150 



NATUFiAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



(fic^. 197), usually consists of eight follicles. /. Gnffithii^ which 

 grows in India, is a species with very little aroma, closely analogous 

 to the preceding in all its characters, but with more numerous 

 car])els,-' and the leaves of the perianth more dissimilar, the outer 

 ones being iar broader, thicker, and more rounded than the 

 inner ones, whose consistency is that of petals. 



Finally, /. Jloridanum^ which is cultivated in our conservatories, 

 presents even more dissimilarity in its floral appendages. The 

 outer ones are large and of a whitish green/ as sepals often are, 

 while the middle ones, membranous and still broad, are of a very 

 deep purple, as are also the inner leaves, which become much narrower 

 and more elongated ; so that we here find three kinds of leaves in 

 the perianth. The stamens have a fleshy filament and a broader 

 connective, flattened like a racket or battledore. The carpels are as 

 numerous as in 7. Grijjithii, and the summit of the receptacle also 

 projects in the centre of the flower.' 



Leaving aside all these unimportant diff'erences, all the members 

 of the genus Illicium, whether from North America,' the Antilles,^ 

 India, China, or Japan," present a very large number of characters 



to decide whether these differences, especially in 

 cultivated plants, are sufficient to form two species; 

 and, if the specific autonomy oi I.religiosum is not 

 very contestible, it is very strange that Kjempfek 

 {^Amaen. Exot., 880), whose minute exactitude is 

 well known, having only the Skimi before his 

 eyes, should have wrongly taken it to be the plant 

 of China or Corea [Korai), which produces the 

 Star-anise of commerce. At any rate, Siebold 

 and ZuccARiNi {Fl. Jajjon., i. 5, t. 1) thought 

 he was wrong when they regarded as the only 

 true I. anisatiim the plant spoken of by LotJRElEO 

 (J'/.CocAJnc/(.(17t)U) ,353) and G.T.KTNER(FEtTCT., 

 i. 338, t. 69), and not the plant which Ue Can- 

 DOLLE referred to the same species {Prodi:, i. 

 77, n. 2) after TnuxBERO and many others. 

 Hence they made of the Skhni a distinct species 

 under the name of 7. relijiosum. However, we 

 have seen no other species than theirs among all 

 the specimens contained in the collections from 

 Japan, and especially in those preserved in the 

 Koyal Herbarium of Leyden, and we shall retain 

 /. anisdium and reHtjiosum in one species. (See 

 Adansonia, viii. 9.) 



• Hook. & Thoms., Fl. Ltd., i. 71.— Miers, 

 Contrih., i. 113, n. 3. — Wali\, Ann., iv. 42. 

 This species has about twenty-five leaves in its 

 perianth. 



^ Fi-om fifteen to twenty may be counted. 

 When mature they spread liorizontally, and also 



dehisce by clefts with sharp edges. The apex 

 elongates into a small apicitlus, erect or slightly 

 reflexed in the ripe fruit. They appear very 

 slightly aromatic. 



3 Ellis, in PJdl. Trans., Ix. (1779), 524, t. 

 12.— Lamk., Illusir., t. 493, fig. 1.— G.^setn., 

 Fruct., i. 339. — BuCHOZ, PI. Now. Decouv. 

 (1771), t. xxviii. — Bot. Mag., t. 439.— Spach, 

 op. cit., 443.— A. Gray, Gen. III., i. 56, t. 21.— 

 Miers, loc. cit., n. 4. To Spach this species 

 constitutes tlie section FuiUicium. 



* These outer leaves are also the shortest and 

 broadest. Within them are others of a purple 

 colour ; some broad, and the others, quite inside, 

 narrow and acute. If we wished to make a dis' 

 tinctiou, we should have to admit three sorts of 

 perianth in this flower. The stamens have a fila- 

 ment shorter than the anther, which is constructed 

 like that of I. anisatum. There are from twelve 

 to twenty carpels. 



•' This summit when adult is covered with fine 

 papillic, while in the other species of this genus 

 it is glabrous. 



^ MiCHX., op. cit., i. 326. — A. Gray, Gen. III., 

 55.— CiiAPM., Fl. S. Unit.-Stat., 12. 



^ Griseb., Cat. PI. Cub., 2. 



^ Hook. & Tnoiis., Fl. Ind., loc. cit. — Sieb. 

 & Zucc, loc. cit. — Walp., Rep., i. 72 ; Ann., 

 iv. 42. 



