ROY 



RUB 



parted ; segments ovate : the stamina have ten 

 very short filaments fastened to the corolla : an- 

 thers oblong, acute, twin, erect, the length of 

 the tube : the pistillum is an ovate germ, end- 

 ing in two styles, a little longer than the sta- 

 mens : stigmas simple : the pericarpium is an 

 ovate capsule, four-grooved, one-celled, four- 

 valved : berry globular, fleshy, four-celled, co- 

 vered by the permanent corolla : the seeds, 

 four nuts, oblong, triangular, wrapped in an 

 aril : seeds solitary, in all four or two, oblong 

 or elliptic, subtriquetrous or plano-convex. 



The species cultivated are: 1. R. lucida, Shin- 

 ing-leaved Royena, or African Bladder-nut ; 2. 

 R. villosa, Heart-leaved Royena, or African 

 Bladder-nut ; 3. R. glabra, Myrtle-leaved Roy- 

 ena, or African Bladder-nut ; 4. R. hirsata; 

 Hairv-leaved Rovena, or African Bladder-nut. 



The first is in height eight or ten feet, putting 

 out branches on every side : the leaves alter- 

 nate, shining, continuing all the year : the 

 flowers from the wings of the leaves along the 

 branches, having little beauty : the fruit a Berry 

 covered with the permanent calyx, which is 

 coriaceous, torn, and striated within, globular, 

 smooth, red above, pale below, four-celled : the 

 flesh or pulp firm, whitish, almost like that of 

 the apple : the cells filled with a pulp clear like 

 giass, and not invested with any proper mem- 

 brane, two of them commonly abortive, com- 

 pressed, crescent-shaped : the seeds solitary, 

 and two or four in all. It is a native of the 

 Cape, flowering in May and June. 



The second species resembles the preceding ; 

 but the branches are villose: the leaves elliptic or 

 oblong, cordate at the base, tomentose under- 

 neath, bluntish on short villose petioles : the 

 flowers axillary, nodding, solitary, on villose pe- 

 duncles the length of the flowers : the bractes 

 two, opposite, ovate acute, pubescent, larger 

 than the calyx and immediately under it, deci- 

 duous. 



The third rises with a shrubby stalk, five or 

 six feet high, sending out many slender branches, 

 covered with a purplish bark : leaves less than 

 those of the Box-tree, entire, of a lucid green, 

 and continuing all the year. The flowers 

 come out from the wings of the leaves round 

 the branches, and are white. Fruit roundish, 

 purple, ripening in the winter. It flowers in 

 September. 



The fourth species rises with a strong woody 

 stalk seven or eight feet high, covered with a 

 grav bark, sending out many small branches al- 

 ternately: the leaves about an inch long, and a 

 quarter of an inch broad in the middle, covered 

 with soft hairs : the flowers come out on short 

 peduncles from the side of the branches ; are of 



loV. II. 



a worn-out purple colour and small : they ap- 

 pear in July, but are not followed by seeds in 

 this climate. 



Culture. — These plants are often rather trou- 

 blesome in raising, but their culture may be at- 

 tempted by cuttings and layers. The cuttings 

 should be made from the young shoots, and Be 

 planted in the early spring in small pots filled 

 with a loamy earth, plunging them in a very 

 moderate hot-bed, covering them carefully with 

 hand glasses, refreshing them often with water 

 in small proportions. When they have stricken 

 roots and are begun to shoot, inure them gradu- 

 ally to the open air, and when they are well 

 rooted remove them into separate small pots, 

 managing them afterwards as other rather tender 

 green-house plants, such as the Orange-tree, &c. 

 The layers may be made from the young bot- 

 tom shoots, laying them carefully down by slit- 

 ting them as for Carnations, watering them often 

 in the warm season, but very moderately in the 

 cold. When they are become well rooted, 

 take them off and plant them in separate pots 

 in the same manner as the cuttings, giving 

 them the same sort of management afterwards. 



The last sort often sends up suckers from the 

 roots, and may sometimes be increased by plant- 

 ing in the same way as the cuttings. 



They afford variety among other green-house 

 plants. 



RUBTA, a genus containing plants of the 

 hardy herbaceous perennial kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Tetrandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Stellatce. 



The characters are : that the calvx is a very 

 small pe;ianth, four-toothed, superior: the co- 

 rolla one-petalled, bell-shaped, four-parted, 

 without a tube: the stamina h«ve four awl- 

 shaped filaments, shorter than the corolla : an- 

 thers simple : the pistillum is a twin inferior 

 germ : style filiform, bifid at top : stigmas ca- 

 pitate : the pericarpium-berries two, united, 

 smooth : the seeds solitary, roundish, umbili- 

 cate. 



The species mostly cultivated is R. tine- 

 torum, Dyer's Madder. 



It has a perennial root, and an annual stalk. 

 The root is composed of many long, thick, suc- 

 culent fibres, almost as large as a man's little 

 finger ; these are joined at the top in a head, 

 like the roots of Asparagus, and strike very deep 

 into the ground, being sometimes more than 

 three feet in length. From the upper part (or 

 head of the root) come out manv side roots, 

 which extend just under the surface of tin- 

 ground to a great distance, whereby it propagates 

 very fast; for these tend up a great number of 

 3 A 



