RES 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



RES 



455 



in meadows and corn-fields, on calcareous soils, as also on 

 walls. It flowers from June to the end of autumn. 



11. Reseda Phyteuma; Scentless Mignonette. Leaves 

 entire, or three-lobed ; calices six-parted, segments very 

 large ; petals four, more or less pectinated. This is an 

 annual plant, which has generally a single fleshy tap-root, 

 running deep in the ground, sending out several trailing 

 stalks, nearly a foot long, and dividing into smaller branches. 

 The ends of the branches are terminated by loose spikes of 

 flowers, standing upon pretty long peduncles. Dalibard hav- 

 ing cultivated this plant, found it, after some generations, to 

 become like Sweet Mignonette. He then sowed the seeds 

 of this, which was become sweet by cultivation, in its natural 

 dry soil, and it lost all its smell, returning to its original state. 

 It flowers from June to September. Native of the south of 

 Europe and Barbary, in dry sandy soils. 



12. Reseda Mediterranea. Leaves entire, or three-lobed ; 

 calices shorter than the flower. Stem a foot high, ascending 

 or upright, branched at top, rugged; corolla six-petalled, 

 white. Native of Palestine. 



13. Reseda Odorata ; Sweet Mignonette. Leaves flat, un- 

 divided, or three-lobed ; calices equalling the flowers ; seg- 

 ments of the petals all very deep, somewhat spatulate. 

 Root composed of many strong fibres, which run deep into 

 the ground ; steins several, about a foot long, dividing into 

 many small branches. The flowers are -produced in loose 

 spikes at the ends of the branches, on pretty long stalks, and 

 have large calices; the corollas are of an herbaceous white 

 colour, and smell like the Vine-blossom, or the fruit of the 

 Raspberry. Mr. Miller observes, that this, and the eleventh 

 species, are so much alike, as by some persons to be taken 

 for the same. The luxury of the pleasure-garden, observes 

 Mr. Curtis, is greatly heightened by the delightful odour 

 which this plant diffuses; and as it grows more readily in 

 pots, its fragrance may be conveyed into the house. The 

 odour, though not so refreshing as that of the Sweet Briar, 

 is not apt to ofFond the most delicate olfactories. Hence the 

 French call it Mignonette, or Little Darling ; to which Cow- 

 per alludes, when he terms it " the Frenchman's favourite." 

 It flowers from June till the commencement of winter. It is 

 raised from seeds, which should be sown on a moderate hot- 

 bed in March, and when the plants are strong enough to trans- 

 plant, they should be pricked out upon another moderate hot- 

 bed, to bring them forward ; but must have a large share of free 

 air in warm weather, to prevent their being drawn up weak. 

 About the end of May they may be removed into pots, and 

 placed in or near dwellings ; and some in warm borders, to 

 flower and seed, for those which grow in the full ground 

 often produce more seeds than those in pots: when the seed- 

 vessels begin to swell, the plants are frequently infested with 

 green caterpillars, which, if not destroyed, will eat off all the 

 seed-vessels, or, they may be sown in pots of light earth, 

 and plunged into the hot-bed, which is probably the better 

 practice. If the seeds are sown on a light bed of earth in 

 April, the plants will come up very well, and, when they are 

 not transplanted, will grow larger than those raised in the 

 hot-bed, but will not flower so early, and hardly ripen their 

 seeds in cold seasons. In a warm dry border, however, the 

 seed will come up spontaneously, and grow very luxuriantly: 

 but, to have the flowers early in spring, the seeds should be 

 sown in pots in autumn, kept in frames through the winter, 

 or on a gentle hot-bed in spring. These plants may also be 

 preserved through the winter in a green-house, where they 

 will continue flowering most part of the year, but in the 

 second year will not be so vigorous as the first. 



Rest Harrow. See Ononis. 

 VOL. ii. 104. 



Restio; a genus of the class Dkecia, order Triandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix : ament, ovate 

 or oblong, many-flowered; scales coriaceous, keeled; peri- 

 anth four or six leaved, compressed, nearly equal ; of which two 

 of the outer are boat-shaped, the third flat; the three inner, 

 lanceolate, thinner, one wider than the others. Corolla : 

 none, except the three inner glumes. Stamina: filamenta 

 three, flattish ; antherse oblong. Female, on a separate 

 plant. Calix and Corolla : as in the male. Pistil : germen 

 three-sided ; style single, rarely double, very rarely triple ; 

 stigma seldom simple, very frequently two, very rarely three, 

 feathered. Pericarp: capsule two or three lobed, and as 

 many celled, bursting at the angles.. Seeds: solitary, oval. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Ament: imbricated. Peri- 

 anth: four or six leaved, shorter than the scales of the ament, 

 destitute of internal scales. Corolla: none. Antherce : pel- 

 tate. Female. Ament and Perianth: as in the male. Stig- 

 mas: two or three. Capsule: of two or three lobes, and as 



many cells, bursting at the angles. Seeds: solitary. The 



species are, 



1. Restio Paniculatus. Stem frondose; spikes panicled. 

 Native of the Cape. 



2. Restio Verticillaris. Branches in whorls, jointed; 

 panicle compound, contracted; branches in, whorls about the 

 stem. Stem five or six feet high, resembling an Equisetum 

 in its copious, slender, whorled branches from every joint. 

 Native of the Cape. 



3. Restio Dichotomus. Culms dichotomous; spikes soli- 

 tary. Native of the Cape; where it is made use of for 

 besoms. 



4. Restio Vimineus. Culms simple ; spikes corymbed. 

 Native of the Cape. 



5. Restio Triflorus. Culms simple, leafy; spikes alternate, 

 sessile. Found at the Cape. 



6. Restio Simplex. Culm simple; spike terminating. 

 Found at New Zealand, as well as at the Cape. 



7. Restio Elegia. Culms simple; spike glomerate; spathes 

 partial, vague, simple. Native of the Cape. 



8. Restio Cernuus. Culm simple, leafless ; spikes turbi- 

 nate, pendulous ; scales blunt with a point. Native of the 

 Cape. 



9. Restio Tectorum. Culm simple, leafless ; raceme 

 compound, erect. Native of the Cape; where the houses 

 are commonly thatched with this species, both in town and 

 country, and sometimes whole huts are built with it. A roof 

 thus thatched will last twenty or thirty years; and would last 

 much longer, if the south-east wind did not blow so much 

 dirt into it as to cause it to rot. 



10. Restio Imbricatus. Culm simple, leafless ; spike ob- 

 long, compressed. Native of the Cape. 



1 1 . Restio Vaginatus. Culm simple, leafless ; spikes alter- 

 nate, erect; scales acuminate. Native of the Cape. 



12. Restio Aristatus. Culm simple, leafless; spikes termi- 

 nating, obovate, erect; scales awned. Native of the Cape. 



13. Restio Umbellatus. Culm simple, leafless ; spikes um- 

 belled, ovate; scales oblong, blunt. Native of the Cape. 



14. Restio Spicigerus. Culm simple, leafless ; spikes ob- 

 long, hexagonal ; scales lanceolate, patulous at the tip. 

 Native of the Cape. 



15. Restio Acuminatus. Culm simple, leafless; panicle 

 simple, evect ; scales awned. Native of the Cape. 



16. Restio Parviflorus. Culm simple, leafless; panicle 

 erect; scales rounded, membranaceous. Native of the Cape. 



17. Restio Erectus. Culm simple, leafless; panicle erect, 

 involucred ; spathes imbricate-lanceolate. Native of the 

 Cape. 



5Z 



