PLATE CXIII. 



STRUTHIOLA I MB RI CAT A. 



Tiled-leaved Struthiola. 



CLASS IV. ORDER I. 

 TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointal. 



GENERIC 

 Calyx, nullus ; nifi bracleas fub germine fro 



calyce ajjitmas. 

 Corolla monopetala, marcefcens; tubus fili- 

 formis, elongatus; limbus quadripartitus, 

 planus, tubo brevior; laciniis ovatis. 



Nedarium, glandulae quatuor, feu octo, 



ovatae, fauci circumpofitae, penicillo proprio 



cinctae. 

 Stamina. Filamenta quatuor, breviflima, intra 



tubum ocultata. Anthers lineares. 

 Pistillum. Germen ovatum. Stylus filifor- 



mis, longltudine tubi. Stigma capitatum, 



hifpidum. 

 Pericarpium coriaceum, ovatum, uniloculare. 

 Semen unicum, acutiufculum. 



SPECIFIC 

 Struthiola foliis ovato-acuminatis, concavis, im- 



bricatis, glabris, margine ciliatis; glandulae 



quatuor lupra faucem. 



CHARACTER. 



Empalement, none; unhfs you take the floral 



leaves at the bafe of the feed-bud for the cup. 

 Blossom one petal, withering; tube thread- 



fhaped, lengthened; border of four divi- 



fions, flat, fliorter than the tube; fegments 



egg-fhaped. 



Honeycup, four or eight oval glands, placed 



round the mouth of the bloffom, each being 



furrounded by its brufli of hairs. 

 Chives. Four threads, very fhort, hid within 



the tube. Tips linear. 

 Pointal. Seed bud egg-fhaped. Shaft thread- 



fhaped, the length of the tube. Summit, a 



hairy knob. 

 Seed-vessel leathery, egg-fhaped, of one cell. 

 Seed one, a little pointed. 



CHARACTER. 



Struthiola with oval leaves, tapering to a point, 

 concave, tiled, fmooth, and hairy at the 

 edges; four glands upon the mouth of the 

 bloffom. 



REFERENCE TO THE PLATE. 



1 . A Flower with its floral leaves, or cup. 



2. The floral Leaves or Cup, magnified. 



3. A Flower cut open, magnified. 



4. The Seed-bud, Chives, and Pointal, magnified. 



The Genus Struthiola, from the few fpecies yet known, has been but llightly confidered. Linnaeus, 

 at the end of his Generic Character, aifines it to Pafferina; it is true, the habits of S. virgata, and 

 S. eredta, which are undoubtedly only varieties of the fame flock, and the only two he had feen, might 

 lead to fuch a comment; but, from the feven fpecies of which we have drawings, all taken from liv- 

 ing plants, and which will be brought forward in due courfe, we confider them, as perfectly diftinct, 

 in more effential characters than merely the number of chives. The acute and diligent Willdenow, 

 in his new edition of Sp. Plant, enumerates five fpecies from Thunberg, &c; but from his notes of 

 obfervation, prefixed to each, he had not feen either living or dried fpecimens of any, but the two 

 above named. The characters in which we obferve this genus to differ from Gnidia and Pafferina, 

 are, firft, a cup of two leaves, conftant in every fpecies we have examined, for they cannot be con- 

 fidered as floral leaves, being attached to the bafe of the bloffom, and joined together at the bottom; 

 fecondly, the honeycup forming a complete cincture to the mouth of the flower, and upon which are 

 feated, four, or eight, upright glands. This fpecies of Struthiola was firft railed in England, at the 

 nurfery, Hammerfinith, from the Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1794. It is a tender green-houfe 

 plant, and very fubject to be deftroyed by wet; therefore, fhould be protected from too much rain in 

 fummer, and kept in an airy part of the houfe in winter. It is propagated by cuttings made in the 

 month of May, or June, and fhould be planted in light, fandy peat, mixt with about one fixth part of 

 loam. The flowers of this, as well as all the fpecies we have feen, are extremely fragrant in the 

 evening, beginning to fmell with the fetting fun, and continuing their flavour till morning. An 

 agreeable peculiarity attendant on moft plants of this natural order, and on every fpecies of this genus, 

 in particular, is, that they flower twice in the year, about the month of March, and again in Sep- 

 tember; in which month, laft year, our drawing was made, from the Hibbertian collection, Clapham 

 Common. 



