H I B 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



HIB 



687 



fifth, pale yellow flowers with dark bottoms ; but the last is 

 very rare at present in English gardens ; and a sixth with 

 double flowers. There are also two sorts with variegated 

 leaves, which by some are much esteemed. It is a native of 

 Syria, and very much cultivated for hedges in Japan and 

 Cochin-china. It is propagated by seeds, which should be 

 sown in pots filled with light earth at the latter end of March, 

 and plunged into a gentle heat to forward the growth of the 

 seeds. When the plants appear, they must be inured to the 

 open air, and in May the pots may be plunged into the ground 

 in a border exposed to the east, where they may have the 

 morning sun. They will require nothing but weeding and 

 watering during the first summer, but in autumn it will be 

 proper to remove the pots under a common frame, to screen 

 them from the frost; or, where there is not such conveniency, 

 they may be plunged close to a hedge, pale, or wall, or to a 

 good aspect; and in severe frosts they should be covered 

 with mats, straw, or other light covering ; for although these 

 plants, when they have obtained strength, will resist the cold 

 of our winters, yet the young plants, the shoots of which are 

 tender, frequently receive injury from the first frost in autumn ; 

 so that if they are not screened the first year, they are often 

 killed to the ground. Towards the latter end of March will 

 be a good time to transplant them. The spot of ground 

 prepared to receive them should then be divided into beds 

 four feet broad, with paths of two feet broad between them. 

 The plants must then be shaken out of the pots with the 

 earth adhering to them, and carefully separated, for their 

 roots are very tender and apt to break with little force, and 

 replanted about nine inches asunder in the beds ; so that if 

 four rows be planted in each bed, there will be six inches 

 allowed between the outside rows and the paths. The ground 

 should be gently closed about the roots, to prevent the air 

 penetrating to them ; and if a little old tanners' bark or mulch 

 is laid over the surface of the beds, it will prevent the earth 

 from drying, and be of great use to the plants. During the 

 succeeding summer they must be kept free from weeds ; and 

 should the next winter prove severe, it will be prudent to 

 cover the plants again in autumn, especially if they shoot late 

 in the season, or the autumn prove cold and moist, for then 

 the plants will be in great danger of having their tops killed. 

 In these beds they may remain two years, by which time they 

 will be fit to transplant to where they are intended to remain ; 

 for if kept longer in the nursery, they will not remove so well. 

 The best time for transplanting these plants is the end of 

 March, or the beginning of April, for they seldom begin to 

 shoot till the end of April, or the beginning of May ; they 

 should have a light soil, not too wet, for in strong land their 

 stems grow mossy, and they never thrive after. They may also 

 be propagated by layers ; and by cuttings, which, if planted 

 the latter end of March, in pots filled with light earth, and 

 plunged into a gentle heat, will take root; but the plants thus 

 raised are not so good as the seedlings. The several varieties 

 may be increased by grafting upon each other, which is the 

 common method of propagating those with striped leaves. 



23. Hibiscus Ficulneus ; Fig-leaved Hibiscus. Leaves 

 palmate, five-cleft; stem prickly; flowers peduncled. The 

 flowers come out singly from the axils ; they hang down, are 

 small, and white with purple bottoms, and are succeeded by 

 short obtuse capsules ; they open only when the sun shines, 

 and that but for a few hours in the morning; for about noon 

 they nod or hang down, and the petals spread irregularly. It 

 flowers from June to August. Native of Ceylon. For its 

 propagation and culture, see the third species. 



24. Hibiscus Speciosus; Smooth Hibiscus. Leaves pal- 

 mate, smooth ; segments lanceolate, serrate ; stem, peduncles, 



and calices,even. It is a native of South Carolina, and flowers 

 in September. Perennial. See the third and fifth species. 



25. Hibiscus SabdarifTa; Various-leaved Hibiscus. Leaves 

 serrate, the lower ovate, undivided, the upper seven-parted ; 

 stem unarmed, one to three feet high, of a blood-red colour ; 

 root annual, single, descending; flowers sessile, axillary, soli- 

 tary, largish ; petals veined, of a very pale sulphur colour, 

 with a dark blood-red bottom. It is a native of India, and 

 has been long known in England. Gerarde and Parkinson 

 call it Thorny Mallow. It flowers from June to September. 

 In the West Indies it is known by the name of Red Sorrel. 

 The calices and capsules, freed from the seeds, make very 

 agreeable tarts ; and a decoction of them sweetened and fer- 

 mented is commonly called there Sorrel cool drink, which is 

 a small diluting liquor, much used in our colonies, and 

 reckoned very refreshing in those sultry climates. For its 

 propagation and culture, see the third species. 



26. Hibiscus Cannabinus ; Hemp-leaved Hibiscus. Leaves 

 serrate, the upper palmate, five-parted, having one gland 

 underneath; stem prickly, five feet high or more; root annual; 

 flowers sessile, axillary ; the corolla large, of a pale sulphur 

 colour, with a dark purple bottom. The bark of this and of 

 the foregoing species is full of strong fibres, which the in- 

 habitants of the Malabar coast prepare and make into cor- 

 dage, and it seems as if it might be wrought into fine strong 

 thread of any size. Native of the East Indies. For its pro- 

 pagation and culture, see the third species. 



27. Hibiscus Surattensis ; Prickly-stalked Hibiscus. Prickly, 

 with prickles curved back ; leaves five-lobed ; outer calices 

 appendicled ; stipules half-cordate ; flowers peduncled ; stem 

 round, upright, stiff, two feet high, spotted with purple 

 towards the top ; corolla yellow, with a dark purple base. 

 The leaves are gratefully acid, and are eaten in the East 

 Indies and Cochin-china, where it is a native : they also 

 assist in dissolving hard tumours, &c. but for that purpose 

 the roots are thought to be most efficacious. Annual : 

 flowers with us in July. See the third species. 



28. Hibiscus Pedunculatus. Hirsute: leaves five-lobed, 

 toothed ; peduncles axillary, one-flowered, elongated. Native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. For its propagation and culture, 

 see the third and fifth species. 



29. Hibiscus Manihot; Palmated-leaved Hibiscus. Leaves 

 palmate-digitate, seven-parted ; stem and petioles unarmed. 

 It rises with an herbaceous smooth stalk, three or four feet 

 high. The flowers are produced from the wings of the stalks 

 towards the top, standing on short peduncles ; they are com- 

 posed of five large sulphur-coloured petals, which, when 

 open, spread five inches wide ; they have a dark purple 

 bottom ; and are succeeded by large, pyramidal five-cornered, 

 erect seed-vessels, which are filled with pretty large seeds, 

 having little smell or taste. In Japan the mucilage of the 

 root of this plant is employed to give consistence to paper. 

 It flowers in July and August. Native of China and Japan. 

 This species will produce flowers and perfect seeds in the 

 first season. The plants may be preserved by a moderate 

 warmth through the winter, though few persons will take 

 that trouble after they have ripened their seeds, as the young 

 plants make a better appearance. 



30. Hibiscus Abelrooschus ; Target-leaved Hibiscus. Leaves 

 subpeltate, cordate, seven-angled, serrate; stem hispid, her- 

 baceous, three or four feet high, sending out two or three 

 side-branches, all of which, as well as the stem, are hairy. 

 The flowers come out from the wings of the stalk upon 

 pretty long peduncles, which stand erect ; they are large, of a 

 sulphur-colour, with dark purple bottoms, and are succeeded 

 by pyramidal five-cornered capsules, filled with large seeds, 



