and perennial. Natives of Germany, Switzerland, fcc. They 

 sometimes grow to the height of three or four feet. Flowers, 

 crimson, lilac, &tc. Sometimes fragrant. Corolla, cruciform, 

 of four equal, large, undivided, obtuse petals, as long as the 

 Calyx, each tapering down into a claw of the same length. 

 Calyx, of four ovate oblong cohering leaves, of which two 

 opposite ones are pouched, or bagged at the base. 



HONEY FLOWER. 



Melianthus. 



Melianthus, L. from the Greek ^KI, honey, and avS-o;, 

 a flower, so named from the abundance of honey which flows 

 from M. Major, in particular, which, if shaken whilst in 

 flower, distils a shower of nectar. 



There are only three species noticed in the Encyclope- 

 dia. The M. Major, with flowers in a long spike, springing 

 from between the leaves towards the top of the stalks, of a 

 brown, or chocolate colour. The M. Minor, flowers, six 

 or eight in a cluster, very ornamental, variegated with green, 

 yellow, and red, or pink. And the M. Comosus, flowers, in 

 pendant clusters, on short stalks, of a yellow colour. These 

 are all natives of the Cape of Good Hope. Roots perennial: 

 growing to the height of from three to four feet. 



HONEYSUCKLE; or, WOODBINE. 



Lonicera, 



Lonicera, so named by Liunxus, in honour of Jldam 

 Lonicer, an old physician and naturalist, who lived about the 

 middle of the sixteenth century: born at Marburg, 1528, lived 

 at Frankfort, and died at the age of fifty-eight. He publish- 

 ed two volumes, folio, in Latin, upon the Materia Medica; 

 and a German Herbal, with wooden cuts, which are occasion- 

 ally to be met with rudely coloured. 



The English name Honeysuckle, is called, in Latin, 

 Caprifolium; first definition in Johnson, Woodbine, the 

 plant. 2d. The flower, or blossom, of the Woodbine. 

 " Woodbine that beareth the Honeysuckle." 



"A Honeysuckle 



The amorous Woodbine's offspring." 



(See Johnson.) 



Caprifolium is derived from the Latin Caprea, a branch 

 that putteth forth tendrils; and folium, a leaf, 



Caprea, also signifies a roe, a deer, a gazelle. The 

 French name for the Lonicera Caprifolium, is Chcvrefeu- 

 ille, said to be derived from the Latin Caper, or Capra, a 

 goat; and folium, a leaf. We are also told that goats are 

 remarkably fond of the leaves of the Honeysuckle. 



Woodbine Latin, Periclymenon; English, Honey- 

 suckle. (See Johnson.) 



Periclymenon, L. derived from the Greek *- P .x;u,usi>oi<, 

 from -i%i, about, and xvKtai, to roll around. 



L. Caprifolium, in the Encyclopedia, designates a spe- 

 cies called Pale perfoliate Honeysuckle, native of Great 

 Britain. Leaves deciduous; the uppermost united and per- 

 foliate. Flowering in May or June, in England. Stem 

 shrubby, woody, turning. Branches nearly opposite, round, 



smooth. Almost all the leaves are combined, elliptical, ob- 

 tuse, entire, smooth, rather glaucous beneath; the upper ones 

 in united perfoliate pairs, somewhat orbiculate accompanying 

 the flowers. Flowers in whorls, ringent, terminal, spread- 

 ing, yellowish, with a flesh-coloured tube, very fragrant. 

 Berries of an orange red, crowned by the almost entire 

 calyx. 



L. Periclymenon, Common Honeysuckle, or Woodbine, 

 native of Europe, flowering in June, July, and occasionally 

 in the Autumn. Stem and branches similar to the last. 

 Leaves opposite, on very short foot-stalks, elliptical, entire, 

 sometimes pubescent, glaucous beneath. Flowers in a ter- 

 minal head, spreading in a radiate manner, yellowish-white, 

 and blush-coloured, very fragrant, and particularly so, early 

 in the evening. Berries red, crowned with a five-toothed 

 calyx, bitter, with a sweetish flavour. 



A remarkable variety sometimes occurs with sinuated, 

 variegated leaves, called the Oak-leaved Honeysuckle. 



The flowers of the genus Lonicera, have five-cleft calyx. 

 Corolla of one petal, tubular; tube oblong, gibbous; limb in 

 five revolute segments, one of which is more deeply se- 

 parated. 



A Honeysuckle on the sunny side, 



Hung round the lattices its fragrant trumpets. 



Landon. 



Copious of flowers, the Woodbine pale and wan, 

 But well compensating her sickly looks 

 With never cloying odours, early and late. Cowper. 



The Wild Honeysuckle, Jlzalea, is a splendid genus of 

 shrubs, abundant in North America: to be found, also, in the 

 East Indies. 



JLzalea, is derived from the Greek ufa^co;, dry, from its 

 growing in a dry soil. Its flower resembles that of the Honey- 

 suckle, or Lonicera, but is much larger and richer in its 

 hues. Some of the species are delightfully fragrant. JV*a- 

 tural order different from Lonicera, as will be seen in 

 Glossary. 



HOUSTONIA. 



Named by Linnaeus after Dr. William Houston, F. R. 

 S., resident for several years in the West Indies. He visited 

 the Spanish Main, from whence he sent various seeds to 

 Europe, between the years 1728 and 1732. Some engrav- 

 ings of flowers, by his own hand, were purchased by Sir Jo- 

 seph Banks, who printed and liberally distributed an edition 

 of them. 



There are several varieties of the Houstonia, natives of 

 North America as the H. Cserulea, H. Purpurea, Etc.: a 

 genus of pretty little delicate plants that cover our fields in 

 the early spring, with their small brilliant pale blue, or almost 

 white flowers, with a yellow eye, jasmine like, but scentless; 

 produced all the summer long. Each flower grows on a 

 slender, simple, naked, smooth stalk, only a few inches high. 

 The perianth half superior, of four small upright permanent 

 teeth. Corolla of one petal, funnel-shaped; tube much 

 longer than the calyx, cylindrical, slightly dilated at the top; 

 limb in four deep, roundish or elliptical spreading segments. 



