P s o 



P T E 



the leaves are of a deep green colour, composed 

 of three or four pairs of very narrow leaflets, 

 terminated by an odd one, standing upon short 

 footstalks, and coming out without order on every 

 side of the branches : the flowers sit very close 

 to the branches, and are often in clusters : the 

 standard, which is erect and reflexcd at the 

 top, is of a fine blue ; the wings are pale, and 

 the keel white. It flowers during a great part 

 of the summer, and the seeds ripen in autumn. 

 It grows naturally at the Cape. 



The second species is a shrub with angular 

 branches, and lateral solitary flowers without 

 bractes. It is a native of the Cape, flowering 

 in June and July. 



The third has a shrubby stem, dcterminately 

 branched, with round pubescent branches :' the 

 leaves sessile : leaflets even, dotted, pointed at 

 the end with a patulous spine : stipules chafFy, 

 lanceolate, acuminate, ciliate : the spikes termi- 

 natina;, solitary, sub-viilose, peduncled : the 

 flowers separated by ovate-acuminate ciliate 

 bractes, almost the length of the flowers; the 

 corolla violet-coloured, with a white keel having 

 a violet spot in front. It is a native of the Cape, 

 flowering in June and July. 



The fourth species is a shrub, with rough- 

 haired rigid branches : the leaves petioled : leaf- 

 lets sub-petioled, sub-pubescent : the floners at 

 the ends of the branches : calyces pubescent : 

 corollas violet-coloured. It is a native of the 

 Cape, continuing in flower most part of the 

 summer. 



The fifth has a perennial root, but the stalk not 

 of long duration, seldom lasting more than two 

 years : it rises about two feet high, sending out 

 two or three slender branches : the leaflets about 

 two inches long, and one inch and a quarter 

 broad, on long foot-stalks : the leaves, if handled, 

 emit a strong scent of bitumen : the heads of 

 flowers are on axillary peduncles seven or eight 

 inches long, and bkieish, smelling like black 

 currants. It is a native of Italy, Sicily &c., 

 flowering most part of the summer. 



The sixth species has diflused, herbaceous 

 stems, with glandular dots scattered over them : 

 the leaflets roundish, very blunt, obsoletely 

 toothed or angular, sprinkled with glandular dots ; 

 the middle one larger and petioled : the spikes 

 axillary, oblong, on peduncles the length of the 

 leaves. It is a native of Madeira, flowering 

 late. 



The seventh is an annual plant : the stalks 

 rise two feet high, and have at each joint one 

 leaf about two inches long, and an inch and a 

 half broad, having one strong midrib, from 

 which come out several veins, that run towards 

 the top of the leaf: the flowers are produced on 

 long slender axillary peduncles^ collected into 



small round heads, and are of a pale flesh-colour. 

 It grows naturally in India^ and flowers in July 

 in this climate. 



The eighth species is also an annual plant, 

 with a very branching herbaceous stalk, rising 

 a foot and half high, spreading wide on every 

 side : the leaves are composed of five or six 

 pairs of narrow wedge-shaped leaflets, termi- 

 nated by an odd one : the flowers are collected 

 in close oblong spikes at the ends of the branches, 

 are small, and of a light blue colour. It is a 

 native of Vera Cruz. 



Callure. — ^These plants are increased by sow- 

 ing the seeds in the early spring months, on a 

 moderate hot-bed, or in pots, plunging them in 

 it. When the plants have attained three or four 

 inches in growth, they should be planted out 

 into small pots separateJv, gradually hardening 

 them to the open air, so as to be placed out in it 

 in the beginning of the summer. They are 

 likewise capable of being increased by planting 

 cuttings of the young shoots in the summer 

 months, in pots filled with light earth, plunging 

 them in a moderate hot-bed and covering them 

 close with glasses, watering and shading them 

 well till they have stricken root. 



They aflTord variety among other potted green- 

 house plants. 



PSEUDO ACACIA. See Robinia. 



PSEUDO ACORUS. See Iris. 



PSEUDO ASPHODELUS. See Antheri- 



CUM. 



PSEUDO CAPSICUM. See Solanum. 

 PSEUDO DIGITALIS. See Dracocepha- 



LUM. 



PTELEA, a genus containing a plant of the 

 shrul)by kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Tetrandria 

 Monogijnlu, or Dioecia Tetrandria, and ranks 

 in the natural order of Ttreliintacece. 



The characters are : that in the male, the 

 calyx is a four-parted perianthium, acute, small, 

 deciduous : the corolla has four petals, oblong, 

 concave, spreading, larger than the calyx, co- 

 riaceous : the stamina have four awl-shaped fi- 

 laments, erect, curved in at the top, flattish and 

 villose at the base, almost the length of the co- 

 rolla : anthers roundish : the pistillum is an 

 ovate germ, small, abortive : style very short, 

 bifid at the top : stigmas obsolete : female; the 

 calyx and corolla as in the male : the stamina 

 filaments, as in the male, much shorter than 

 the corolla : anthers roundish, barren : the pis- 

 tillum is an os'ate germ, compressed, biggish : 

 style short, compressed : stigmas two, bluntish, 

 diverging : the pcricarpium is a roundish drupe, 

 large, juiceless, compressed, membranaceous- 

 winged, two-celled; the seeds solitary, oblong, 

 attenuated upwards. 



