270 Dr. SmiTh'j Botanical Characters offome Plants 



8. M. anguJiifoUa, foliis oppofitis lineari-lanceolatis nudis, pc- 

 •dunculis axillaiibus umbeljatis, bra6leis laiiceolatis gla- 

 biis deciduis. 

 Myrtus anguftifolia. "Linn. Mant. i. 74. 



A native of the C;ipe of Good Hope. The original fpecimen 

 in the Linnxan Herbarium was fent by ProfefTor Schreber, and, 

 having no fruit, might eafily be miftaken for a Myrtus. Liiinxus 

 afterwards received another fpecimen from ProfefTor Thunberg, 

 laden with ripe capfules in the lower part of the branches, aind 

 budding flowers above. This he did not perceive to be his Myrtus 

 anguJi'ifoUa, but, on examination of the capfules, determined it a 

 Leptojpcrmum (which it is, as that genus ftands in its firft author 

 Forfter), and wrote that name on the back of the paper not long 

 before his death, as appears by the hand-writing. His fon and 

 fuccefTor, lefs cautious, placed this fame fpecimen in the herbarium, 

 writing upon it Myrtus anguflifol'ia, without any remark. I find it 

 upon examination a true MetrpJiJeros. The (lamina are diftindl, 

 thrice as long as the petals, and twice as long as the ftyle, which 

 has a perfeflly fimple ftigma. Calyx-teeth deciduous. 



The ripe capfules precifely refemble thofe in Giertner's figure of 

 Melaleuca fuavcolens, but that is, in other rcfpeds, a very different 

 plant. 



Burman's fynonym (Th. Afr. 237. /. 83, / 2.}, quoted by Lin- 

 «sus, can hardly belong to this plant, unlefs his defcription be very 

 bad ; for he calls the fruit a black berry, with one cell and a fmgle 

 feed. 



The dried leaves of this fpecies are tinged with the fame metallic 

 green that is obfervable in thofe of Metrofideros hij'pida, and fame 

 other New Holland plants of this order. 



« * FoBs 



