EH R 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



EH R 



485 



Eyg-plant. See Solanum, 



Eglantine. See Rosa. 



Ehretia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 bell-shaped, half five-cleft, obtuse, very small, permanent. 

 Corolla: one-petalled ; tube longer than the calix'; border 

 five-cleft; divisions somewhat ovate, flat. Stamina: fila- 

 menta five, subulate, patulous, length of the corolla; antherse 

 roundish, incumbent. Pistil: germen roundish; style fili- 

 form, thicker above, length of the stamina ; stigma obtuse, 

 emarginate. Pericarp: berry roundish, one-celled. Seeds: 

 four, convex on one side, cornered on the other. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Berry: two-celled. Seeds: solitary, two- 

 celled ; stigma emnrginate. These plants are too tender to 

 thrive abroad in England, where they require a moderately 

 warm stove in the winter ; but when they have acquired 

 strength they may be placed in the open air during the heat 

 of the summer, but it should be in a sheltered situation; and 

 when the evenings grow cold in the autumn, they must be 

 removed into shelter. They are propagated by seeds, when 

 they can be obtained, which should be sown in small pots, 

 and plunged into a hot-bed. They may also be increased by 



layers, but these are long before they put out roots. The 



species are, 



2. Ehretia Tinifolia; Tinus-leaved Ehretia. Leaves ob- 

 long-ovate, quite entire, smooth ; flowers panicled. It is an 

 upright tree, from twenty to thirty feet high, with an oblong 

 thick head ; branches unarmed, roundish, subdivided ; leaves 

 alternate, veined, blunt, about four inches long, on short pe- 

 tioles; panicles terminating, oblong, large; flowers numerous, 

 white, small; calix five-parted, with minute ovate segments; 

 corolla a little larger than the calix, with acute segments, 

 finally rolled back; filamenta longer than the corolla; style 

 scarcely shorter than the stamina, awl-shaped, bifid ; stigmas 

 simple; berry spherical, at first yellow, then black; seeds 

 two, hemispherical, two-celled. It flowers in January and 

 February, and is a native of Cuba and Jamaica, where it is 

 pretty common in the lower lands, being known by the name 

 of Bastard Cherry-tree. It generally rises to the height of 

 sixteen or twenty feet ; and produces small berries, which 

 seldom exceed the largest of our European currants in size, 

 and serve to feed the poultry, and are even eaten by the 

 pooror sort of people. 



2. Ehretia Spinosa; Thorny Ehretia. Thorny. This 

 tree has a trunk three or four inches in diameter, dividing 

 almost close to the ground, usually in three parts, which run 

 up twenty-five or thirty feet high; these having put out a few 

 similar boughs in their progress, scarcely attain the length of 

 ten feet before they are bowed buck to the ground, and re- 

 quire support from the boughs of the neighbouring trees ; they 

 have many very short lateral branches, scatleringly disposed ; 

 their bark is ash-coloured and smooth ; strong, woody, short, 

 very thick, awl-shaped spines are scattered over the trunk, 

 principal boughs, and secondary branches, the oldest of 

 which frequently put forth from their middle a perpendicular 

 leafy branchlet of the same length with themselves ; flowers 

 small, with yellowish corollas. It flowers in August, bears 

 fruit in October, and is a native of Carthagena in New Spain, 

 where it is known by the name of Cacara-cacara, but differs 

 much in habit from the preceding- description. 



3. Ehretia Bourreria ; Oval-leaved Ehretia. Leaves ovate, 

 quite entire, smooth ; flowers in a kind of corymb ; calk'es 

 smooth. This small inelegant tree has an adust habit, and 

 is often found fifteen feet high in the island of Curacoa, 

 though in Martinico it seldom exceeds five ; trunk unequal, 

 with a chinky baik; branches very many, irregular; leaves 



VOL. i. 41. 



alternate, petioled, quite entire, various, obtuse, acute, or 

 emarginate; on rocks smooth, elsewhere rugged ; differing in 

 size; racemes corymbed, terminating; flowers sweet; corollas 

 white, with roundish segments; antherae oblong; calix in the 

 fruit cloven ; berries shining, saffron or orange coloured, 

 pulpy, sweet, succulent, more quadrangular as they are 

 larger, eaten by children and the natives. Native of the 

 West Indies, growing from the crevices of rocks, where there 

 is no soil. According to Dr. Browne, it grows in the savan- 

 nas of Jamaica, where it is called Poison Berries, and by the 

 French Bois Cabril Batard. 



4. Ehretia Exsucca; Dry-fruited Ehretia. Leaves wedge- 

 form, lanceolate, with the edge reflex. This small tree is 

 fifteen feet in height, sometimes erect, and sometimes sup- 

 porting itself on other trees; leaves ovate, acute, very 

 smooth, alternate, petioled, two inches long ; racemes 

 branched, subcorymbed, subterminating ; flowers having a 

 slight degree of sweetness, much larger than in the preceding 

 species; corollas white, with heart-shaped segments; antheree 

 ovate, and large ; berries green, four-cornered, slightly four- 

 grooved, ending in a blunt point, without any pulp, becoming 

 finally of a reddish black colour, dividing into four parts, 

 with the seeds sticking in them, and continuing a long time 

 on the tree. It is often found in the neighbourhood of Car- 

 thagena in New Spain, in mountain woods, where it flowers 

 from May to August, and ripens seed in October. 



5. Ehretia Virgata. Leaves oblong, entire, rugged on the 

 upper surface; branches filiform; flowers terminating, scat- 

 tered ; calices hirsute. Native of Hispaniola. 



Ehrharta ; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Mono- 

 gynia or Digynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: glume 

 one-flowered, two-valved, ovate, concave, shorter than the co- 

 rolla, patulous ; one valve a little larger than the other, and 

 membranaceous. Corolla: double, longer than the calix, 

 scarcely gaping; outer two-valved; valves oblong, complicate, 

 keeled, retuse, transversely wrinkled, villose on the outside of 

 the base ; inner compressed, two-edged, of two valves, which 

 are folded, membranous, keeled, unequal. Nectary two-leaved, 

 very small; leaflets jagged and ciliate, involving the genitals. 

 Stamina : filamenta six, capillary, very short ; antherae up- 

 right, linear, emarginate, shorter than the corolla. Pistil: 

 germen ovate, minute, smooth ; styles two, very short, erect, 

 contiguous ; stigmas long, approaching each other, at length 

 divaricated, each consisting of two opposite feathery rows. 

 Pericarp: none. Seed: single, ovate, smooth. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: a two-valved one-flowered glume. 

 Corolla : double, each two-valved ; the outer corolla notched 

 at the base. The species are, 



1. Ehrharta Mnematea. Beardless: outer corolla rugose, 

 obtuse, beardless ; panicle simple, lax ; stem simple ; margin 

 of the leaves cartilaginous and crisped ; flowers tinged with 

 purple, on capillary drooping stalks. Native of the Cape. 



2. Ehrharta Panicea'. Beardless : outer corolla smooth, 

 somewhat rugged, obtuse ; panicle slightly branched, droop- 

 ing; stem subdivided. It has the habit and small green 

 flowers of a Panirum or Poa. Native of the Cape. 



3. Ehrharta Ramosa. Beardless : outer corolla rough, 

 abrupt; panicle close; stem much branched, rather shrubby. 

 The calix is nearly as long as the corolla. Native of the 

 Cape. 



4. Ehrharta Melicoides. Beardless : outer corolla very 

 smooth and obtuse ; panicle widely spreading ; glumes of the 

 corolla peculiarly bare and rounded. Native of the Cape. 



5. Ehrharta Calycina. Beardless : outer corolla some- 

 what hairy, obtuse, with a short point; panicle close, nearly 

 simple ; stem branched. Native of the Cape. 



6H 



