M E S 



M E S 



f.ie top. an d of a yellowish bay colour, butquadran- 

 gularat the bottom : the leaves tender, mucronate, 

 curved inwards, in bundles, acutely triangular, 

 deep green and glaucous, hiving small dots and 

 tubercles : the flowers are several, terminating, 

 middle-sized, with scarcelv any odour, on slen- 

 der oblong peduncles : the calycine segments 

 sometime? hooked, sometimes not : the petals 

 very ir.anv. King one over the other ; the outer 

 larger, bifid or trilid at the end ; the inner ones 

 gradually smaller, entire, but not Blamentose : 

 they are of a most vivid violet purple colour, 

 but the flowers expand only about noon, when 

 the sun is very hot: the flowers continue long, 

 and open several times if the sun shines hot. 

 It is a native of the Cape, flowering from June 

 to August. 



The forty-first species is from a foot and half 

 to two feet in height : the stem not very shrubbv, 

 nor very thick : the branches woody, the thick- 

 ness of a straw, procumbent, round, covered 

 with an ash-coloured bark : the upper shoots of 

 a yellowish bay colour, becoming pale herba- 

 ceous; they are broadish immediately under the 

 flowers, thence gradually more slender, slightly 

 compressed, and winged on each side ft ilh a 

 process from the back of the leaves : the leaves 

 diflorm ; those which are fastened to the pedun- 

 cles (bractes) short and thick, the others longer 

 and not so thick, with other smaller leaves from 

 the axils ; all uncinate, subglaucous, rugged 

 with frequent tubercles of the same colour, 

 which when held up to the light appear lobe 

 eomany porous dots: the flowers are on peduncles 

 from an inch to two inches in length, alternately 

 axillary, small, pale purple, petals twisted about, 

 narrower towards the base, broader towards the 

 end, entire, in a single row, smelling like, those 

 of the Hawthorn, open both day and night, for 

 a long time, and in great abundance, there be- 

 ing a succession of them from July to October. 

 It is native of the Cape. 



Culture. — The annual and biennial sorts may 

 be increased by sow ing the seeds in the early 

 spring months, on a'fresh hot-bed, covered 

 with sandy earth, or in pots of fine sandy 

 mould. 



When the plants have attained a few inches 

 in grow tli, they should be planted on fresh 

 hot-beds, or in pots plunged in them, to bring 

 them forward; and when they have taken root, 

 they should have very little water: when large 

 enough, each should be plan ted in a small pot, tilled 

 with light fr. . but not rich, plunging them 



into a hot-bed of tan, shading them in the heat of 

 the day until they have taken new root, when thev 

 should have plenty of fresh air. About the begin- 

 ning of summer some of the plants may be inured 

 Vol. 11. 



to the open air, and afterwards be turned out of 

 the pots, and planted with balls of earth about 

 them in a warm border, where they often thrive 

 and spread, but are not very productive of flowers 

 in this wav. Some must also be continued in 

 pots, and removed to the shelves of the stove, 

 where thev flower more plentifully. 



The culture which they afterwards require, is, 

 for those in the pots to have frequent slight 

 waterings in dry weather, and the others kept 

 clean, and their branches permitted to spread 

 upon the surface of the ground. 



All the perennial sorts may be easily increas- 

 ed by cuttings planted during: the summer 

 months. Those having shrubby stalks and 

 branches, readily take root when planted out 

 in beds or in pots of light sandy soil, covered 

 with mats or glasses : in the latter case, being 

 shaded when the sun is warm. The cuttin 

 these sorts need not be cut from the plant more 

 than five or six days before they are planted, 

 during which time they should be laid in a dry 

 room, not too much exposed to the sun, that 

 the parts which w ere separated from the old plants 

 may heal over and dry, otherwise they are apt 

 to rot. They may then be planted at about three 

 inches distance from each other, the earth being 

 pressed very close to them, and none of their 

 leaves buried in the ground, as from their 

 abounding with moisture, when they are covered 

 with the earth it is apt to cause them to rot, 

 which often destroys the cuttings. When they 

 are taken from the old plants, they should there- 

 fore be divested of their lower leaves, so as to 

 allow a naked stalk of sufficient length for 

 being planted in the earth. 



Those in pots may be plunged in a hot-bed, 

 or in a warm border, due shade and shelter be- 

 ins: given, and slight waterings in dry weather. 

 When they have stricken gootl roots, they should 

 be removed with balls of earth into other separate 

 small pots of light sandy mould, being placed 

 in a shady situation, a very slight watering being 

 •riven to settle the earth about them. After they 

 become well rooted, they may be removed, so as 

 to have more sun ; when they may be kept till 

 autumn, being watered very slightly twice a 

 week in summer and once afterwards, care be- 

 imr taken to prevent their roots shooting through 

 the pots, by shilling them two or three times 

 in the summer, to pare them off, 



In the autumn and winter they should be 

 protected in the green-house. 



The cuttings of the more succulent sorts 

 should be left to heal over a much longer time, 

 being a little freed from leaves, and covered 

 with glasses to prevent the wet. Thev should 

 have less water, and be removed less fte- 



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