The Botanical Magazine v 2 | Page 8

that an expressive name can scarcely be assigned them; such is the present plant, or LINN?US would not have given it the inexpressive name of spuria, nor we have adopted it.
This species is distinguished by the narrowness of its leaves, which emit a disagreeable smell when bruised, by the colour of its flowers, which are of a fine rich purple inclining to blue, and by its hexangular germen.
It is a native of Germany, where, as Professor JACQUIN informs us, it grows in wet meadows; is a hardy perennial, thrives in our gardens in almost any soil or situation, flowers in June, and is propagated by parting its roots in Autumn.

[59]
Mesembryanthemum bicolorum. Two-Coloured Fig-Marigold.
Class and Order.
Icosandria Pentagynia.
Generic Character.
Cal. 5-fidus. Petala numerosa, linearia. Caps. carnosa, infera, polysperma.
Specific Character and Synonyms.
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM bicolorum foliis subulatis punctatis l?vibus distinctis, caule frutescente, corollis bicoloribus. _Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 470._
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM tenuifolium fruticescens, flore croceo. _Dill. Elth. 267. t. 202. f. 258._
[Illustration: 59]
Contrary to the Mesembryanthemum dolabriforme, lately figured in this work, this species expands its flowers in the day-time, and that only when the sun shines powerfully on them; on such occasions, the blossoms on the top of the branches being very numerous, exhibit a most splendid appearance.
It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, flowers in July, and is most readily propagated by cuttings.
Like most of the Cape plants, it requires the shelter of a green-house during the winter.

[60]
Lathyrus odoratus. Sweet Pea, or Vetchling.
Class and Order.
Diadelphia Decandria.
Generic Character.
Stylus planus, supra villosus, superne latior. Cal. lacini? superiores 2-breviores.
Specific Character and Synonyms.
LATHYRUS odoratus pedunculis bifloris, cirrhis diphyllis, foliolis ovato-oblongis, leguminibus hirsutis, Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 663.
LATHYRUS distoplatyphyllos hirsutus mollis, magno et peram?no flore odoro. Comm. hort. 2. p. 219. t. 80.
[Illustration: 60]
There is scarcely a plant more generally cultivated than the _Sweet Pea_, and no wonder, since with the most delicate blossoms it unites an agreeable fragrance.
Several varieties of this plant are enumerated by authors, but general cultivation extends to two only, the one with blossoms perfectly white, the other white and rose-coloured, commonly called the _Painted Lady Pea_.
The Sweet Pea is described as a native of Sicily, the Painted Lady Variety as an inhabitant of Ceylon; they have both been introduced since the time of PARKINSON and EVELYN.
It is an annual, and not a very tender one; seedling plants sown in Autumn frequently surviving our winters.
As it is desirable to have this plant in flower for as great a length of time as possible, to have them early, we must sow them in the Autumn, either in pots or in the open border; if sown in pots, they can the more readily be secured from any severe weather, by placing them in a hot-bed frame, a common practice with gardeners who raise them for the London markets, in which they are in great request: others again should be sown early in the spring, and the sowings repeated every month; they grow readily in almost any soil or situation, and by this means may be had to flower most of the year through.
If sown in pots, care must be taken to water them frequently.

[61]
Iris ochroleuca. Tall Iris.
Class and Order.
Triandria Monogynia.
Generic Character.
Corolla 6-petala, in?qualis, petalis alternis geniculato-patentibus. Stigmata petaliformia, cucullato-bilabiata. Thunb. Diss. de Iride.
Specific Character and Synonyms.
IRIS ochroleuca imberbis foliis ensiformibus, scapo subtereti germinibus hexagonis. Lin. Syst. Vegetab. p. 90.
[Illustration: 61]
Of the several species of Iris cultivated in our gardens, this excels in point of height; we have taken our English name therefore from this character, and not from the term ochroleuca, which, if translated, would be too expressive of the colour of the blossoms of the _Iris Pseudacorus, with which the ochroleuca_ has some affinity in point of size as well as colour.
Notwithstanding Mr. MILLER's description of his orientalis accords very badly with that of LINN?US's ochroleuca, they have been generally considered in this country as one and the same plant, distinguished by the name of POCOCKE's Iris, Dr. POCOCKE being the person who, according to MILLER, in his time first introduced it from Carniola (by inadvertence spelt Carolina, in the 6th 4to edition of the Dictionary). There are grounds, however, for suspecting some error in the habitat of this plant, for had it grown spontaneously in Carniola, it is not probable that SCOPOLI would have omitted it in his Flora Carniolica.
Leaving its place of growth to be more accurately ascertained hereafter, we shall observe, that it appears perfectly naturalized to this country, growing luxuriantly in a moist rich soil, and increasing, like most of the genus, very fast by its roots. It flowers later than most of the others.

[62]
Centaurea glastifolia. Woad-Leaved Centaurea.
Class and Order.
SyngenesiA Polygamia Superflua.
Generic Character.
Receptaculum setosum. Pappus simplex. Coroll? radii infundibuliformes, longiores, irregulares.
Specific Character and Synonyms.
CENTAUREA glastifolia calycibus scariosis, foliis indivisis integerrimis decurrentibus. Lin. Syst. Veg. p. 787. _Gmelin Sib. 2. p. 83._
CENTAURIUM