646 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART II. 



355 



G.Don, /fedy"sarum retusum Hamilt., which is a shrub growing to the height 

 of 2ft., with large pinnate leaves, and leaflets nearly 2 in. long, and half an inch 

 broad 



Dictrma elegans Dec., fledy'sarum elegans Lour., Z6rm'o legans Pers., is an 

 erect shrub, growing to the height of 3 ft., with trifoliolate leaves; a native of 

 China, near Canton. It was introduced in 1819, and produces its yellow flowers 

 in July and August. 



Taverniera Dec. is a genus of 

 shrubs, natives of Persia and Ara- 

 bia, with simple and trifoliolate 

 leaves, and rose-coloured or yellow 

 flowers. T. nummularia Dec. (Leg. 

 gp Mem., 7. t. 52.), //ed^sarum Oli- 

 ver* Spreng., produces its rose-co 

 loured flowers in June and July. It 

 was introduced in 1826, and grows 

 }o the height of 2ft. 



Lespedlzz Michx. is a genus of ' jll 356 



plants, chiefly natives of Siberia 

 and of North America, several of which are suffruticose ; but none of them have been introduced 

 except L. frutescens Pers. (Jac. Fin., 3. 89.), which is a native of Carolina, where it grows 2ft. 

 or 3ft. high, and produces its purplish flowers in July and August. 



Flemingia. semialata Roxb. Cor., 3. t. 249., is a deciduous 

 shrub, a native of Nepal, introduced in 1805. It grows 3 ft. or 

 4ft. high, and produces its pale red flowers in July and August. 

 E'benus erotica L., ^nth^llis cretica Lam., (Bot. Mag., 

 1. 1092.) is a shrub, a native of Candia, with large reddish or 

 purple flowers, having the staminiferous tube elegantly striated, 

 which was introduced in 1737. It grows to the height of 2ft, 

 and flowers in June and July. 



Alhagi Maurdrum Tourn., ffedy'sarum Alhtigi L., Alhagi 

 mannffera Desf., On&nis spinbsa Hasselq., Manna hebraica D. 

 Don, (Prod. Fl. Nep., 247. ; Rauw. Itin., 1. p. 94., icon.) is a 

 native of the deserts of Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and other 

 eastern countries. It was introduced in 1714, but is seldom met 

 with in green-houses. In its native country, it grows 2 ft or 

 3ft. high, and produces its purplish flowers, which are red- 

 dish about their edges, in July and August. The manna of the 

 Jews is generally considered to have been produced from this 

 plant ; and the Arabians have a tradition, that it fell from the 

 clouds upon it, to feed the Israelites in the desert. This, how- 

 ever, is contrary to what is recorded in the Scriptures ; viz. 

 that the miraculous manna appeared only on the rocks, and 

 on the sand, and hence the surprise of the Israelites, who would not have been astonished if they 

 had seen small portions of it on the plants ; but who, finding it in such immense quantities on the 

 ground, where they had never seen it before, could hardly believe it to be the same thing, and ex- 

 claimed in Hebrew, "Man?" that is to say What is it? whence, possibly, the name. The manna pro- 

 duced by the alhagi is a natural exudation fromthe leaves and branches, which takes place only in 

 very hot weather. At first, it resembles drops of honey : but it granulates with the atmosphere 

 into particles of different sizes, but seldom larger than a coriander seed. It is collected by the 

 natives, more especially about Taurus, where the shrub grows plentifully ; but it is not known in 

 this country as an article of foreign commerce ; the manna of the druggists being the concrete juice 

 of the f^rnus europse v a. The Alhagi Maurorum ought to be in all extensive collections, as a plant 

 of historical interest. A. cameldrum, a herbaceous species, introduced in 1816, produces a similar 

 exudation, which is called Caspian manna. The plant is a native of the deserts of Tartary and 

 Siberia, where it forms a food for camels; whence its name. (BurneVs Outlines, 2. p. 659.) 



Clidnthus puniceus Soland., the Dbnia puniceaof G. and D. Don, (Bot. Reg., 

 t. 1775., and our fig. 358.) is a New 



Zealand shrub, introduced in 1832, or ..^^. _ ._ 358 



earlier. It was originally discovered by Sir 

 Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander, in 1769, 

 but was not noticed in any scientific work 

 till a description of it was published in 

 Don's Miller, in 1832. It appears to have 

 been first grown in England by Wm. Le- 

 veson Gower, Esq., in his garden at Titsey 

 Place, near Godstone, where it flowered 

 in the summer of 1834. It was figured 

 in the Bot. Reg., in July, 1835 ; and in 

 the Hort. Trans., 2d series, vol. i. t. 22., 

 in the same year. The seeds were sent 

 home by the missionaries in New Zea- 

 land, where it is called kowain-gutukaka, 

 or the parrot's bill ; and where it is said 

 to grow to the size of a large tree, though the specimens in Britain appear 

 quite suffruticose, and have not reached a greater height than 4 ft. " From 



