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46. M£S£MBRyANTHEMUM, iPugiopefovipe) foUls altcr- 

 jiis fubularis -triquecris longlflimis impundtatis. Hort. 

 Cliff. 216. Mefembryanthcmum with aliernate^ awl- 

 jho^cd^ threC'LorncYcd leaves^ which are very bng^ with- 

 cul fpots. Ficoides Capenfis, caryophylli folio, flore 



.aureo I'pcciofo. Br^^. Suec, Dec. 2. p. 5. tab. 14. 



Fig Marygold cf the Cape^ ivith a Clove GilUfa'u.er haf^ 

 and a bcauiiful golde?hcplotiredfioivcr. 

 . .Thefe plants are mofiof tiiem natives of the Cape of 

 . Good Hope, from >vhencc their feeds were firft 

 v. bxQught to Holland, and the plants railed in many of 

 t;heir curious gardens, and havefince been communi- 

 cated to moft parts of Europe •, thefe were at firft ti- 

 . -_ tied Chryfanthemum by the old botanifts, but after- 

 . . >Y.ard they were titled Ficoides by Herman and 

 . ' .Tourneforc, from their capfules being fhaped like 

 little Figs ; afterward they had this title of Mefem- 

 . bryanthcmum applied to them, which fignifies a 

 flovv'er opening in the middle of the day, which is what 

 moft of the fpecies do j there .are three or four of 

 them which open in the evening, and are doled all 

 the day ; thefe have been feparated from the others 

 . by fome, and have had the title of Nyderianthemum 

 applied to them, from their flpwers being expanded 

 in the night ; but as they all agree in the charafters 

 which dillingujfh the genus, they Ihould by no means 

 be feparated. 

 . Moft of the plants of this genus have beautiful 

 flowers, which appear at different feafons of the year ; 



M E S 



ten 



Ai^uut UA wLCKb, wiicn uicy ^iiouiu De Carefully tak*ri 

 up, and ^ach planted m a feparate fm^U p^t flii j 

 with light fandy earth, and then placed in a fhadv- 

 fituation, givin<r then? a little water to fettle theearti 

 to their roots ; in this p^Ucc they may remaja al^ 

 days or a fortnight, by which time they will 

 have taken good root, and may be removed to a 

 ftieltered place, where they may have more fun 

 which they may remain till autumn •, durincr thcfu ^^ 

 mer months, tliefe may be watered twice, or in "e ^ 

 hot weather, three times a \ycek, but it mud not he 

 given them in too great plenty; but as the Am dc 

 clines in autumn, they fliould not have it pftciicrth- " 

 once a week, for if t^ey are often fuppiied 'vith ]t^ 

 the plants will grow luxuriant; their leavcr-nd 

 branches will be fo replete with moifture, that the 

 early frofts in the autumn will deftroy them ; whereas 

 when they are kept dry, their growdi will he ftintcd- 

 fo that they will be hardy enough to refill fmall frofts' 

 but there muft be care taken that they do not (hoot 

 their roots through the holes of the pots into the 

 ground, for v/hen they do, the plants will grow very 

 luxuriant ; and when the pots are removed, and thofe 

 roots are torn off, their leaves and branches will 

 Ihrink, fo will not recover if. in a long time, if ever- 

 to prevent which, the pots /lio.u]d be removed every 

 fortnight, and where the roots are beginning to come 

 through the pots, they Ihould be cut off. . Tiiq forts 

 which grow very freely Ihould be Ihifted three times 

 fome of them flov/cr early in the fpring, others in fum- I . - in the fummer, to pare off their roots, and keep tnem 



.ir.mer, fome in the autumn ; and there are others which 

 flovyer in winter ; and many of them produce their 

 flowers in fuch quantity, ^s that when they are ex- 

 panded, the plants arq entirely covered with them ; 

 they have all of them thick fucculent leaves, but fome 

 ,• , of the fpecies are much more fo than others, and the 

 figures of their leaves vary fo much in the feveral fpe- 

 cies, that they afford an agreeable variety wRen th^ 



'\ 



t -•> 





- within compafs, and thefe Ihould never be planted ia 



rich earth for the reafons before given; for if the 



flowers in fuch quantity, ^s that when they are ex- j earth is frefti, there v/ill require no dun^v or other 



' compoft, unlefs it is ftrong, in whicli cale fea fand, 

 ;..-P5,^in5.rubbifti, will b^ a good mixture ; the quan- 

 .ffltity of either njuft be in proportion to the ftiffnefsof 

 ;r -the ground, always being careful to render it fo lioht, 

 j^as thai: the, wet mayeafily pafsofiv ,r; ' yi.^*.?. ' 

 ^.,We next proceed ;to treat of thofe forts, Vhofe fraiks 

 '-X and leaves are very fucc:ul,en|. f, .The cuttings of thefe 

 : fhould be taken from the plants ten days or a fort- 

 night before they are planted, that they may.b^Ve 

 .time for their wounded part to heal over and dry-, t!^ 

 .iQwer. leaves of .thefe fhould alfo be ftripped off, that 

 their naked ft^alks may be of a fufficier.t length for 

 planting.-' As t^efe are, moftly plants ofhiimblc 

 growth, fo if their ftalks are divefted of their Wes 

 an inch and a half, it will be fuQicient, 



,'^re not in flower 



■r - 



.To defcribe 



•t*fN"x-: 



^^fti^-^) 



a 



too 



. 1/ are fhort defcriptions of the fpecies, I fliall not en- 

 : V large more on that head, but proceed to their culture. 



. ^ ■ V4.U the for fs here, rxientioped ^rc perennial plants ex- 



..- V^cept the two firft^ wjiich are annual. The perennial 



•n/forts are eafily propagated by cuttings during any of 



the fummer months ; fuch of them as have Ihrubby 



. -f ftaiks and branches, very readily take root when 



. : planted in a bed of light foil, and covered either with 



mats or glaffes, but when they are covered with the 



latter, they muft be fhaded Qvery day when the fun 



is warm ; thefe cuttings of the fhrubby forts need 



u riot be cut from the plant more than five or fix days 



./i before they are planted, during which time they 



;» ihould be laid in a dry rppxxJ., OQt too much ex- 



., pofed to the fun, that the part which was feparated 



-. from the old plants, may heal oyer and dry before 



they arc planted, otherwife they are apt to rot ; thele 



may be planted at about three inches diftance from 



;>• reach other, aad the earth preffed.clofe.J.9,thi:n), but 



. . A*.n6ne of their leaves fhould be buried in the ground, 



:>^for as they abound with moifture, fo if they are co- 



% jvei"ed with the earth'; it will ca.ufe them to rot, and 



/;A^>that often deftroys thq. cyttipgs ; thjcrefore when 



'»;:. ti^e cut|ings are taken ftoxQ the old plants, they 



Ihould be divefted of theij; lower leaves, fo far as 



r * 



V ■ 



-A 



The cuttings 



of thefe forts require to be covered with glafles, to 

 keep off the wet ; they muft alio have lefs water thai 

 the other,' but in other particulars require the fame 



treatment. 



fcread 





^'l 'may be neceflary^ to allow a naked ftalk of fufficient 



t\ 





r- ^ ' . ^ 



:wh 



give, them a little water, to fettle the ground about 

 ~^r, them, but it ftioold be done with p^ution, for too 

 -'^ much wet will fpoil them ; if thefe are fhaded every 

 r\ day from nine or ten o'clock till three or four, when 

 /-v?thc fun is warm, it will prevent the ground from dry- 

 ..':,ing tpp f^ft, fo that the cuttings need not be watered 



oftener than once in a week ; but if there fhould hap- 

 , pen fome gentle fhowers of rain, it will be proper to 



take oflf; their covers, and let them receive it, but 

 • they fhould be fcreened from hard rains. The cut- 



ti 



managcd.TKill have 



tend fo much as thofe of the other, fo^wijl not require 



to be ftiifted oftener than twice a year at moft; they . 



muft alfo be kept in fmall pots to confine their roots; 



the earth in which they are planted fhould be rather 



,r- light and not rich,/^ During the fummer feafonjhey 



:l muft not have too much wet, and in the winter they 



.,:. muft have but little water. If thefe fucculent forts are 



\ placed in an open airy glafs-cafe in winter,-wfcere they 



may have free air admitted to them in plenty in mild 

 :_ \ weather, an.d fcreened from the froft, they will thrive 

 ., much better than when they are more tenderly treated. 

 - :- The other flirubby kinds may be ftiekered in winter 



under a common frame, where, if they arc prote&d 



from froft and wet, it is all they require ; for the har- 

 , dier thefe are treated, the greater quantity of flowers 



they will produce \ and fomeof the forts are fo hardy, 



ood af- 



pefted wall, and in a poor dry foil ; h that wnere 

 . there is room to difpofe them againft a wall, and the 

 . border is raifed with lim.e rubbifh to prevent their 

 rooting deep and growing luxuriant, they may be 

 preferved through the winter with very little u\t\: 

 ter, and thefe will flower much better than thofe un- 

 der cover. 



where they 



cut up the plants, and burn them forpot-afh; ^^^ 

 this is efteemed as the beft fort for making hard fope 



■ as to live abroad when planted clofe to a gi 



/ The firft fort grows naturally in Egypt 



4 



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