A 



fee dercuredwhen they begin CO ripen. Theplant5\vliich 

 aril'e from feeds, alv/ays grow more erc6t than thofc 

 which are propagated by layers, fo are fitter for large 

 plantations, as they may be trained up to ftems, and 

 formed more like trees ^ whereas the layers are apt to 

 extend their lower branches, which retards their up- 

 right growth, and renders them more like fhrubs. 

 They will grow to the height of eighteen or twenty 

 feet, if their uprighr fhoots are encouraged ; but to 

 keep their heads from being broken by wind or fnow, 

 thofe branches which flioot irregular Ihould be fliort- 

 cned, which will caufe their heads to be clofer, and 



not in fo much danj^er. 



All the forts thrive belt in a dry, gravelly, or fandy 

 loll, for in rich ground they are often injured by 

 frofc, wlicn the v/inters are levere, but in rocky dry 

 land they are feklom injured : and if In very hard 

 frofl their leaves are killed, yet the branches will re- 

 main unhurt, and will put out new leaves in the fpring. 

 A L B U C A, Baftard Star of Bethlehem. 

 I'he Characters are, 

 The fiower has no empakment ; it has fix ohlong oval -pe^ 

 talsy tvhich are permanent \ the three cuter fpread^cpcn^ 

 and the three inner are connetJed : it hath fix three-cor- 

 nered fiamina the length of the corolla^ three of zvhich are 

 fertile^ crozvned with mo-veable fummits^ the other three^ 

 which are barren^ have no fummits, The netlqrium is 

 fttuated near the bafe of the three fertile fiamina \ it has 

 an oblong three-cornered germen^ with a broad triangular 

 fiyle^ cro'zvned by a pyramidal three-cornered fiigma •, the 



capfule is three-cornered^ having three cells filled -ivithfrnall 

 plain feeds. 



This genus is ranged in thefirft fe6tion of Linn^us's 

 fixth clafs of plants, the flower having fix ftamina 

 and one ilyle. 

 The 



a border in the front of a green-houfe, or ftove, where 



the roots of moft of the bulbous flowers may be plant- 

 ed in the full ground, and fcreened in winter from 



- froft ; in fuch iituations tlicy thrive much better, and 

 flower ftrongcr, than when kept in pots. 



ALCEA. Lin. Gen. 750. The Hollyhock,, 

 The Characters are, 



The flower hath a double empakment^ of which one is per- 

 manent. The outer one is 



The outer one is fpread cpen^ and cut at 

 xfegnmits^ the inner is larger^ and fiightly 

 Ihe flower is co-mpcfed of five petals^ wh 

 lefce at their bafe^ and fpread open at the top in ft 



into five. 



of a roft 



fl: 



fup- 



/ 



/ 



column^ and fpread open at top \ thefe 

 hdney-floaped fummits : after the fiowt 



crowned z 

 2fit the germen becomes a rounds dcpreffed. 



fide 



c. 



efi'ed kidney-fioapcd feed. 



?/" 



( 



c 



.■5FECIKS are, 



1. Albuca {Major) foIIIs lanceolatis. Lin. Sp. 43S. 

 Star flower with fpear-fljaped leaves. Ornithoo-alum lu- 

 teo-virens.' Indicum. Corn. Canad. 



(M 



floiver with azvl-fljaped leaves, 



num, flore viridi altero alteri inna'to. Herm. Parad. 



Ornithogalum Africa- 



209. African Starflt 



IfT^t 



\aJCT i^ 



/*^1 



greenifij yellow / 



This genus is ranged by Dr. Linnseus in his fixteenth 

 clafs of plants, entitled Monadelphia Polyandria : in 

 this clafs the ftamina and ft:yle coalefce and form a fort 

 of column in the center of the flower, from whence 

 Dr. Van Royen has ^ivento thls^ clafs the title of Co- 

 lumnifera, and in this divifion there are a great num- 

 ber of ftamina. 

 The Species are, 



1. Alcea {Rofea) foliis fmuatis angulofis. Hort. ClifF; 

 348. Hollyhock with angular finuated leaves, Malva 

 rofea folio fubrotundo. C. B. P. 315. , 



2, Alcea {Ficifolia) foliis palmatis. Hort. Cliff. 348. 

 Hollyhock with banded leaves, 



C. B. P. 315. 



Thefe are diftinft fpecies, whofe difference in the 

 form of their leaves always continues. The leaves of 

 the firft fort are roundifli, and cut at their extremity 

 into angles ; whereas thofe of the fecond are deeply- 

 cut into fix or feven fegments, fo as to refemble a 

 hand. % 



The various colours of their flowers being accidental, 

 as alfo the double flowers being only varieties which 

 have rifen from culture, are not by botanifts deemed 



Malva rofea folio n^^uo^ 



Thefe plants have been generally ranged under the diftinCt fpecies. I have not enumerated them here, 



genus of Ornithogalum, but as their flowers difitr in therefore fliall only mention.the various colours which 



their form from the otiier fpecies of that genus, Dr. are commonly obferved in their flowers ; which are 



Linn:^us has conftituted this , genus for them. white, pale, red, deep red, blackifti red, purple, yet* 



The firft fort gro\ys naturally in Canada, and in feme ' ' " ^ " ----- 



other parts of North America; the root is bulbous, 



from which flioot up eight or ten long narrow fpear- 



Ihaped leaves. In the center of thefe arife a flower- 



ftem a foot or more in height, garnilhcd with a loofe 



fpike (or thyrfe) of greenifh yellow flowers, each have 



a long pedunculus, which turns downward, having 



pretty large ftipul'cr at their bafe, \yhich are ereft, and 

 i:a^\ in fliarp points. After the flower ispaft, the ger- 

 men fwells to a three-cornered capfule, having three 

 cells filled with flat feeds. 



The fecond fort grows naturally at the Cape of Good 

 Hope v tills hath alio a pretty large bulbous root, 

 from which arife four or five narrow awl-fliaped leaves, 

 of a deep green colour : the flov/er-ftem wliich comes 

 from the center of the root, is naked, and rarely rifes 

 more than eight or nine inches high, having five or 

 fix greenifli yellow flowers growing ahnoft in form of 

 an umbel at the 'top: thefe are rarely fucceeded by 

 feeds in England. 

 . The Canada 7\ibuca is hardy, fo the roots niay be 

 planted about four inches deep in a border of licrht 

 earth, where they will thrive, and produce their flow- 

 ers late in the fumracr-, but as the feeds rarely ripen 

 in England, and the bulbs do not put out many oft- 

 fets, the plants are not common in diis country, 

 Tiie African fort I raifed from feeds a few years paft ; 

 tlys generally flowers twice a year, the firft time in 

 March or April, and again .in July or Auguft-, but 

 has not produced any feeds. If the roots of this fort 

 are kept in pots, filled with light earth, and are ftiel- 

 tered under a hot-bed frame in winter, they will thrive 

 and produce flowers j but the beft metliod is to have 



low, and flefli colour, Befides thefe, I many years 

 ago faw fome plants with variegated flowers, in the 

 garden of the late Lord Burlington, in London, raifed 

 ■ from feeds which came from China. ' 

 Although thefe varieties of double Hollyhocks are 

 not conftant, yet where the feed's are carefully faved 

 from the moft double flowers, the greateft number of 

 the plants will arife nearly the fame, as the plants from 

 which they were taken, both as to their colour and 

 the fulncfs of their flowers, provided no plants with 

 fingle or bad coloured flov/ers are permitted to grow 

 near them. Therefore lb foon as any fuch appear, 

 they ftiould be removed from the good ones, that 

 their farina may not fpread into the other flowers, 

 which would caufe them to degenerate. 

 The firft fpecies grows naturally in China, from 

 whence I have often received the feeds. The fecond 

 for: I have received from Iftria, v/here it was gathered 

 in the fields, but thefe feeds produced fingle red 

 flo\yers only ; whereas from fom.e feeds of this fort, 

 which vv^ere given me by the late Charles Du Bois, 

 Efq; of Mitcham, in 1726, which he procured from 

 Madras, I raifed many double flowers of feveral co- 

 lours." 



Thefe plants, although natives of v/arm countries, 

 yet are hardy enough to thrive in the open air in Eng- 

 land, and have for many years been fome of the 



■greateft ornam.ents in the garden, toward the latter 

 part of fumir.er ; but fince they have become very 



. common, have not been fo much regarded as they de- 

 ferve, partly from their growing too large for fmall 

 gardens, and their requiring tall ftakes to fecure them 

 from being broken by ftrong winds. But in large 



gardensj 



