H M M 



H A L 



bulbous-rooted plants, little water being given 

 in the winter season, but pretty frequently in 

 warm weather, and when flowering, with also 

 a pretty free allowance of air. 



They are all very ornamental in stove coL- 

 lections. 



H/EMATOXYLUM, a genus containing a 

 plant of the exotic tree kind for the stove. 



It belongs to the class and order Decandria 

 Mo/iogyn'tu, and- ranks in the natural order of 

 i.i merit accce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianthium, coloured : tube very short,. 

 pitcher-shaped, fleshy, permanent: border five- 

 parted, spreading, deciduous: parts oblong, 

 blunt ; the four upper ones equal, the lowest a 

 little longer than the rest: the corolla has five 

 lanceolate petals, broadest at top, blunt, veined, 

 spreading, nearly equal, inserted into the calyx, 

 and larger than its divisions : the stamina have 

 ten subulate filaments, hairy at bottom on the 

 inside, upright, unequal, scarcely longer than 

 the corolla, inserted into the calyx: anthers oval, 

 small : the pistillum is an oblong sabre-shaped, 

 compressed germ : style capillary, bent at the tip, 

 longer than the stamens : stigma funnel-shaped : 

 the pericarpium is a lanceolate legume, flat, blunt, 

 one-celled, edged on each side with a thickish 

 suture that does not open, opening by the burst- 

 ing of the valves in the middle longitudinally, 

 and dividing into two unequal boat-shaped parts-: 

 the seeds few, oblong, compressed, furrowed, 

 and fixed to one of the- sutures. 



The only species is II. Campcchianum, Log- 

 wood, Blood-wood, or Campeehe-wood. 



In its native situation it rises from sixteen 

 to twenty-four feet high. The stem is generally 

 crooked, and seldom- thicker than a man's thigh : 

 the inner bark is red, aud the wood hard: the 

 branches are subdivided, flexuose, prickly, round, 

 ash-coloured : the leaves pinnate: petioles al'er- 

 "nate, patulous^round, smooth ; leaflets four pairs, 

 on very short petiolulcs, generally obcordate, en- 

 tire, small, veined, very smooth and shining, 

 spreading in the day time, but at night upright, 

 converging: the flowers are pcduncled, nume- 

 rous, small, pale yellow ; on short, scattered, 

 sample, coloured peduncles. It is a native of 

 Campeche, flowering in March and April. 



Culture. — This plant is increased, by sowing 

 the seeds procured from its native situation, in pots 

 filledwith light earth, phmgingthem in the bark - 

 bed in the stove. When of a few inches growth, 

 they should be removed into separate pots, and 

 be replunged into the hot-bed. By this means 

 thev grow rapidly the first year. 



They are, however, very tender, requiring the 

 constant protection of the stove, and daily watering. 

 7 



Tlrese plants afford variety in mixture with 

 otthers of the stove kind. 



HALESIA, a genus containing plants of the 

 hardy deciduous flowering shrubby kinds, Caro- 

 lina Snow-drop Tree. 



It belongs to the class and order Dodecandria 

 Monogyhia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Bicornes. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianthium, very small superior, four- 

 toothed, permanent: the corolla monopetaloiu> 

 bell - shaped, ventricose; mouth four-lobcd, 

 blunt, patulous: the stamina have twelve fila- 

 ments (seldom sixteen), subulate, upright, a lit- 

 tle shorter than the corolla : anthers oblong, 

 blunt, upright : the pistillum is an oblong, in- 

 ferior germ: style filiform, longer than the co- 

 rolla: stigma simple: the pericarpium is a corti- 

 cate nut, oblong, narrowing to both ends, four- 

 cornered, the corners membranaceous, two-cell- 

 ed (drupe four-celled) : the seeds solitary. 



The species are : 1 . H. tetraptera, Four-wing- 

 ed Halcsia, or Snow-drop Tree; 2. H. diptera; 

 Two-winged Halesia. 



The first frequently comes up with two or three 

 stems, from fifteen to twenty feet high, send- 

 ing out branches towards their tops : the leaves 

 are serrate, sharp-pointed, with the middle de- 

 pressed,. growing alternately on short foot-stalks : 

 the flowers hang in small bunches all along the 

 branches, each gem producing from four to 

 eight or nine ; they are of a pure snowy white- 

 ness ; and as they blow early in the spring, be- 

 fore the leaves appear, and continue for "two or 

 three weeks, make a most elegant appearance : 

 they are succeeded by pretty large four-winged 

 fruit, hanging likewise in bunches,, and agree- 

 able to the taste. It is a native of South 

 Carolina ; flowering in April and May. 



In the second species,, the leaves are six times 

 the size of the foregoing, not at all tomentose 

 underneath : the fruit mucronate, with two large 

 wings opposite to each other, and two minute 

 ones. It is a native of Georgia. 



Culture. — These plants are capable of being 

 raised by seeds and layers. In the first method-, 

 the seed should be sown in pots of light earth, 

 placing them in a situation to have the morning 

 sun, or, what is better, in a mild hot-bed. When* 

 the plants arc up, which is often long in effect- 

 ing, they should have air prettv freely admitted 

 in order to harden them, but be sparingly water- 

 ed. They should afterwards lie occasionally. 

 protected from bad weather, and, when of suf- 

 ficient hardy growth, be turned out of the pats, 

 avid removed into the situations where they arc- 

 to remain. 



The layers of the young shoots may be laid 



