Tas. 4595. 
ARBUTUS mo tuts. 
Soft-leaved Arbutus. 
Nat. Ord. Ertcacrm.—DeEcanpria MonoGynia. 
Gen. Char. Calyx 5-partitus, segmentis acutis non imbricatis. Corolla glo- 
boso-urceolata, ore contracto 5-dentato. Stamina 10, inclusa, filamentis barbatis, 
antheris brevibus, loculis 1-aristatis. Stigma truncatum. Capsula 5-locularis, 
5-valvis, loculicido-dehiscens. Placenta 5-loba. Semina elliptica, compressa, 
nitida, hylo laterali lineari (Don).—Suffrutex ix hemisphera boreali sparsus gla- 
berrimus, Folia atterna, lineari- aut subovali-lanceolata, integerrima, margine 
revoluta, subtus glauco-albida, breviter petiolata. Flores subterminales, fere um- 
bellati, pedicellati, nec ut in icone Eng. Bot. t. 713 subsessiles, etiam per maturitatem 
erecti. Bractewe ovate. Corolle albe aut rosee. 
ArButTus mollis ; foliis oblongis acutis subintegerrimis serratisve subtus canes- 
centi-tomentosis, racemis paniculatis tomentosis, pedicellis secundis curvatis 
bracteatis, bracteis ovatis, floribus cernuis, corolla lageniformi parte inferiori 
insigniter inflata, ore contracto, limbi lobis 5 rotundatis patentibusy fila- 
mentis basi valde dilatatis hirsutissimis, ovario granulato villoso. 
Arsotus mollis. H. B. K. Nov. Gen. Am. v.3. p.279. De Cand. Prodr. v.17. 
p. 582. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 2. p. 286. 
A native of Mexico, and, according to Humboldt, of Guanaxato, 
and sent to our gardens by M. Van Houtte from Ghent, under the 
name we have adopted. Messrs. Humboldt and Kunth, however, 
say, “ precedenti (4. Xalapens?) simillima ;” indeed, Mr. Ben- 
tham, under A. densiflora, T1.B.K. in ‘ Plante Hartwegiane,’ has 
remarked “an ‘species plures Kunthii hujus tantum varietates ? 
All four of that author approach very near each other, and our 
specimens show them to be very variable in the form and margin 
of the leaf, and in the more or less dense spike. ‘This fine species 
flowers in a warm greenhouse in June. — 
Duscr. A handsome evergreen shrub, or perhaps small ree, 
with alternate /eaves, which are coriaceous, oblong or oblongo- 
lanceolate, between acute and acuminate, the base sometimes 
acute, sometimes obtuse, the margin pretty strongly serrated, 
above glabrous or partially tomentose, beneath clothed with ashy 
AuGusT Ist, 1851. 
