HEL 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



HEL 



673 



branches, yellow, small, peduncled, with the middle pedun- 

 cle simple ; peduncles somewhat scabrous. It flowers from 

 August to October. Native of North America. 



12. Helianthus Atro-rubens ; Dark-red Sun-flower. Leaves 

 opposite, spatulate, crenate, triple-nerved, scabrous; calicine 

 scales erect, the length of the disk; stem commonly single, 

 about the size of a swan's quill at bottom, from eighteen 

 inches to three feet and more in height, round, dusky purple, 

 rough, with abundant whitish hairs ; root-leaves flat, hairy, 

 smaller than those of the stem, which are twisted and waved, 

 especially towards the lower end, rough with frequent hairs, 

 and on the lower ones particularly with small tubercles ; 

 flowering-branches divaricate; the disk of the flower dark red; 

 floscules in the ray yellow, marked with a few lines, pointed 

 and entire, sometimes in very old flowers divided into seg- 

 ments. It flowers in September and October, and continues 

 two or three years. Native of Carolina and Virginia. 



13. Helianthus Mollis. Leaves ovate, acuminated, very 

 rough on the upper surface, and soft underneath. It flowers 

 from July to October, and is found in the exsiccated swamps 

 of Pennsylvania and Virginia. 



Heliconia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : spathes common 

 and partial alternate, distinct, with hermaphrodite flowers; 

 perianth none. Corolla : petals three, oblong, channelled, 

 erect, acute, equal. Nectary two-leaved ; one leaflet nearly 

 equal to the petals ; the other very channelled, hooked, 

 opposite. Stamina: filamenta five, (according to Adanson, 

 six,) filiform ; antherae long, erect. Pistil: germen inferior, 

 oblong; style shorter than the stamina; stigma long, slender, 

 curved, with a terminating head. Pericarp: capsule oblong, 

 truncate, three-sided, three-celled. Seeds : solitary, oblong. 

 Observe. This genus is distinguished from Musa by a tricoc- 

 cous capsule, and there is some doubt whether it ought not 

 to be transferred to the class Hcxandria. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Spathes: both general and partial. Perianth: 

 none. Corolla : three-petalled. Nectary: two-leaved. Pe- 

 ricarp : tricoccous. Seeds : solitary. Capsules : fleshy, three- 

 celled, according to Swartz. The species are, 



1. Heliconia Bihai; Bastard or Wild Plantain. Leaves 

 aud spadix radical; spathes distich, cordate; nectary ventri- 

 cose, bifid at the tip. This is a very large herbaceous plant, 

 from ten to twelve feet in height. The leaves have long 

 sheathing footstalks, their bases enfolding one another so as 

 to resemble a stem about five feet high, and as thick as a 

 man's thigh, after which the stalks spread into two rows ; the 

 leaf itself is six or eight feet long, and eighteen inches wide, 

 linear, entire, rounded at each end, flat, smooth, pliable, 

 with one rib, and numerous parallel veins. The flowers have 

 five perfect filamenta shooting from the bottom of the real 

 flower-leaf, and one imperfect filamentum from the nectarium. 

 The berries are small and succulent, and contain each three 

 hard rugged seeds. This beautiful plant is a native of bogs 

 in Guiana and the Caribbee islands; it also grows wild in 

 most of the cooler mountains of Jamaica, and thrives very 

 luxuriantly in every rich well-shaded gully among the 

 woods. 



2. Heliconia Psittacorum. Leaves on the stem rounded at 

 the base ; spadix terminating, flexuose ; spathes lanceolate ; 

 nectary lanceolate, concave, entire. This plant bears a great 

 resemblance to Canna, and grows to the height of eight feet, 

 with a simple smooth stem; flowers pedicelled, crowded, 

 upright, an inch long, fulvous, on round peduncles, half an 

 inch long ; corolla three-sided, the two upper petals erect, 

 linear, acute, keeled, converging, glued to the nectary, the 

 uppermost only trifid, the lower petal embracing the upper 



TOL. i. 57. 



petals and nectary at the base, a little wider, keeled, ventri- 

 cose, brownish-green at top. Native of Jamaica in wet parts 

 of mountain-woods ; also of South America. 



3. Heliconia Hirsute. Leaves rounded at the base, simply 

 nerved, very smooth; inflorescence hirsute ; spadix flexuose; 

 nectary lanceolate, adnate ; steal very smooth ; spathes 

 alternate in two rows, lanceolate, awl-shaped, channelled, 

 ascending, the lower ones larger, with a hispid keel, pedun- 

 cles from nine to twelve in the axils of the spathes, upright, 

 round, very hirsute, short, leafless, one-flowered ; corolla 

 curved, two-petalled ; upper petal complicated, hispid, bifid 

 at the tip ; lower broader, complicated, hispid, oblong, with 

 a brown mark on the inside at the top. Found in South 

 America by Mutis. 



Helicteres; a genus classed by Linneus in Gynandria, order 

 Decandria ; by Schreber, in Decandria Monogynia ; and by 

 Swartz, in Monadelphia Decandria. GENERIC CHARACTER. 

 Calix : perianth one-leafed, tubulous, half-ovate, obliquely 

 spreading, unequally five-cleft, coriaceous. Corolla : petals 

 five, oblong, equal in breadth, fixed to the receptacle, longer 

 than the ealix ; claws long, with a tooth on each side at the 

 base; nectary of five petal-shaped, lanceolate, very small 

 leaflets, covering the germen. Stamina: filamenta five, ten, 

 or more, very short; antherse oblong, lateral. Pistil: re- 

 ceptacle filiform, very Jong, bowed -back, bearing an ovate 

 germen at the tip ; style subulate, longer than the germen ; 

 stigma subquinquefid. Pericarp : capsules five, often twisted 

 spirally, one-celled. Seeds : very many, angular. Observe. 

 In some species Jacquin and others have observed dodecan- 

 drous and pulyandrous flowers, and straight capsules. One 

 species has no corolla. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Penta- 

 gynous. Calix: one-leafed, oblique. Petals: five. Nectary: 

 of five leaflets. Capsules: five, twisted. The plants of this 

 genus are propagated by seeds, w<hich must ,be sown upon a 

 hot-bed in the spring; and when the plants are come wp 

 strong enough to remove, they should be each planted in a 

 separate small pot, filled with light earth, and plunged into 

 a moderate hot-bed of tan, observing to shade them from 

 the sun until they have taken new root ; then they should be 

 treated in the same way as other tender plants from hot 

 countries, raising the glasses every day in fine weather, that 

 the plants may enjoy fresh air, without which they would be 

 drawn up weak. In the summer the plants may remain under 

 the frames, if there be sufficient height for them to grow; 

 but in autumn they must be plunged into the tan-bed in the 

 stove, where they should always remain, being careful to 

 shift them into larger pots when they require it, and not to 

 give them too much wet in 4be winter, but in summer they 

 should have a large share of .air in warm weather, and re- 

 quire to be often refreshed with water. These plants have 

 often flowered in the Chelsea garden during the second year 

 of their production from seeds, and have sometimes ripened 

 seeds. They will live several years with proper manage- 

 ment. The species are, 



1 . Helicteres Baruensis ; Small-fruited Screw Tree. Decan- 

 drous : leaves cordate, serrate ; fruit twisted, with straight 

 tips. This is an upright tree, about twelve feet in height, 

 branching but a little ; the younger branches, peduncles, and 

 petioles, are tomentose : peduncles many-flowered, terminat- 

 ing, thick; the flowers have no scent; petals whitish; seed* 

 about fifty in each capsule, obovate, angular, smooth, of a 

 brown chestnut colour. The bark of the trunk and principal 

 branches, being easily peeled off, and very tough, is used 

 instead of ropes. Native of the island of Baru, in woods 

 near the coast ; and of the West Indies. 



2. Helicteres Isora ; Great-fruited Screw Tree. Decan- 

 81 



