T H A 



T II A 



Soc. V. 8. 340. t. 20. f. 3. Brown Prodr. Nov. HoU. v. I. 

 307. Purih 584. JufT. 63. (Cortufa; Plum. Gen. 26. 

 t. 8. Peronia; Redout. Liliac. v. 6. 342.) — Clafs and order, 

 Monandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Scitaminee, Linn. Canrnc, 

 Juff. Cannes, Brown. 



Gen. Ch. Col. Perianth fuperior, of three equal, ovato- 

 lanccolate, permanent leaves. Cor. of one petal, irregular. 

 Tube none. Limb double : the outer divided to the bafe 

 into three equal, oblong, concave fegments, much longer 

 tlian the calyx : inner two-lipped ; its upper lip convolute, 

 abrupt, flightly three-lobed, hardly fo long as the outer 

 limb ; lower twice as long, deeply three-lobed, with two 

 awl-fliaped appendages, the central lobe contrafted in the 

 middle. Stam. Filament one, declining, linear, dcprefied, 

 the length of the upper lip, and attached to one of its 

 edges ; anther fimple, ovate, of one cell, opening inwards. 

 Piji. Germen inferior, roundifh ; ftyle cylindrical, longer 

 than the ftamen, revolute ; lligma irregular, ringent, per- 

 forated, beardlefs. Perk. Berry oval, of one cell, with a 

 thin pulp. Seed folitary, large, oval, with a large horny 

 albumen, and a folitary, central, curved embryo, accom- 

 panied by an empty cell. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx of three leaves. Corolla of one petal, 

 in five deep unequal fegments, without a tube. Anther 

 fimple, ovate. Style recuived. Stigma ringent, perforated. 

 Berry with one feed. 



Obf. The characters and ftrufture of the flower have in 

 few genera been involved in fo much uncertainty as in Thalia. 

 We have endeavoured to draw up as corredl a defcription as 

 we could, from Mr. Sowerby's excellent plate of Thalia 

 dealbata, publifhed in 1794, by the late Mr. Frafer, and de- 

 lineated under our infpeftion. Mr. Brown's learned remarks 

 have affifted us as to the feed. The above defcription will 

 be found to agree with Plumier's account of the original 

 fpecies, as far as any thing can be underftood from thence ; 

 leaving little doubt that the two plants in queftion form one 

 genus. Linnseus has left many manufcript correftions of his 

 generic charafters of Thalia, we know not from whence de- 

 rived, which, though they accord as far as they go with 

 our obfervations, do not fuperfede them. The prefent genus, 

 no doubt, is next akin to Maranta, but their differences 

 will appear evident from a comparifon of their defcriptions. 

 They both belong to the new order of Cann£, or Canne<e, 

 recently feparated by Mr. Rofcoe and Mr. Brown from the 

 Linnaean Scitamine.'E. See that article. 



I. T. geniculata. Diftant-flowered Thalia. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 3. Willd. n. I. Swartz Obf. 9. (Cortufa arundinacea, 

 amplis cannacori foliis ; Plum. Gen. 26. Ic. 98. t. 108. 

 f. I.) — Leaves ovate. Flowers remote, alternate. Bradeas 

 oblong — Native of the Weft Indies, but hitherto feen by 

 Plumier only. His figures are our only certain authority 

 for this fpecies ; for Dr. Swartz has well obferved, that the 

 fynonyms which authors have accumulated, do not belong 

 to it ; and that what RottboU has defcribed and figured, 

 feems more akin to T- cannafonnis, hereafter mentioned. We 

 have indeed fpecimens, gathered by Mr. Frafer in 1810, in 

 Cuba, near the Havannah, which greatly referable Plumier's 

 figure, and may be his plant, though from the impoffibility 

 of exami.nng their fruftification, we dare not alfert them to 

 be fo. Nevcrthelefs we fhall defcribe them, that botanifts 

 may form their own opinion. The Jlem is feveral feet in 

 height, erefl, round, fmooth, leafy, alternately branched. 

 heaves alternate, ovate, pointed, fmooth, above a foot long, 

 with one rib, and many fine tranfverfe curved veins. Foot- 

 fialk fhe.r'iing, comprcifed, half as long as the leaf, with an 

 oblo- .tlindrical knot at the fummit. Panicle fubdivided, 

 ,j linear, obtufe, flat, ere&fcales, or general braScas, 

 » OL. 'IXXV. 



at each fubdivifion. FhTver-JljIks zigzag, knotty, round, 

 two or three inches long. Partial Iradeai two at each knot, 

 the outermoll much the largcft, embracing and concealing 

 the other, an inch in length, elHptic-oblong, green, finely 

 ribbed, clothed with fcattered fhining haira. Between thefc 

 braSeas is fituated a j)air oi Jlovters, whofe dried corolla is 

 partly purple, and whofe pale, much convoluted and wrinkled 

 lip bears fome ref -mblance to Plumier's figure. 



2. T. dealbata. Mealy ThaUa. Rofcoe Tr. of Linn. 

 Soc. V. 8. 340. Dry and. in Ait. n. i. Purfh n. i. 

 Frafer's Tingle plate. Curt. Mag. t. 1690. (Peronia 

 ftrifta ; Redout. Liliac. t. 342.) — Leaves ovate. Flowers 



crowded. Brafteas ovate, nie'aly Native of impenetrable 



fwamps in South Carohna, flowering in Augufl and Sep- 

 tember. Mr. Purfh fays it was firft difcovered there by 

 T. Millington, cfq. Living plants were brought to Eng- 

 land by the late Mr. Frafer in 1 791, by which this hand- 

 fome and curious fpecies firfl became known to botaniftt. 

 Its root is of courfe perennial. Stem four or five feet high, 

 ereft, round, fmooth ; leafy at the bottom ; panicled at 

 the top, covered with a filvery mealinefs, which clothes alfo 

 the general as well as partial bra&cas, and is eafily rubbed 

 off by a touch. Leaves light green, fmooth, above a foot 

 long, on round fheathing Jlalhs, with a knot at the top. 

 General bra&eas lanceolate, concave, convolute, a fpan long. 

 Floiuer-Jlalks aggregate or compound. Partial bra^cas 

 crowded, in pairs, much more tumid, ovate, and fliortcr 

 than in the foregoing, each pair containing two purple 



Jloivers, whofe ftru<5lure is detailed in our generic charaftcr. 

 Fruit purple, the fize of a hazel-nut, flightly pulpy. 



3. T. cannicformis. ElHptical Thalia. Forft. Prodr. i. 

 Willd. n. 3. Buchanan in Symes's Embaffy to Ava, ed. 2. 

 v. 3. 305. t. 21. — Leaves elliptical. Partial brafteas linear- 

 lanceolate, fhorter than the divided partial flower-ftalk — 

 Native of moift woods in the remote iflands of the Eall 

 Indies, and the New Hebrides, flowering in March and 

 April. T\iejlem is fohd, branched, round, fmooth, leafy, 

 divaricated at the joints. Leaves alternate, broadly ellip- 

 tical, pointed, fmooth, on round fheathing j?a//fj. Panicle ter- 

 minal, with long, flender, pendulous branches, upon which the 



Jlowers are arranged pretty clofely. Every pair of long nar- 

 row /lar/ia/ bradeas contains a divided ftalk, bearing two large 

 whix.tJloTuers, each with the rudiment of another at its bale. 

 The corolla is fomewhat tubular, and the lower lip of its 

 inner limb has two large equal lobes, but in other refpefts 

 the parts of fruftification feem to anfwer well enough to 

 the generic charafter. The fruit, however, which muft 

 fettle that point, is unknown. 



Our learned and highly valued friend Mr. Rofcoe has fug- 

 gefted, that the Maranta Cachibou, Jacq. Fragm. Bot. 52. 

 t. 69 and 70, of which we have a fpecimen gathered by 

 Mr. Maffon at St. Kitt's, may probably be a Thalia. Its 



feed certainly confirms this opinion, but the parts of the 



Jlotver are not yet fufficiently defcribed to authorize any 

 conclufion, nor can we unravel their ftrufture from the 

 dried plant. Whatever becomes of this fpecies, the Ma- 

 ranta Cafupo, t. 63. f. 4, of the fame work, and M. Ca- 



fupito, t. 64. f. 2, mufl; alfuredly be referred to the fame 

 genus. 



Thalia, in Mythology, one of the nine Mufes, who pre- 

 fided over comedy and paltorals. She is diftinguiflied from 

 the other Mufes by her maflc, and from the tragic Mufe 

 by her fhepherd's crook ; her afpeft is likewife meaner than 

 that of Melpomene, and her drefs fhorter and lefs noble 

 than that of the other Mufes. 



Thalia was alfo the name of orie of the Graces. 

 THALICTRUM, in Botany, may poflibly be, as gene- 

 3 K rally 



