2520 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



Synonymes. R. angustifbliiis, &c., Tourn. Inst., 79. ; Hypogl6ssum J.ob. Adv., 284. ; iaiirus alex- 

 andrina, fuiicto pcdiiiulo insidente, ^awA. Pin., 301., Rait Hist., CBJ. 1.; \J\\x\tit\a. Brunf., S. 96, 

 97. ; Fragon k Foliole, Fi\ ; Zungeii Miiusedorn, Ger. 



Engravings. Lob. Adv. Ic, 638. j Barrel. Ic, '2.50. ; Schk. Han., 340. ; Blackw., t. 128. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves floriferous underneath, with a leaflet- (Wil/d.) 

 Root like the preceding. Stems about 10 in. high. Leaves lanceolate, 

 about 3 in. long, and 1 in. broad in the middle, drawing to a point at both 

 ends, and having several longitudinal veins running from the footstalk to 

 the point. The}' are mostly alternate, but sometimes opposite. On the 

 middle of the upper surface comes forth a small leaf of the same shape ; 

 and at the same point, from the bosom of the small leaves, about April or 

 May, come out the flowers, which are of a pale yellow, and have peduncles 

 longer than themselves. The berries are almost as large as those of R. 

 aculeatus : they are red, and ripen in winter. Seeds one or two, bonj', 

 hemispherical. A native of Italy, Idria, Hungary ; and found in Africa, 

 about Algiers. It was cultivated by Gerard, in 1596. There are plants 

 at Messrs. Loddiges's. Desfontaines considers this as a variety of R. hypo- 

 phyllum, diflering only in the narrowness of the leaves, and in the flowers 

 emerging from the middle of the leaf, under a leaflet. 



a. 4. i2. RACEMO^sus. L. The racemose Ruscus, or Alexandrian Laurel. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 1474., Syst., 896.; Reich., 4. 285. ; Mart. Mill., No. 5. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., 



ed. 2., 5. p. 421. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 

 Synoni/mes. R angustif61ius, fructu summis ramulis, SiC, Tourn. Inst., 79., Du Ham. Arb.,i. ; 



Fragon i Grappes, Fr. ; Trauben Miiusedorn, Ger. 

 Engravings. Dend, Brit., t. 145. ; our j^g. 52389. to our usual scale ; and J?g. 2390. of the natural 



size. 



Spec. Char., S^c. Flowers hermaphrodite, produced at the ends of the 

 branches. (Willd.) Roots like those of the other species. Stalks slender, 

 and much more pliable: they rise about 4ft. high, 

 and send out many side branches. Leaves oblong, 



acute-pointed, about 2 in. long, and 



^ in. broad ; rounded at the base, 



smooth, of a lucid green, placed al- 

 ternately, and sessile. Flowers in 



long bunches at the ends of the 



branches ; of a greenish-yellow co- 

 lour. Berries like those of R. 



aculeatus,but smaller; fleshy,smooth, 



red, with a round coriaceous white 



disk at the base ; ripening during 



winter. They are 3-celled, each 



cell containing one seed ; but all the 



cells, except one, are frequently 



abortive; from which circumstance 

 2389 the berry often appears 1-celled. 



A native of Portugal, cultivated by Miller in 1739. 

 According to some, this species is supposed to be the 

 plant with which the ancients crowned their victors ; but, though the stalks 

 are flexible enough to wreath easily, and the leaves resemble those re- 

 presented on ancient busts, yet the fruit, being terminal, does not agree 

 nearly so well with the fruit represented in th^ crowns on these busts as 

 that of the Laurua nobilis, which is axillary, and resembles that shown in 

 the coronal wreaths. 



i_ R. andrdgynns Lin. Sp., 1474., Ait. Hort. Kew., No. 4., Lodd. Cat., cd. 1836, Bot. Mag., 1838., 

 has the leaves floriferous on their margii'is. It is a native of the Canary Islands, and was cultivated 

 before 1713, in the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court. It is a twining shrub, rising to the height 

 of 7 ft. or 8 ft., and is one of the oldest inhabitants of our green-houses; where, when planted in 

 the ground, and allowed to twine round a rod, it produces a fineeflect by its numerous smooth shining 

 leaves, which in the shade become very dark, and pale green when fully exposed to the light. The 

 flowers are white, and are produced in clusters on the edges of the leaves. 'I'he berries are round ; 

 at first, green, then yellowish, and finally red. They are smaller than those of /iuscus aculeatus, and 

 are not produced in great abundance, though the flowers are numerous, and continue to appear 

 during great part of the summer. As the main source of vitality, in all plants of this genus, is 



