( 2348 ) 

 Erica mutabilis. Mutable Heath. 



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Class and Order. 



OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Generic Character. 



Cal. 4-phyllus. Cor. persistens : limbo 4-fido. Anther <z 

 ante anthesin per foramina duo lateralia connexs. Caps. 

 4 — 8-locularis, 4 — 8-valvis. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 

 §. II. Longiflorae. A. Anther® aristatas. 



Erica mutabilis; foliis ternis quaternisve, floribus termi- 

 nalibus numerosis. Hort. Kew. ed. alt. 2. p. 369. 



Erica mutabilis. Andrews's Heaths, Vol. 3. Lodd. Cab 

 46. 



A low crooked shrub with few branches. Leaves ternate, 

 sometimes quaternate, patent: margins reflected, ciliated 

 with long, black, straggling hairs. Flowers grow many 

 together on the extremities of the branches, on long, coloured 

 peduncles, at first cernuous, afterwards erect. Bractes 2, 

 distant from the calyx. Calyx small, 4-cleft: segments 

 erect, minutely ciliate and terminated with an awn. Tube 

 of corolla f of an inch long, slightly curved, angular, 

 somewhat enlarged upwards, but contracted at the mouth : 

 laciniae of the limb obtuse, recurved at the point, with the 

 margins reflected at the base. Anthers awned, oblong, 

 black-purple, protruded very little beyond the tube. Ger- 

 men top-shaped, grooved, hairy at the top. Style longer 

 than stamens : stigma capitate. 



Erica mutabilis is a beautiful Heath, producing a great 

 number of flowers, at first pale, afterwards of a bright crim- 

 son colour. Mr. Loddiges remarks that it is apt to exhaust 



itself 



