CHAP. XLII. #OSA N CK;E. SVIHX^A. 729 



a 18. S. HK'LLA Sims. The beautiful Spira-a. 



Identification. Sims Hot. Mag., t. 242t>. ; Don's Prod. Fl. Nep., |>. 227. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 54J. i 



Don's Mill., 2. p. 518. 

 Engravings. Bot. Mag., t. 2426. ; and our fig. 440. 



,Vpr. ("///-., S,-c. Stems erect, branched, gla- 

 brous, and reddish. Leaves ovate, acute, 

 sharply serrated, whitishly tomentose on the 

 under surface. Flowers pretty, rose-coloured, 



and laxly disposed. Lobes of the calyx de- 

 flexed. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 54-2.) A native of 



Nepal ; resembling, in its mode of growth 

 and foliage, S. salicifolia ; but being very 

 distinct from that species in its inflo- 

 rescence ; the flowers of S. salicifolia being 

 produced in a spiked panicle, and those of S. 

 bella in a corymb. It was introduced in 1820, 

 and grows to the height of 3ft. or 4ft., 

 producing its beautiful rose-coloured flowers 

 in May and June. This species is as hardy, 

 and as easily propagated, as that very com- 

 mon shrub, S. salicifolia ; as, like that spe- 

 cies, it emits, from under the soil, rooting sprouts, or suckers, which, when 

 their leaves begin to turn yellow, at the end of their season of growth, may 

 be detached, and planted separately, as distinct plants ; and it is, at the 

 same time, one of the most beautiful of the genus. No garden, however 

 small, ought to be without it. Plants are Is. each. 



iii, Spirdria Ser. 



Sect. Char. Ovaries distinct. Torus with its base connate with the tube of 

 the calyx ; its tip separate. Carpels not inflated. Inflorescence a panicle. 

 Leaves serrate, without stipules. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 544.) 



* 19. S. SALICIFO V LIA L. The Willow-leaved Spiraja. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 700. ; Camb. Monog. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 544. 

 St/nonymet. Spiras'a frtitex Hort. ; Bridewort, Queen's Needle-work. 

 Engravings. Gmel. FL Sibir., 3. t. 49. ; Eng. Bot., t. 1468. ; and our fig. 443. 



Spec. Char., $c. Stem and peduncles glabrous. Leaves lanceolate, serrated, 

 and, more or less, doubly so ; glabrous. Lobes of the calyx triangular, 

 spreading. Carpels glabrous. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 544.) A native of 

 Siberia, Tartary, and Bohemia; also of Canada, and, perhaps, of Britain. 



Varieties. Seringe has characterised four forms of this species, as follows : 



* S. s. 1 cornea Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. iii. p. 254., Camb. Monog., Eng. 



Bot., 1. 1468., and our Jig. 443. Leaves lanceolate. Panicles consist- 

 ing of racemes more or less spicated. Petals of a flesh colour. 

 Bark of the branches yellowish. This is, by the reference to Eng. 

 Sot. cited, the form which is found wild in Britain : whether it be 

 indigenous or not, botanists are not agreed. Professor Henslow 

 has referred it (Catal. of Brit. Plants} to his class " Possibly intro- 

 duced by the Agency of Man." 



S. s. 2 alpestris Pall. Fl. Ross., i. p. 36. t. 22., Camb. Monog. ; S. 

 alpestris Don's Mill., ii. p. 519. A small shrub. Leaves shorter 

 than those of S. s. carnea. Branches very short. 



* S. s. 3 paniculdta Willd. Sp., ii. p. 1055., Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2. iii. 



p. 254. S. alba Ehrh. Beitr., vii. p. 137. Leaves ovate-oblong. 

 Petals white. Bark of the branches red. It is likely that this is 

 also the S. alba of Miller, of Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 133., and of 

 Muhlenbcrgs Catalogue of North American Plants. 

 a S. s. 4 latifolia Willd. Sp., ii. p. 1055. S. obovata Raf. in Litt., 



