936 ARBORETUM AND F RUTICETUM. PART 111 



GENUS I. 



CALYCA'NTHUS Lindl. THE CALYCA'NTHUS, or AMERICAN ALLSPICE. 

 Linn. Syst. Icosandria Polygynia. 



Uctitification. LlndL in Bot. Reg., t. 404. ; Nees Nov. Act Nat. Cur. Bonn., 11. n. 1U7. : Dec. Prod. 



3. p. 2. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 652. 

 Synonymes. Calycanthi sp. Lin., Lam., Willd.; Biittnena Du Ham. Arb., 1. p. 114., not of Lin. ; 



Beurreria Ehret. Pict., t 13. ; Bastdria Adans. Fam., 2. p. 294. : Pompadoura Buchoz : Calycante 



Fr. ; Kelch Blume, Ger. 

 Derivation. From kalux, a calyx, and anttios, a flower ; the calyx is coloured, and resembles a 



corolla. The name allspice was given to it by the inhabitants of Carolina, from the strong aromatic 



smell of the bark. 



Description. Deciduous shrubs, natives of North America ; propagated, in 

 England, by layers. De Candolle states that the removal of the terminal leaf 

 bud of a shoot causes the production of two new flower buds ; and that by this 

 practice a succession of flowers during the whole summer may be obtained. 

 (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 2.) The price of the common kinds, in the London nur- 

 series, is 75*. per hundred, or 9d. each ; at Bollwyller, 1 franc ; and at New 

 York, from 37 cents to half a dollar. 



a 1. C. FLO'RIDUS L. The flowery Calycanthus, or Carolina Allspice. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 718. ; Nutt Gen. Amer., 1. p. 312. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 2. ; Don's Mill., 2. 



p. 652. 

 Synonymes. C. sterilis Walt. Car., 151. ; sweet-scented Shrub, in Carolina : common American 



Allspice. 

 Engravings. Bot. Mag., t 503. ; Du Ham. Arb., 1. t. 45. j Lam. 111., t. 445. f. 1. ; Guimp. Abb. Holz., 



t 4. ; and out fig. 659. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Wood of the trunk, and especially of the root, intensely 

 camphor-scented. Branches spreading ; branchlets tomentose. Leaves oval, 

 tomentose beneath. Flowers mostly abortive. Fruit top-shaped. A native of 

 the shaded banks of rivulets in Carolina. (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 2.) 

 Varieties. De Candolle gives two forms of this species. 



a C.f. 1 oblongus, leaves oblong (Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., 3. p. 282.); and 



at C.f. 2 ovdtus, leaves roundishly ovate (Ait. H. Kew.,ed. 2., 3. p. 282.). 



The following varieties are in Loddiges's Catalogue for 1836 ; and plants 



of most of them are in their arboretum, and in that of the Horticultural 



S ociety : 



C.f. 3 a*plenifblius has cut leaves. 

 a C.f. 4-ferax has fertile flowers. 



* C.f. 5 glaucus has leaves somewhat glaucous. 



* C.f. 6 inodorus has flowers nearly scentless. 



* C.f. 7 longifolius has elongated leaves. 

 C.f. 8 variegdtus has variegated leaves. 



Description, fyc. A shrub, growing to the height of 6 ft. or 8 ft., and form- 

 ing a dense orbiculate bush ; the shoots covered with brown bark, and the 

 leaves opposite on short footstalks. The flowers 

 grow singly on short peduncles at the extre- 

 mity of the branches ; they have two series of 

 narrow thick sepals, which spread open, and 

 turn inward at the top, like those of the ane- 

 mone or clematis. They are of a dusky purple 

 colour, and have a powerful aromatic scent. 

 The plant is a native of Carolina, and was in- 

 troduced by Mark Catesby in 1726. It was not 

 common in British gardens till about 1757; 

 when, according to Miller, many plants were 

 brought from Carolina, it having been greatly 

 increased in the gardens about Charleston. It 

 thrives best in a light, rich, sandy soil, kept 



