508 



ER I 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



E RI 



bristle-shaped; corollas globular; style included; stigma 

 doubled. Branches filiform, ramentaceous, long, ferruginous ; 

 leaves very narrow, upright, pressed close ; flowers umbelled ; 

 calix shorter than the corolla, green ; corolla purple ; anthers: 

 with two ciliate horns, inwardly mucronate, opening in an 

 ovate form on the sides ; style purple ; stigma double, the 

 upper roundish, the lower quudrifid. It flowers in July. 

 Native of the Cape. 



21. Erica Persoluta ; Blush-flowered Heath. Calices cili- 

 ate ; corollas bell-shaped ; style included. Stem shrubby, 

 smoothish, with pubescent branches ; leaves linear, obtuse, 

 erect, channelled underneath, the length of the joints, hispid, 

 or subscabrous ; flowers umbelled, dispersed on the upper 

 twigs. It flowers from February to May, and is a native of 

 the Cape. 



22. Erica Strigosa ; Dwarf Downy Heath. Leaves pubes- 

 cent, ciliate ; corollas bell-shaped, smooth ; style standing 

 out. Branches somewhat villose ; leaves linear-acute, spread- 

 ing, somewhat villose, ciliate, with a few long hairs, glandu- 

 lous at the tip, three lines long, on petioles half a line in 

 length ; flowers axillary on the extreme twigs, on peduncles a 

 line and a half long; corolla pale red, almost twice as long 

 as the calix. It flowers in March and April. Native of 

 the Cape. 



23. Erica Tetralix; Cross-leaved Heath. Leaves ciliate; 

 flowers in heads; corollas ovate; style included. Stems 

 shrubby, from nine to twelve inches high, branched, brown, 

 somewhat rugged from the remains of the leaves which have 

 fallen off. Branches woolly. Leaves commonly in fours, but 

 sometimes in fives, ovate-linear, spreading, near the flowers, 

 pressed close to the stem, the edges turned in, and ciliated, 

 each hair terminating in a small round gland ; the upper sur- 

 face is flat, the lower concave and white. Flowers hanging 

 down one over another all one way, forming a little head ; 

 peduncles downy, about the length of the flowers ; bractes 

 three at the base of each flower on the upper side, of the 

 same shape as the leaves of the calix, the lowermost the 

 largest, inserted about a line below the calix, the two others, 

 one on each side, rising from the base of the calix ; calicine 

 leaflets from four to six, linear, three times shorter than the 

 corolla, woolly, fringed with long hairs tipt with brownish 

 red globules ; corolla pale purple or flesh colour, varying to 

 white, divided into four very shallow segments, which turn 

 back ; antherse sagittate, purple, with two white horns at the 

 base, and two little apertures for the discharge of the pollen ; 

 germen woolly, glandular at the base ; capsule villose, trun- 

 cate. It flowers twice in the year, though some say only in 

 July and August, and is a native of the northern parts of Eu- 

 rope, on moist heaths, and moorish grounds. This species is 

 not inferior to many of the foreign Heaths in the delicacy 

 and beauty of its flowers. It is distinguished from the other 

 British Heaths, not only by the flowers growing in a pendu- 

 lous cluster on the tops of the stalks, but by the leaves grow- 

 ing in fours, and forming a sort of cross ; whence the trivial 

 and English names. Our old writers call it'Low-Dutch Heath, 

 or Besom Heath. See the first species. 



24. Erica Pubescens ; Hairy Heath. Leaves rugged ; flow- 

 ers sessile, lateral ; corollas ovate ; style included. Stem ash- 

 coloured, hispid, flexuose, erect, two feet high and more ; 

 branches scattered, seldom in whorls like the stem ; branch- 

 lets filiform and capillary, short, wandlike; leaves in threes 

 or fours, frequently four on the branches, and three on the 

 branchlets, seldom all in fours, linear, obtuse, rugged, villose, 

 incurved, grooved beneath, spreading, a line in length ; flowers 

 at the end of the branchlets, umbelled, two, three, or more 

 together, abundant, blood-red, hirsute. According to Thun- 



berg, this varies much in the branches, leaves, and flowers. 

 It has its name from the pubescence of the flowers. The 

 principal varieties are, 1. Hairy: with leaves in threes, and 

 the corollas very finely hairy. 2. Hispid : with leaves in 

 threes, and hispid. 3. Villose : with leaves in fours, rugged, 

 and the branches in whorls. 4. Small-flowered : with tlie 

 leaves on the branches in fours, on the branchlets in threes, 

 hispid; corollas minute. Native of the Cape. 



25. Erica Abietina ; Fir Heath. Flowers sessile ; corollas 

 fig-shaped ; style included. Stem ash-coloured, rueged, erect, 

 a foot high and more ; branches and branchlets in a sort of 

 whorl, from erect spreading ; leaves in fours, lanceolate, 

 subulate, grooved underneath, smooth, imbricate ; flowers at 

 the ends of the branches in racemes, nodding; peduncles 

 blood-red, villose, the length of the leaves ; bractes below 

 the middle of the peduncle ovate, acute, ciliate, keeled, pale. 

 This is remarkable for its thickset leaves and crowded golden 

 blossoms, as well as its pulpy seed-vessels. It flowers in 

 June and July. Native of the Cape. 



26. Erica Mammosa; Breasted Heath. Corollas fig-shap- 

 ed ; style standing out. Stem somewhat rigid, with white 

 awl-shaped decurrent lines from the scars left by the fallen 

 leaves ; leaves awl-shaped, crowded, somewhat rugged on the 

 edge ; flowers in a sort of head, on very short purple pedun- 

 cles, with very small remote bractes ; calix blood-red, ovate, 

 very short; corolla ovate, cylindric, blood-red, very long, 

 with a blunt mouth. There is a scarlet variety, a beautiful 

 plant, and which is common with us. Native of the Cape. 



27. Erica Caffra; Caffre Heath. Leaves pubescent; 

 flowers heaped ; corollas ovate ; style standing out. This is 

 the size of Juniper. Native of the Cape. 



28. Erica Sessiliflora; Sessile-flowered Heath. Flowers 

 in a spike, sessile, bent down, oblong; corollas club-shaped; 

 styles standing out. This a brown rugged shrub, determi- 

 nately branched, somewhat rigid, having the appearance of a 

 small Pinus Sylvestris. Leaves crowded very much together, 

 linear, acute, deep green ; spike terminating, surrounded by 

 sessile, imbricate, broadish flowers. Native of the Cape. 



Leaves scattered. 



29. Erica Fascicularis ; Bundled Heath. Leaves several, 

 linear, truncated ; flowers in bundles; corollas fig-shaped; 

 style included. Stem shrubby, upright, compound, two feet 

 high ; leaves crowded, scattered, almost filiform, an inch 

 long, even, capillary at the base, from erect spreading a little, 

 glandular near the tip; flowers tipped with green, terminat- 

 ing, fastigiate. Native of the Cape. 



** Antherce crested; Leaves in threes. 



30. Erica Triflora ; Three-flowered Heath. Flowers ter- 

 minating; corollas globular, bell-shaped; style included. 

 Stem brown, smooth below, hispid at top, erect, a foot high; 

 branches dichotomous, brown at bottom, and smooth above, 

 ash-coloured, hirsute, erect, fastigiate; branchlets scattered 

 all over the branches, filiform, frequent, hairy, rough, wand- 

 like ; leaves linear, subulate, entire, smooth, flat above, con- 

 vex beneath, with a very slender groove, incurved, from erect 

 spreading; flowers solitary, or two or three together, on very 

 short drooping peduncles, ash-coloured, tomentose. Native 

 of the Cape. 



31. Erica Baccans; Arbutus-flowered Heath. Leaves im- 

 bricate; corollas globular, bell-shaped, covered; style in- 

 cluded. Stem erect, branched ; flowers terminating in three* 

 or thereabouts, nodding, the size of a pea, on purple pedun- 

 cles, with alternate, remote, flesh-coloured bractes; calix 

 flesh-coloured, lanceolate, the length of the corolla, keeled, 

 bent in; corolla obtuse, red; antheree awnless, very short, 

 yellowish. It flowers in April and May. Native of the Cape, 



