HEL 



H E L 



large, depressed, green glands, uncertain in 

 number, black when dried". The flowers have 

 no scent. It is a native or" the island of Baru. 

 The second species is likewise a small upright 

 tree, about twelve feet high, branching but 

 little: the younger branches, peduncles, calyxes, 

 and leaves tomentose : the leaves petioled, al- 

 ternate, acme : the stipules in pairs, bristle- 

 shaped : the peduncles many-flowered, termi- 

 nating, glandular. It is a native of Jamaica, 

 flowering here in June and July. 



Culture. — In these plants the increase is ef- 

 fected by seeds, which must be sown upon a 

 hot-bed in the spring, and when the plants are 

 come up sufficiently strong, they should be each 

 planted in a separate small pot filled with light 

 earth, being plunged into a moderate hot- bed 

 of tan, due shade from the sun being given till 

 they have taken new root. They should after- 

 wards be treated in the same way as other tender 

 shrubs, raising the glasses every day in propor- 

 tion to the weather, that they may have fresh 

 air. In summer the plants should remain un- 

 der the frames, if there is sufficient height ; but 

 in autumn beS-eplunged 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 give them too much wet in 

 the winter. In summer they should have a 

 large share of air in warm weather, and be often 

 refreshed with water. 



These plants are very ornamental among other 

 stove exotics. 



HELIOTROPIUM, a genus comprising 

 plants of shrubby, herbaceous, annual, and bi- 

 ennial kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Penlandria 

 JMonogjin'm, and ranks in the natural order of 

 AsperijbUce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianthium, tubular, five-toothed, per- 

 manent: the corolla monopetalous, salver-shap- 

 ed : tube the length of the calyx : border flat, 

 half-five-ckft, obtuse : clefts smaller, alternate, 

 more acute, between the larger ones : throat 

 naked : the stamina have five filaments, very 

 short in the throat : anthers small, covered : the 

 pistillum has four germs : style filiform, length 

 of the stamens : stigma emarginate : there is no 

 pericarpium : calyx~erect, unchanged, cherish- 

 ing the seeds in its bosom (berry): the seeds 

 four, ovate, acuminate (nuts four, naked or 

 corticate, not perforate.) 



The species cultivated are: 1. H. Peruvianitm, 

 Peruvian Turnsole, or Heliotrope ; 2. H. Indi- 

 eum, Indian Turnsole, o* Heliotrope; 3. H. 

 parviftorum, Small-flowered Turnsole, or He- 

 liotrope ; 4. H, Curassavicum, Glaucous Turn- 

 sole, or Heliotrope; 5. H. Canariense, Canary 

 Heliotrope. 



The first rises with a shrubby stalk from two 

 to three feet high, dividing into many small 

 branches: the leaves are three inches long, and 

 an inch and half broad in the middle, hairy, 

 greatly veined, and ash-coloured on their under 

 side, on short foot-stalks: the flowers are pro- 

 duced at the ends of the branches in short reflex 

 spikes, growing in clusters: the peduncles _ di- 

 vide into two or three, and these again into 

 smaller ones, each sustaining a spikelet of pale 

 blue flowers, which have a strong sweet odour. 

 It grows naturally in Peru, flowering here great 

 part of the year. 



The second species has an herbaceous stem,, 

 a foot and a half or two feet high, round, sca- 

 brous, hirsute, subdivided : the leaves cordate- 

 spatulate, ovate, slightly serrate, wrinkled, nerv- 

 ed, hairy, softish : on pretty long petioles, two) 

 inches and a half long, and one and a half broad 

 in the middle : the spikes terminating, single or 

 solitary; sometimes, but very seldom, double ;. 

 sometimes also from the sides of the branches, 

 reflex onlyattheend: the flowers sessile, pointing- 

 one way, approximating in a double row, small, 

 blue. It is a native of the West Indies, and 

 annual or biennial, flowering in July and Au- 

 gust. 



There is a variety which is a smaller plant, 

 seldom more than two feet high; the leaves an. 

 inch and half long, and about half an inch, 

 broad : the spikes of flowers very slender, and 

 not more than two inches long: the flowers 

 small, and of a light blue colour. 



The third has an erect stem, pubescent, a foot 

 high : most of the leaves opposite, except those 

 in the middle of the stem, which arc alternate,, 

 petioled, lucid, and acute : the peduncles oppo- 

 site to the leaves, or from the divisions of the 

 stem, longer than the leaves, erect, each having 

 two recurved, imbricate spikes of white flowers. 

 It is annual, and a native of the West Indies, 

 flowering in July and August. 



The fourth species has an annual root : the 

 stem round, very smooth, withaglaucous gloom- 

 on it: the branches trail on the ground, and 

 grow a foot (or sixteen inches) in length : the 

 leaves are somewhat blunt, quite entire, upright, 

 on very short petioles, some alternate, others op- 

 posite, whitish, and smooth: the spikes in pairs 

 on a common peduncle, and recurved : the co- 

 rolla white, with a yellow base, and an open 

 throat. Tt is a native of the West Indies, 

 flowering in June and July in this climate. 



The fifth rises with a woody stalk three or 

 four feet high, dividing into many branches, 

 with leaves upon long foot-stalks; hairy, and of 

 an ash colour on their under side : the flowers 

 are produced from the side of the branches on 

 pretty long peduncles, each sustaining four short 

 roundish spikes or heads, which divide by pairs, 



