The Botanical Magazine.

by William Curtis.

VOL. II.

"A Garden is the purest of human Pleasures."

VERULAM.

LONDON:

Printed by COUCHMAN and FRY, Throgmorton-Street,

For W. CURTIS, at his BOTANIC-GARDEN, Lambeth-Marsh;

And Sold by the princ.i.p.al Booksellers in Great-Britain and Ireland.

M DCC XC.

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~Chironia Frutescens. Shrubby Chironia.~

_Cla.s.s and Order._

~Pentandria Monogynia.~

_Generic Character._

_Cor._ rotata. _Pistillum_ declinatum. _Stamina_ tubo corollae infidentia. _Antherae_ demum spirales. _Peric._ 2-loculare.

_Specific Character and Synonyms._

CHIRONIA _frutescens_, foliis lanceolatis subtomentosis, calycibus campanulatis. _Lin. Syst. Vegetab. p. 229._

CENTAURIUM foliis binis oppositis angustis linearibus, flore magno rubente. _Burm. Afric. 205. t. 74. fig. 1._

[Ill.u.s.tration: No 37]

Of the genus _Chironia_, ten species are enumerated in Prof. MURRAY's last edition of the _Syst. Vegetab._ of LINNaeUS, exclusive of the _Chironia Centaurium_ which we first added to this genus in the 42d number of the _Flora Londinensis_.

Of these, the _frutescens_ is the most shewy, and therefore the most cultivated.

It is a native of different parts of Africa.

The flowers are produced from June to autumn, and the seeds ripen in October. This plant should be placed in an airy gla.s.s case in winter, where it may enjoy a dry air, and much sun, but will not thrive in a warm stove, nor can it be well preserved in a common green-house, because a damp moist air will soon cause it to rot.

The seed of this plant should be sown in small pots filled with light sandy earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed; sometimes the seeds will lie a long time in the ground; so that if the plants do not appear the same season, the pots should not be disturbed, but preserved in shelter till the following spring, and then plunged into a fresh hot-bed, which will bring up the plants in a short time if the seeds are good. When the plants are fit to remove, they should be transplanted into small pots, four or five in each pot, then plunged into a moderate hot-bed, where they must have a large share of air in warm weather; when they have obtained some strength, they must be gradually inured to the open air; when exposed abroad, they should be mixed with such plants as require little water, placed in a warm situation, and screened from heavy rains, which are apt to rot them. The cuttings of this sort take root if properly managed. _Miller's Gard. Dict._

[38]

~Viburnum Tinus. Common Laurustinus.~

_Cla.s.s and Order._

~Pentandria Trigynia.~

_Generic Character._

_Calyx_ 5-part.i.tus, superus. _Cor._ 5-fida. _Bacca_ 1-sperma.

_Specific Character and Synonyms_.

VIBURNUM _Tinus_ foliis integerrimis ovatis: ramificationibus venarum subtus villoso-glandulosis. _Lin. Syst. Vegetab. p. 294._

LAURUS sylvestris, corni faeminae foliis subhirsutis. _Bauh. Pin. 461._

The wild Bay-tree. _Park. Parad. p. 400._

[Ill.u.s.tration: No 38]

We scarcely recollect a plant whose blossoms are so hardy as those of the Laurustinus, they brave the inclemency of our winters, and are not destroyed but in very severe seasons.

The beauties of this most charming shrub can be enjoyed by those only who cultivate it at some little distance from town, the smoke of London being highly detrimental to its growth.

It is a native of Portugal, Spain, and Italy.

Botanists enumerate many varieties of the Laurustinus, and so considerably do some of these differ, that MILLER has been induced to make two species of them, which he distinguishes by the names of _Virburnum Tinus_ and _V. lucidum_; the last of these is the most ornamental, and at the same time the most tender; there are some other trifling varieties, besides those, with variegated leaves, or the gold and silver-striped.

It is only in very favourable situations that these shrubs ripen their seeds in England, hence they are most commonly propagated by layers, which readily strike root: MILLER says, that the plants raised from seeds are hardier than those produced from layers.

It thrives best in sheltered situations and a dry soil.

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