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^ t 



104 



MR. N. E. BROWN : NEW A:^TD OLD 



This species is entirely omitted ri'oni the works of Sonder and Bergor, who 

 have nmiutiiined a totally different species (see M. Jhunhergii, p. lOG) under the 

 name o£ M. kcve, Thunb., which was published two years later than ^f. hvre, 

 Ait.j and is a very different plant; ■ The above description is compiled from 

 those given by Alton and by Ilaworth, who lemarks (Obs. p. 254) : *' I havo 

 seen this plant, but have no specimen proper for description — it is a shrub." 



( 



states tli;it"Tliis rare species iiccjuires an erect 



shrubby stem two or more feet bigli, tliickly covered with shoots and leaves : 

 it is very liable to rot in the winter and has never produced its flowers with 

 mo ; they are saiil to bo purple by Willdenow/' Alton states that it flowers 

 from July to September, and places it in the red- or purple-flow^ered group, 

 so that he evidently saw its flowers. He calls it the " Upright wliite-wooded 

 Fio' Mario'old." From Haworth's remark that it is liable to rot in the 

 winter, I suspect that it grows in a very dry region and has long since died 

 out oE cultivation. Haw^orth remarks of it : " Tins species strikes less easily 

 from cuttings than most others, and although possessed of stiff U})right woody 

 shoots of on(^ or two feet in height, never survives the third winter with me; 

 but rarely dies under that age ; and then appears to perish first at the root ; 

 For tbe branches survive many wxeks after the root is dead. I have not 

 heard of its flowering anywdiere ; nor is its bark whitCj but fuscous, wliich 

 now causes me to doubt its being tlie true AL lave of Ilort. Kew, above 



cited." Tbe above is ])ractically all that has hitherto been })ublished con- 

 cernino- this idant, but in the Kew Herbarium there is a drawing of a branch 

 of the Kew^ pknt without flow^ers, labelled '' M, hvve, June 31 (sic), 182G.' 

 This drawing, of which I have copied a portion on PI. 10. fig, 44, quite 

 corresponds wuth Aiton's description, except that the stem is light brown 

 with wliite reflections as if it w^ere very smooth and polished. Possibly w^ith 

 ao'e the stem gets a wdiite baikj and that Aiton described from an imported 

 plant ; for it is scarcelv probable that the plant Hawortli mentions as luniug 

 seen in his earliest w^ork upon the genus, })nbllshed in 1794^ would not be 

 the true plant of Aiton, for it is evident that he knew^ and had complete 

 freedom to inspect at all times the plants cultivated at Kew\ 



Ttie Kew drawing represents a flowerlcss branch about 15 cm. long and 

 4 mm. thick at the base, branching in a pyramidal manner, woody below, 

 with internodes 5-10 mm, long, those of the lateral branchlets being 1-5 mm. 

 lono- brown with white reflections, as if shining! Leaves 15-30 nun. long, 

 21-3 i mm. thick, rather closely placed on the branchlets, and having the 

 appearance of being subcylindric, with the upper side more or less flattened, 

 obtusely pointed at the apcx^ of a very glaucous-green. 



This plant belongs to the section Corallina as defined by Haworth^ which 

 is quite different from the section Corallina of Berger, the latter being based 

 upon M, corallina, Thunb. — a totally different plant^ which Haworth doubt- 

 fully thought might be the same species as AJ. Iceve. 



