1 



VURK 



..i.MCAL 

 OAKUdN 



PLATE I. 



1. ACANTHUS MOLLIS, 



SMOOTH beau's BREECH. 



Tins oeniis comprehends several hardy herbaceous plants of the 

 perennial liowerhig kind, which arc in use for the purpose of orna- 

 ment in pleasure-grounds, &c. and also one of the evergreen shrubby 

 » sort for the stove. 



It is of the class and order Dnh/uomia Angiospcrmin, and ranks in 

 the natural order oi Personal cb. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a perianthiuni, with leatlels 

 in three alternate pairs, unecpial, and pcrnianenl: the corolla singlc- 

 petalled and unequal, having a short tube closed with a beard: no 

 upper lip; very large under lip, which is flat, straight, very broad, 

 thrce-lobed, obtuse, and of the length of the upper lip of the calyx : 

 the stamina have four fdaments, subulate, shorter than the corolla, 

 the two upper rather longer, recurved and incurved at the lop: the 

 antherce are oblong, compressed, obtuse, the lateral ones parallel, 

 ,. and villous before: the pistillum has a conical germ, a filiform style 

 '^ of the length of the stamina, and two acute lateral stigmas: the 

 pericarpium is a subovate pointed capsule, two-celled and Iwo- 

 valved, with a contrary partition, alternate claws, curved and fas- 

 tened to the partition: the seed is ovate, gibbous and single, but 

 / sometimes double. 



^ The species most commonly cultivated are: 1. A. mollis. Smooth 



u3 Acanthus; 2. A. spinosus, Vnckly Acanihus; 3. A. ilicifolius, lioWy- 

 cTj leaved Shrubby Acanthus. 



*^ The first, or Smooth Acanthus, according to Miller, has the stem 



^ from two to three ieet in height. The leaves are oblong, smooth on 



