25 



* MATTHIOLA odoratlssima. 

 Sweetest Evening Stock. 



TETRADYNAMIA SILIQUOSA. 



Nat. ord. Brassicace^, or Crucifer^. 



MATTHIOLA. R. Brown. Calyx erectus, basi bisaccatus. Petala 

 unguiculata, limbo patente obovato aut oblongo. Stamina libera, edentula, 

 longiora subdilatata. Siliqua teres vel compressa, elongata, bilocularis, bivalvis, 

 stigmate connivente bilobo, lobis dorso vel incrassatis vel cornigeris. Semina 

 compressa, 1-serialia, saspliis marglnata. Cotyledones planae, accumbentes. 

 DeCand.syst. veg. 2. 162. 



§ LUPERIA. 



Petalorum lamince oblongce, undulates aut obliqua:, sordide h fiavo purpu- 

 rascentes. Siliquce apice non tricuspidatee, stigmatum dor sis crassis 

 gihbisve non verb in cornua excrescentibus. DC. 1. c. 



M. odoratissima ; caule erecto ramoso, foliis tomentosis pubescentibusve dentatis 



plnnatifidlsve, siliquis compressis puberulis. DC. I. c. 

 M. odoratlssima. Browwin hart. Kew. 4. 120. Bot. mag. t. 1711. 

 Hesperis odoratissima. Pair, suppl. ill. 195. 

 Cheiranthus odoratissimus. Bieb.fi. taur. cauc. 2. 122. suppl. 444. 



This is one of the many interesting plants which have 

 ceased to be cultivated, and have resigned their place to newer 

 species. It is one of those Stocks which DeCandolle called 

 Luperiae, or sad coloured, because their flowers have in all 

 cases a dull heavy appearance, in consequence of the mixture 

 of purple and yellow in the petals, but which in general 

 possess the curious property of becoming deliciously fragrant 

 towards evening. 



In a wild state this plant inhabits the calcareous moun- 

 tains of the Crimea, stony places of the eastern Caucasus, 



* Named after Peter Andrew Matthioli, the laborious commentator upon 

 Dioscorides. 



