ERY 



ERY 



five-lcavcd, upright, sharp, exceeding the co- 

 rolla, seated on the germ : the corolla uni- 

 versal, uniform, roundish: floscules all fertile: 

 proper five-petalled : petals oblong, the tips bent 

 inwards tothe base, straightened longitudinally by 

 a line : the stamina consist of live capillary fila- 

 ments, straight, exceeding the floscules: an- 

 thers oblong : the pistillum is a hispid inferior 

 germ : styles two, filiform, straight, length of 

 .the stamens : stigmas simple: the pencarpium 

 is an ovate fruit, divisible in two directions; the 

 seeds oblong, and columnar. 



The species cultivated arc: 1. E. fcet'idum, 

 Stinking Eryngo ; 2. E. planum, Flat-leaved 

 Eryngo ; 3. E. maritimum. Sea Eryngo, or Sea- 

 Holly; 4. E.amethijstinum, Amethystine Eryn- 

 go ; 5. E. Alpinum, Alpine Eryngo. 



The first has an annual or biennial root. The 

 root-leaves bluntish ; the serraturcs terminating 

 in harmless spines. The stem a foot high or 

 more, green, somewhat angular, dichotomous, 

 spreading ; with the extreme branches flexuose. 

 The leaves on the branches opposite, stem- 

 clasping, wedge-shaped, subeonnate, with the 

 edge toothed and semitrifid ; the divisions lan- 

 ceolate, all the angles terminating in a purplish 

 spine. The peduncle springs from the angles of 

 •the stem ; it is straight, shorter than the mter- 

 node, triangular, streaked on the sides. The in- 

 volucres are composed of six leaflets or there- 

 abouts; are horizontal, and longer than the 

 flower ; the lealets are lanceolate, nerved, and 

 have a spine at the tip and at one or two of the 

 serratures. The common receptacle is cylindrie, 

 whence the flower is cylindrie. It is of a dull 

 white colour, appearing at the divisions and ex- 

 tremities of the branches. The whole plant has 

 a very penetrating, strong, but not unsavoury 

 smell. It is a native of Virginia, flowering in 

 June and July. 



The second species has a perennial root. The 

 stem upright, round, furrowed or streaked, 

 whitish, about a foot and half in height, blueish 

 at top, where it divides into three parts, each of 

 which is terminated by a pcduncled axillary 

 flower. Lower leaves cordate ovate, obtuse, on 

 long petioles, with unequal, mueronate notches 

 about the edge; stem-leaves sessile ; the upper- 

 most lobed, gashed, smaller 6errate, the notches 

 fpinulose. The flowers in terminating heads, 

 fenced with a six-leaved involucre, spreading 

 and reflex. It is a native of Austria, &c. (lower- 

 ing in July. 



There is a variety with white stalks and 

 flowers. 



The third has a creeping root, running deep 

 into the ground. The lcavesroundish, still, gray, 

 set with sharp spines on the edges. The sterna 



a foot high, branched, smooth, having at each 

 joint leaves of the same form with the lower 

 ones, but smaller. The flowers come out at 

 the ends of the branches in roundish prickly 

 heads, and are of a whitish blue colour; under 

 each head is a range of narrow, stiff", prickly 

 leaves, spreading like the rays of a star. The 

 flowers appear in July. It is a native of Britain, 

 &c. The young flowering-shoots when eaten 

 as asparagus are very grateful, and of a nourish- 

 ing quality. 



The fourth species has the lower leaves divided 

 like the fingers of a hand, into live or six seg- 

 ments, which are very much cut at their extre- 

 mities into many parts, and have small spines. 

 The stem is about two feet high, with smaller 

 and more divided leaves. The upper part of the 

 stem, and also the heads of Howers, are of the 

 finest amethystine colour, making a fine appear- 

 ance. It is a native of Styria, flowerina; in 

 July. 



The fifth species has a perennial root. The 

 leaves are cordate and toothed, the lower on 

 long petioles, the upper stem-clasping. The 

 lower leaves resemble those of Cacalia,"but are 

 more acute, and the teeth end in a soft spine. 

 Amethystine leaves surround the oblong head 

 of flowers; some of them bristle-form and re- 

 flex, others pinnati lid and lanceolate. It is cu- 

 rious, according to Villars, on account of the 

 beauty of the involucres, which are of a vinous 

 azure blue, mixed with green and white. It is 

 a native of Switzerland, &c. 



Culture. — Some of these plants may be in- 

 creased by seed, and the others by planting 

 their creeping roots. 



The first, second, fifth, and sixth sorts are 

 raised by sowing the seeds, in the first on a hot- 

 bed or in pots plunged into it, but in the others 

 in the autumn, in the places where the plants 

 are to grow. 



When the plants have attained some growth, 

 in the first kind, they should be removed into se- 

 parate small pots, filled with light, fresh, fine 

 mould, and replunged into the bark hot-bed, 

 being afterwards managed as other exotic plants 

 of the tender kind. The plants usually flower 

 the second year, and then die. In the other 

 species all the culture that is required after the 

 plants appear is that of thinning them properly, 

 keeping them free from weeds, and digging the 

 ground about them in the early spring season. 



The third species must be increased by plant- 

 ing portions of the creeping roots of the young 

 plants in a dry gravelly soil in the autumn, as 

 soon as the stems decay. They grow the largest 

 and most fleshy in the root in such situations as 

 are occasjonallv overflowed by the sea- water. 

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