PLATE CCCCXXIX. 
PROTEA INCURVA. 
Incurved-leaved Protea. 
CLASS IV. ORD ER I. 
TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointal. 
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER. 
rd 
Coroia quadrifida, sive quadripetala. An- | Biossom four-cleft, or four-petaled. Tips 
s Pp apicem linear, inserted on the petals below the 
Calyx proprius, nullus. Nux unisperma, apex. Empalement proper, none. Nut 
supera, one-seeded, above. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTER, &Xc. 
Protea, foliis filiformibus incurvis glabris, 
capitulis racemoso-spicatis tomentosis. | leaves, and heads of flowers racemose- 
Thunb. Prod, 26.—Diss.. no, 22. tab. 3. spiked and woolly. 
Jig. 2.—Willd, Sp. Pl, 1. 516. | 
Protea, with thread-shaped incurved smooth 
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE. 
1, A flower. 
2. A petal magnified. 
3. The seed-bud and pointal, with the summit detached and magnified. 
Tue Protea incurva isa native of the Cape of Good Hope, which is also the native country of by 
far the greater part of this extensive genus. 
In this country it is considered and treated as a hardy green-house plant; and requires, like most of 
its congeners, a fresh loamy soil, and an airy situation in the winter. A very abundant supply of 
fresh air, indeed, is of essential consequence in the cultivation of most of the Cape plants; they 
benefit by it in the day time in most sorts of weather, even if rainy, provided the plants are not wetted 
by the rain, and the temperature of the atmosphere is not lower than forty degrees of Fahrenheit’s 
thermometer. 
In many collections, we are of opinion, too little air is usually admitted in the green-house ; espe- 
cially in winter, and early spring: and we are also of opinion, that where we have seen the most 
given, the plants are the most healthy and robust. The fine collection at Mr. Hibbert’s is a 
powerful argument in favour of this theory.—In few places is air so freely given ; in none are plants 
in finer health: therefore much air is essentially necessary ; for plants, like animals, are now known to 
absorb from the atmosphere, through a process analogous to respiration, its oxygenous particles ; thence 
deriving strength and vigour, and without which no animal or vegetable can at all maintain either 
health or life. 
Our figure was made from the Clapham Collection last June. The plant is shrubby, erect, and 
is propagated by cuttings in the usual way. 
