PLATE XXII. 



1. DODECATHEON MEADIA, 



MEAD'S DODECOTHEAN. 



THIS genus furnishes a plant of the low flowering perennial kind- 

 It belongs to the class and order Pentandria Monogynia, and ranks 

 in the natural order of Precice. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a many-leaved, many-flow- 

 ered involucre, very small: perianthium one-leafed, half five-cleft, 

 permanent: divisions reflex, finally longer, permanent: the corolla 

 one-petalled, five-parted: tube shorter than the calyx: (naked at the 

 throat) border reflex: divisions very long, lanceolate: the stamina con- 

 sists of five filaments, very short, obtuse, seated on the tube: anthers 

 sagittate, converging into a beak : the pistillum is a conic germ: style 

 filiform, longer than the stamens: stigma obtuse: the pericarpium 

 is an oblong, one-celled capsule, gaping at the tip: (subcylindric, 

 opening into five parts): the seeds very many, and small: receptacle 

 free, small. 



The only species is D. Meadea, Virginian Cowslip, or Meadea. 

 It has a yellow perennial root, from which come out in the spring 

 several long smooth leaves, near six inches long, and two and a half 

 broad; at first standing erect, but afterwards spreading on the ground, 

 especially when much exposed to the sun: from among these leaves 

 arise two, three, or four flower-stalks, in proportion to the strength of 

 the roots, which rise eight or nine inches high, smooth, naked, and 

 terminated by an umbel of flowers, which are purple, inclining to a 

 peach blossom colour. It is native of Virginia, flowering about the 

 end of April or beginning of the following month. 



Culture. The methods of propagation in this plant are either by 

 seeds, or off-sets from the roots; but the last is the best. 



2 B 



