr. Gordon, will be found at the end of this article. All the species of Ribes strike root readily from cuttings; and grow freely in any soil that is tolerably dry; but, as they are only ligneous in a subordinate degree, and are but of a temporary duration under any circumstances, they require to be grown in dry beds or borders, and are, therefore, more fitted for scientific collections or flower-borders, than for general shrubberies, undug arboretums, or lawns. The most showy species are Ribes sanguíneum and aúreum, and their varieties. R. speciosum, has a singular fuchsia-like appearance when in blossom; and R. multiflorum, though the flowers are greenish, is remarkably elegant, on account of the long many-flowered racemes in which they are disposed. The price, in the London nurseries, varies from 1s. to 2s. each; at Bollwyller, from 50 cents to 1 franc; and at New York, from 25 cents to half a dollar. The varieties cultivated as fruit trees are much cheaper; and R. speciosum, which is rather difficult to propagate, and some of the other species, which are new, and as yet rare, are dearer. i. Grossularia Ach. Rich. Gooseberries. Synonymes. Grosseiller à Maquereau, Fr.; Stachelbeere Strauch, Ger.; Kruisbes, Dutch; Uva Spina, Ital.; and Grosella, Span. Sect. Char., &c. Stems, in most instances, prickly. Leaves plaited. Flowers in racemes, 1, 2, or 3, in a raceme. Calyx more or less bell-shaped. (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 478.) Shrubs with prickles; and with the leaves and fruit more or less resembling those of the common gooseberry. A. Flowers greenish white. 1. R. OXYACANTHOI DES L. The Hawthorn-leaved Gooseberry. Identification. Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 165.; Berlandier in Mém. Soc. Phys. Gen., 3. pars 2. p. 43. t. 1. f. 1., not of Michaux. Engravings. Mém. Soc. Phys. Gen., 3. pars 2. t. 1. f. 1.; Dill. Elth., t. 189. p. 166. ; and our fig. 715. Spec. Char., &c. Infra-axillary prickles larger, and mostly solitary; smaller prickles scattered here and there. Leaves glabrous, their lobes dentate, their petioles villous, and a little hispid. Peduncles short, bearing 1-2 flowers. Berry globose, glabrous, purplish blue. A native of rocks of Canada. (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 478.) This shrub varies much in the number and colour of its prickles, and its more or less dense ramification and pubescence. The fruit resembles that of the common gooseberry, and is sometimes red, and at other times green, or purplish blue; and, when ripe, it is agreeable to the taste. This species was introduced in 1705; but it is not common in British gardens, the R. oxyacanthöìdes of Michaux (R. lacústre Poir.) being different from it. Perhaps it is only one of the wild states of the common gooseberry; indeed it would not surprise us, if future experiments should prove that most of the sorts described in this section were neither more nor less than different states of this valuable fruit shrub. As it varies so very much when in a state of culture, it is reasonable to suppose that it will vary much also in a wild state, in different soils, situations, and climates. 2. R. SETO'SUM Lindl. The bristly Gooseberry. Engravings. Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1237.; and our fig. 716. 1810. 3. R. TRIFLORUM W. The 3-flowered Gooseberry. Identification. Willd. Enum., 1. p. 51.; Berlandier in Mém. Synonyme. R. stamineum Horn. Enum. Hort. Hafn., Spec. Char., &c. Infra-axillary prickles soli- 4. R. (T.) NI'VEUM Lindl. The snowy-flowered Currant-like Gooseberry. Identification. Lindl. in Bot. Reg., t. 1692. Engravings. Bot. Reg. t. 1692.; and our fig. 718. Spec. Char., &c. Branches prickly, the prickles solitary, or in pairs, or in threes. Leaves glabrous, roundish, entire at the base, having in the outward part 3 blunt lobes that are crenately cut. Flowers about 2 |