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MELIANTIIUS major. 



The great Honey -flower. 





DIDYNAMIA AXGIOSPERMIJ. 



MELTjINTIIUS. Cat. magnus profundi 5-fidus coloratus per- 



listens, laciniis inrequalibus, intinni remold caetcris minore, deorrata 

 gibb& & cucullata, intus cava &, fovente glandulam melliduaiu (ex drsco 

 hypogyno hinc enatam ?) membrana propria conduplicatft cinctatu. Pet. 

 5 ligulaeformia ; 4 iuferiora declinata, glanduke inscrta extra membranam, 



basi & apice distiucta, medio agglutiuata; quintum none ceteris proxU 



mum, nunc procul inter lacinias 2 calicinas superiores enatam. IStam. 

 4, germini circumposita; horum Ji lament a 2 superiora distinct:*, 2 

 mferiora breviora basi connata inter germeu 8c glandulam media; a nth. 



incumbentes. Germ. 4-striatum ; stylus 1 ; stigma sub 4-iidum. Caps. 

 membranacea vesicaria 4-loba, 4-loc. ; loculi medio l-spermi, com- 

 pressi alaeformes, supra distinct! &, angulo interiore dehiscentes, infri 

 margine connati in dissepimenta angusta, introrsiim apice incisa pro semi- 

 mi m receptaculo centrali ; sem. subrotunda, nitida; embryo cotyledoni- 

 bus parvis, radicula longiore intra albumen caruosurn. Frutex ; folia 

 alterna, impari-pinnata petiolo afato, stipulacea stipulis distinctis aut 

 in unam petiolo intus adnatam connati* ; Jiores spicati axitlares aut ter- 

 minates, singuli bracteati. Jussieu. gen. 297. 



M. major, stipulis solitariis petiolo adnatis. Willd. sp. pi. 3. 402. 

 Melianthus major. Lin. sp. pi. 2. 892. Mill. diet. ed. 8. n. I. J. 



Miller illustr. Hort. Kezc. 2. 367. ed. 2. 4. (39- 



M. africanus. Ilerm. lugdb. 414. t. 415. 



SufFrutex modo orgyalis, radice late repente. Caulis cuniculalus, basi 

 crassitudine pollicis. Folia decursive pinnata, amplexicaulia, glaucissima, 

 trita digitis narcotice olentia ; foliola ovalia, acute serrata ; stipulae in unam 

 auricidato-cordatam supra petiolurn connate? . Racemus erect as, laxe spicatus, 

 subconcolor ; bracteae simplices y cordato-acuminatce pcdicello tereti-striato 8$ 

 corollam cequante parum breviores. Stam. subulata, longltudine calycis. 

 Stylus situ horum ; subulatus. Germ. 4:~gonum, ft dcrtutum. 



n 



Native of the Cape of Good Hope; whence it was 

 brought to Holland in the year 1675, and thence to Ej 

 land by Mr. Bentinck, afterwards Lord Portland. 



An undershrub, (that is, a perennial plant, which is 

 partly woody and partly herbaceous) sometimes attaining 

 the height of ten feet, or even more, and spreading itself 

 in all directions by suckers: stem piped, woody below, 

 herbaceous above; leaves large, grey, decisively pinnate; 

 leaflets in four or more pairs, with a single terminal one, 



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