■ 



H 



H 



t 



M 



bunches ; they are compofcd of five Jong, narrow, 

 fpcar-lhaped petals, of a blue colour, and are fuc- 

 ceeded by oblong fruit as large as a fmall Cherry, 

 crecn at firft, but when ripe changes to a pale yellow, 

 uiclofino" a nut with five deep furrows, having four or 

 five cells, in each of which is lodged one oblong 



A 



feed. 



J 



vl E 



the pulp which furrounls the nut Is oily, 'acrid, anJ 

 bitter; thenutis v/hice, and Hi aped like that of the 

 former. It grows ip. f^ndy land, both in India and 

 the ifland of Ceylon, where ic is always green, and 

 produces flov'ers and fruit twice a year. 

 This fort is now very rare in England, 'and alfo in the 

 Dutch gardens, where fome years paft it was more 

 common ; it is propagated by feeds in thp fame way 

 as the other fort, but being much "tenderer, the 

 plants fliouid be kept conftancly in the tan-bed while 

 young. In the fummer they may be placed under a 

 frame, but in winier they mull be removed into the 

 bark-ftove, and treated in the fame way with other 

 plants from the fame countries. When the plants 

 have obtained ftrength, they may be treated more 

 hardily, by placing them in winter in a dry ftovc, and 

 in the middle of fummer they may be placed abroad 

 for two or three months in a warm flickered fituation, 

 but they fhould not remain too long abroad; and 

 during the winter fcafon they fliould be fparingly wa- 

 tered : with this management the plants will produce 

 flowers annually, and as they retain their leaves all • 

 the year, they are ornamental in winter in the ftove. 

 The firft fort is commonly called, Zizyphus alba, in 

 Portugal and Spain, and in Italy, Pfeudocycamo- 

 ; rus/' It was by moft of the modern botanifts titled, 

 ': Azederach, but Dr. Linnseus has altered it to this of 

 Melia, which was by Theophraftus applied to a fpe- 

 cies of Afh.' "^' ' ^' .:=>:,/ • . 



MELIANTHUS. Tourn. IniT:. R. H. 430. tab. 



245. Lin, Gen. Plant. 712. [fj^aU^^^f^^ of /aeXi, 



honey, and ai.0^, a flower.] Honey Flower. - 



.The Characters are. 



, r 



_ J 



- ^ - 



..1' 



1 



<■-, 



• > 

 -'1 



t . 

 I- 



but are not often fucceeded by feeds here; it drops 



its leaves in the autumn, and puts out frefli in the 



fpring. The pulp which furrounds the nut, is faid 



to have a deadly quality if eaten ; and if mixed with 



ereafe, and given to dogs, it v/ill kill them. The nuts 



are bored through, and ftrung by the Roman Catho- 

 lics to ferve as beads. 



There has been of late years fome of thefe plants in- 

 • troduced to the iflands in the Weft-Indies, wliere I 



•%m informed they conunue flowering, and produce 



their fruit moft part of the year. The fruit I have 



received from thence by the title of Indian Lilac, 



from which I have railed many of the plants, and find 



them to be the fame as that from Syria. 



This fort is propagated by feeds (which may be ob- 

 tained from Italy or Spain, where thefe trees annually 



produce ripe fruits in the' gardens where they are 



planted :) the feeds or berries fhould be fown in pots 



filled with good frefli light earth, and plunged into a 



moderate hot-bed of tanners bark, where (if the feeds 



arefrefh) they will come up in about a month or five 



weeks time. When the plants are come up they ftiould 



be frequently watered, and fhould have a large 



fliare of free air, by raifing the glaflis every day ; in 



June they fliould be expofed to the open air, in a well 

 ' Iheltered fituation, that they may be hardened before 

 ' winter. In Oftober the pots fliould be Removed un- 

 . der a hot-bed fr^me, where they may enjoy free open 



air when the weather is mild, and be covered in hard 

 '•froft. -During the winter feafon they muft be refrefli- 

 * cd gently with water, but by no means repeat this 



toooften, nor give them too much, at a time; for 



their leaves being off, they will not be in a condition 



■ to thrdw off a fuperfluity of moifture. 

 'In March following, you may fliake out the plants 

 ' from the feed-pots and divide them, planting each 

 ' into a feparate fmall pot, filled with light frcfli earth, 



plunging them into a moderate hot-bed, which will 



■ greatly promote their rooting, and increafe their 

 growth, but they muft not be drawn too much ; and 

 in June you fliould remove them out into the open 

 air as before, and during the three or four winters, 

 while the plants are young, you muft flicker them, 

 to fecure them from 'the cold ; but when the plants 

 aregrown pretty' large and woody, they will endure 

 to be planted in the open air againft a fouth wall. 

 The beft feafon for this is in April, at which time 



'" you fliould ftiake them out of the pots, being careful 



not to break the earth from the roots, but only pare 

 '■ off with a knife the "outfide of the ball of earth ; then 



open your holes and put in the plants, clofing the 



earth to their roots, obferving if the weather is dry, to 



give them fome water, which fliould be repeated twice 



a week until the plants have taken root; but you muft 



obferve to plant them on a dry foil, otherwife they 



will be liable to mifcary in fevere frofty weather. 



The fecond fort grows naturally in India, where it 



becomes a large tree ; the ftem is thick, the'wobd of 



a pale yellow, and the bark of a dark purple colour 



and very bitter. The branches extend wide on every 



fide, which are garniflied with winged leaves, com- 



pofed of five or fix pair of oblong acute-pointed 



lobes, terminated by an odd one ; thefe are fawed on j herbaceous toward the top, where they are garniflied 



their edges, of a light green colour, and a ftrong J with large winged leaves, which embrace the ftalks 



difagreeable odour ; they ftand upon pretty long foot- j with their bafe, where they have a large fingle ftipul 



ftalks, which come out fom.etimes oppofite, and at 



others they are alternate. The flowers are produced 



Thejli 



vided into five fegments ; the t'voo upper are oblong and 

 erc£i^ the lower is port^ and floaped like a hag. ' The 

 middle are fpear-pjaped and oppofite. It hath four nar- 

 row fpearfhaped petals, reflcxed at their pcints, fpreading 

 open outward, and f japed like the eynpalement into two 

 lips^ connected on ihcir fides. It has a neElarium of one 

 leaf,, fituated in the lower fegment of the empalement, and 

 faftened with it to the receptacle ; // is fijort,, comprejfed 

 on the fides,, and cut en the margin. It hath four ereEi 

 awl'Jhaped ftamina^ the two tinder being fcmewbat JJjorter 

 than the other,, terminated, by oblong heart-Jhaped fum- 

 mits. In the center is fituated a four-cornered ^ermcn^ 

 fupporttng an ereSl ftyle^ crozvne^ by a qitadrifid fiigma. 

 'Thegermen afterward becomes a quadrangular capfuU 

 ^^{^ ^^/^^^. ^^^^^"i divided by partitioifs in the center^ 



one, almofi: globular: feedy fixed to the center 



-'»"» I 





V 



of the capfule,- X 'a ..r^^f :r' • >^-.^^^,^ 

 Thi^ genus of plants is ranged in the fecond feftion of 

 Linn^us's fourteenth clafs, which includes thofe plants 

 whofe flowers have^ two long and two fliortcrftamina, 

 and their i^c^^^ are Included in empalemnets. . ^ 

 The Species are, _ 



-^ ** -V 



I. Me 



tis. Hort. Cliff. 4.92. Honey Flower with fingle ftipuU 



Mehanthus Africanu's. 



2. Me 



■lofe to the foot-fialk 



_ 1 



diftinftis; 



{Minor) ftipulis geminis 

 Hort. Cliff, 492. Smaller Honey Flower with two 

 difiinEi ftipile, Melianchus Africanus minor fcetidus; 

 Com", Ran PL 4. tab. 4. -^ \ 



The firft fort grows naturally at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, froni whence it was brought "to Holland in the 

 year 1672 ; this hath a ligneous perennial root, w^hich 

 ipreads far on every fide, from which arife many lig- 

 neous ftalks which rife four or five feet hig-h, and are 



ix^ 



faftened on the upper fide of the foot-ftalk, with two 

 ears at the bafe, which alfo embrace the ftalk. The 

 in long branching panicles which proceed from the! leaves have four or five pair of very large lobes, ter- 

 fide of the branches ; they are fmall, white, and fit J niinated by ah odd one ; thefe are deeply jagged on 

 in fmall empalements,' which are cut in five acute [ their edges into acute fegments, and between the. 

 fegments ; thefe are fucceeded by .oval fruit of the 

 fize of fmall Olive?, which are sreen, afterward yel- 

 > and when ripe, they change to a purple colour 3 



lobes runs a double leafy border or wing on^the up-' 

 per fide of the midrib, fo as to conncft the bafe of. 

 the lobes together 5 thefe are alfo deeply jagged in 



8 T -. . - . ' the 





L.. 



■- 1 



I- '-^ 



# 



V 



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