MEL 



MEL 



should be destroyed by tljc frost during the 

 winter season. 



In the second and third sorts, the seeds 

 should be sown in pots and plunged in the 

 bark-bed, and n)anaged nearly as the first sort ; 

 but, as being much more tender, must be always 

 kept in pots, and plunged in the tan-bed in the 

 stove during their early growth ; alierwards, 

 when they have acquired considerable size and 

 strength, they may be placed in the open air tor 

 a month or two in the heat ot summer, but 

 the rest of the year be kept in the hot-house : 

 managing them as other woody exotic stove 

 plants. 



The last sort is not common in the gardens. 



The first sort is proper for shrubberies and 

 other parts in warm situations as well as for 

 the green-house, and the others for stove 

 collections. 



MELIANTHUS, a genus containing plants 

 of the perennial exotic kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Dich/namhi 

 Ani^iospermia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Cory dales. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a large 

 pcrianthium, five-parted, coloured, unequal : the 

 two upper segments oblong, erect ; the lowest 

 very short, like a bag, gibbons downwards ; the 

 middle segments opposite interior, lanceolate, 

 the uppermost simple, erect : the corolla has 

 four petals, lanceolate-linear, with the tops 

 reflex, from parallel spreading, turned outwards, 

 forming the lower lip, as the calyx itself does 

 the upper, connected at the sides in tlie middle: 

 nectary one-leafed, placed within tlie lowest 

 segment of the calyx, and fastened to it with 

 the receptacle, very short, compressed at the 

 sides, gashed at the edge, turned downwards by 

 the back : the stamina have four awl-shaped 

 filaments, upright, the length of the calyx ; the 

 two lower shorter, united at the base : anthers 

 cordate-oblong, four-celled in front: the pistil- 

 lum is a four-cornered germ, gibbous, four- 

 toothed: style upright awl-shaped, of the same 

 length, and in the same situation with the 

 stamens : stigma four-cleft, with the upper 

 segment larger : the pericarpium is a quadran- 

 gular capsule, haif-four-cleft, angles sharp, di- 

 stant : cells inflated : partitions open in the 

 centre for a receptacle of the seeds, gaping be- 

 tween the angles : the seeds in fours, subolo- 

 bular, annexed to the centre of the capsule. 



The species cultivated are: 1. 3i. major, 

 Great Honey-flower; -2. iM. minor, Small 

 Honey- flower. 



The first has a woody, perennial, spreading 

 root : the stems nuia\-, woodv, four or fiv.- 

 feet high, herbaceous towards the top : the 



leaves large, embracing the stem at the base, 

 where they have a large single stipule fastened 

 on the upper side of the foot-stalk, with two 

 cars at the base, which also embrace the stem: 

 the leaves have four or f^ve pairs of very large 

 leaflets, deeply jagged into acute segments; and 

 between them runs a leafy jagged border or wing 

 alonic the upper side of the midrib, so as to 

 connect the ieailets at the base ; they are of a 

 gray colour : the spikes are pretty long, spring- 

 nig from between the leaves towards the top of 

 the stalks : the corolla is brown or chocolate 

 colour. It has been remarked by Linnaeus, that 

 when shaken while m flower it distils a 

 shower of nectar. It is a native of the 

 Cape. 



I'he second species rises with round, soft, 

 woody stalks; five or six feet high, sending out 

 two or three branches from the sides: the leaves 

 are not half so large as those of the preceding, 

 deep green on the upper, and whitish on the 

 under side : the llowers come out from the side 

 of the stalks in loose hanging panicles, each 

 sustaining six or eight flowers, smaller than 

 those of the first sort : the lower part of the 

 petals is green, the upper saffron-coloured, and 

 on the outside, in the swelling part of the pe- 

 tals, is a blush of fine red. AJr. Curtis re- 

 marks, that the stem, which is shrubby, during 

 the flowering season is apt to exhibit a naked 

 appearance, having then fewer leaves on it, 

 and those not of their full size : that the 

 foliage has an unpleasant smell ; and that the 

 nectar does not flow so copiously as in the large 

 sort, but is retained at the bottom of the corolla, 

 and is of a dark brown colour. It is a native of 

 the Cape. 



Culture. — These plants may be increased bv 

 suckers from the roots and cuttings of the yountr 

 stalks or branches. 



The first sort is best raised by planting the 

 suckers or side-shoots, any time in the spring 

 or summer seasons, choosing such as are furnish- 

 ed with root fibres, in pots, or the places where 

 they are to remain, which, after they are 

 planted and have taken root, require little fur- 

 ther care but to keep them clean from weeds. 

 Tiie cuttings may be planted during any of tlie 

 summer months, due water and shade beini'' 

 given. When they ha\e taken root they should 

 be planted out where they are to remain, or in 

 separate pots, to be managed as green-house 

 plants. 



The second sort is raised with moredifliculty, 

 and chieHy from cuttings, which should be 

 planted upon an old hot-bed, the heat of which 

 is over, and covered close with bell- or hand- 

 fflasses to exclude the air. When tlie\- liase 

 ^ 2 



