P K L 



PEL 



E 



dunclcs axillary, erect, nigged; with four sub- 

 ovate stipules at the forks. Mr. Curtis observes 

 that a vein of singularity runs through the whole 

 ot" this plant : it.- stalks are unequally and ob- 

 tusely quadrangular* sometimes more evidently 

 triangular : its leaves few and remarkably small: 

 its owers, on the contrary, are uncommonly 

 large, and, what is more extraordinary, have only- 

 tour petals; previous to their expansion the 

 body ot filaments is bent so as to form a kmd of 

 bow. 



:e is a variety with beautifully coloured 

 I 



The twentieth has a shrubby stem, four or 

 five feet Inch, sending out several branches : tl e 

 eduucles long, coming out from the side of the 

 ranches: the flowers vary eonsidcrably both in 

 size and colour : its foliage is different From 

 that of the other sorts, and, as its name imports, 

 like that of the birch-tree. It flowers most part 

 of the summer. 



In the twenty-first, the whole plant is very 

 smooth, glaucous, and in a manner whitish: 

 the stem shrubby, with round, rod-like, d< 

 iug branches, two feet high : the leaves opposite, 

 often shorter than the petioles, which are round 

 and erect : the stipules lanceolate-acuminate, 

 fleshy, deciduous : the peduncles alternately 

 axillary, very long, one- or two-flowered. It 

 flowers from June to August. 



The twenty- second species has a shrubby 

 stem, six or seven feet high, sending out several 

 side branches : the leaves of a gray colour, and 

 having an acid taste like sorrel : the peduncles 

 axillary, lone, sustaining three or four flowers, 

 with narrow unequal petals, of a pale blush-co- 

 lour, with some stripes of a light red : the '.lowers 

 continue in succession most part of the summer. 



There is a variety with scarlet flowers raised 

 from seed. 



The twenty-third has a shrubby stem, round, 

 three or four feet high, the thickness of a fit 

 upright, of a reddish bay colour, branching from 

 the axils, very rough, as is the whole plant, but 

 becoming smooth with age: the leaves on long 

 petioles, very widely wedge-shaped, three-nerv- 

 ed, acute, stiffish, alternate, except the upper 

 ones next the flowers, which are opposite, the 

 lower ones seven or eight inches in length 

 reckoning the petioles ; the lobes gashed or 

 thinly toothed, but sometimes quite entire : the 

 stipules small, ovate-acuminate, on each side 

 next I he petioles: the common peduncles ter- 

 minating and axillary, short, sustaining com- 

 monly from four to six flowers, of a purple 

 rose-colour, with dark blood- red spots. It 

 flowers from August to November. 



The twenty-fourth has a suffruticosc stem. 



dichotomous, round, purple, viHose, erect, two' 



feet high and more: branches simple, short, 



ibling the stem : the leaves rigid, str'u 



» : serratures purplish • the 

 1 villoSC, the length of the leaves : the 

 stipules two or more, ovate-acute, a ncave, a 

 line in length : the flowers lateral and t.rminat- 

 : involucres lanceolate, purple, 

 subciliate. It differs materially from the oilier 

 sorts in the unusu 1 roughness of the stalks, as 

 well as in its whole habit. 



The twenty-fifth species, which is but n 

 introduced, scarcely exceeds a foot in In 

 growing up with a shrubby stem, and spreading 

 widely into numerous flowering branches, 

 much disposed to produce (lowers in a constant 

 ssion, that during most of the summer the 

 plant is loaded with a profusion of them. For 

 the most part they go off without seed; and 

 when any is produced, there is generally one 

 it and four abortive. The whole plant is 

 covered with short white hairs, which give to 

 e a somewhat silvery hue. I he two 

 upper; Is are of a beautiful red, having 



their ba=es nearly black ; the three lowermost 

 are w hite. 



Most of the above species are natives of the 

 Cape. 



There are also many other species that maybe 

 cultivated. 



Culture. — All the sorts mav be increased by 

 seeds, which should be sown in the early spring 

 in pots filled with kitchen garden mould, plunging 

 them in a moderate hot-bed. The plants soon 

 appear; when they should have fresh air as much 

 as possible, to prevent their being drawn up 

 weak. When the plants have attained mjhic 

 growth, they should be removed into separate 

 small pots filled with the same sort of earth, re- 

 plunging them in the hot-bed till fresh rooted, 

 and giving proper shade. They should after- 

 wards be gradually inured to the open air, in 

 order to be placed out in it in the summer 

 - - in in a she It, -red situation. 



They may also be raised in the open ground 

 without the hot-bed, but not so well. 



But they are more commonly increa 

 cially the shrubby sort-, by cuttings of the young 

 branches, which should he planted in a shady 

 border in the o inner, or in pot-, and pluri 

 any hot-bed; which is the better method, when 

 rooted the] taken up, and planted 



into separate pot-, placing them iu the shade .1 

 they have taken i ; after which thev 



may be remove red situation, and 



be treated in the same man ei as the seedling 

 plants. The fifth, seventh, and fifteenth sorts 

 have more succulent stalks than the others : the 



