THESIUM. 



out any fpocitic name, he laving originally defcribcd the 

 pn-l'ent fpecics in Van Roycn's FroJromus. The younger 

 Linoseus took tliefe fpecimi-ns (or /cairum, with which they 

 agree only fo far as to confirm their'being the capUatum, 

 contralK-d therewith in Sp. V\. Their leaves however can 

 liardly be teniied fmall, meafuring near an incli in length. 

 The braaeas have dilated membranous »dges ; fringed, as 

 Thunberg dofcribes tliem. Calyx witli an oblong, five- 

 angled tube. We cannot fo blindly follow Willdenow, as 

 to infert any fpecics between this 3.vi<i fcabrum. 



17,. Th. /cairum. Rough Thefium. Linn. Sp. PI. 302. 

 Wilid. n. 13. Thunb. Prodr. 45. — Heads of flowers ftalkcd. 

 .Leaves t-hrce-edged, pointed ; their edges very rough with 



cartilaginous teeth Native likewife of the Cape. Nearly 



allied to the laft, though undoubtedly a very diftinft fpecies. 

 The leaves are but half as large, and remarkable for the 

 cartilaginous teeth of their three edges. Floiutr-Jlalh fome- 

 times two or three inches long, naked. Calyx with hardly 

 any tube ; its fcgments, according to Linuccus, internally 

 villous at the tips only, but of this we are not perfe6tly 

 convinced. 



14. Th.Jlriaum. Wand-like Thefium. Berg. Cap. 73. 

 Linn. Mant. 214. Willd. n. 10. Thunb. Prodr. 45 — 

 Leaves lanceolate, with a decurrcnt keel. Cymes terminal. 

 Calyx obtufe, fmooth, except at the back of each ftamen. 

 — Found at the Cape, and firft defcribed by Bergius. 

 Linnsus originally referred the defcrlption of this author 

 to his own Th. capUatum, from which fcarcely any fpecies 

 can be more diftinft. In general dimenfions, and (hrubby 

 habit, indeed they are not unhke ; but the leaves of the 

 prefent plant are much fewer, and more diftant, and the in- 



Jlorefcenee totally different, being a fort of compound irregu- 

 lar umbel, or cyme. The calyx being fmooth both within and 

 without, except a flender tuft of hairs at the back of each 



Jlamen, as obferved by Mr. Brown, reduces this fpecies to a 

 different fcftion, according to that author, along with 



fquairofum, n.^, fragile, n. 16, and fome others. A note 

 at the back of one of the Linnaean fpecimens of Th. JlriHum, 

 gathered by Sparrmann, fays " the fruit is a drupa, like 

 that of Prunus Paduj." If fo, this fpecies fhould feem 

 referrible to fome other genus, as Fufanus ; yet their habits 

 are too diflimilar. 



15. Th. umbellatum. Umbel'd Thefium. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 302. Willd. n. II. Ait. n. 2. Purfh n. i. (Cen- 

 taurium luteum afcyroides virginianum ; Pluk. Mant. 43. 

 Phyt. t. 342. f. I.) — Flowers umbellate. Leaves elliptic - 

 oblong — On drj- hills and fields, from New York to Caro- 

 lina. Perennial, flowering in June and July Flowers 



white. Purjh. Mr. Aiton records its liaving firft been in- 

 troduced into the Britifh gardens in 1782, by the late Dr. 

 Hope, profefTor of botany at Edinburgh. This is an 

 herbaceous fpecies, about a foot high, ereft, fcarcely 

 branched, except at the top, and having more of the afpeft 

 of fome annual Euphorbia, than of the genus of which we 

 arc treating. The leaves are fcattered, on fhort ftalks, 

 ereft, fmooth, nearly oval, about an inch long. Flowers 

 three or four together in fmall umbels, on flender, folitary 



Jlalks, either axillary or terminal. Bradeas three or four 

 under each umbel, pale, lanceolate, dcflexed. Mr. Brown 

 fays the character of the/ow.r of this, the only American 

 fpecies, IS between Fufanus and SaiUalum. Of the/rui/ no- 

 thmg \t, known. 



iir'u: Th./ra^;/,.. Brittle Thefium. Linn. Suppl. 162. 

 Willd. n. 12. Thunb. Prodr. 45. _ Leaves three-edged, 

 lomewhat ovale, keeled, decurrent. Stem angular. Flowers 

 axillary, feffile.— Difcovercd by Thunberg at the Cape of 



Good Hope. We have feen bo fpecimen of this fpecies. 

 It is faid to have the habit of a Salfola, and to be extremely 

 brittle. The leaves are fo very (hort, that at firft fight 

 they fccm to be altogether wanting. 



17. Th. paniculatum. Panicled Thefium. Linn. Mant. 

 51. Willd. n. 14. Thunb. Prodr. 4J. — Stem much 

 branched ; branches diffufe, panicled, angular, many-flowered. 

 Flowers folitary, ftalked. Leaves avvl-fliaped — From the 



Cape of Good Hope The Jlem is round, (hi-ubby, with 



feveral round primary branches, fubdivided throughout into 

 many lateral and terminal, flender, angular ones, repeatedly 

 and irregularly cloven and forked, bearing innumerable, 

 fmall, terminal, ftalked, folitary ^oiyerj, each of which is 

 fubtended by four or five fharp awl-fhaped braSeas, which 

 Linnxus defcribes as an inferior, but not a proper, calyx. 

 The real calyx is obtufe and five-cleft. Frmt like Coriander- 

 feed. Many of the Jloivers are abortive. The leaves are 

 fcattered, and for the moft part very minute. Mr. Brown 

 does not mention this fpecies, perhaps from not having been 

 able to examine the infide of the Jlo'wcrs. 



1 8. Th. ericoiiles. Heath-like Thefium. Heii). Banks. 

 Brown Predr. Nov. HoU. v. I. 353 Stem much branch- 

 ed, panicled ; branches ereft, many-flowered. Flowers 

 capitate. Leaves lanceolate, channelled, decurrent, acute. 

 — Native of the Cape of Good Hope. This has a round 

 fhrubby Jl^m, with the panicled habit, and innumerable 

 {ina\l flowers, of many Erice. The younger Linnaeus con- 

 founded it very negligently with the laft, and it feems to 

 have pafTed undefcribed, being only mentioned in Mr. 

 Brown's work, by the apt name it bears in the Bankfian 

 herbarium. The leaves are pretty numerous, minute, fpread- 

 ing, concave, broad at the bafe ; decurrent at the margins 

 and keel. Flowers feflile, two, three, or four, in each 

 little terminal head, accompanied by feveral imbricated, 

 ovate, keeled, fheathing braBeas, partly jagged or fringed 

 at the edges. Thefe braBeas evince the true nature of what 

 Linnseus terms, in the foregoing, an inferior calyx. 



19. Th. amplexkaule. Heart -leaved Thefium. Linn. 

 Mant 213. WiUd. n. 15. Ait. n. 3 " Cluflers termi- 

 nal. Leaves heart-fhaped, feflile." — Native of lofty hills at 

 the Cape of Good Hope. — Stem rather woody, eredi, fome- 

 what angular, four feet high, fmooth. Leaves alternate, 

 feflile, clafping the ftem, heart-lhaped, entire, rather acute, 

 fmooth, thickifh, an inch long. Clujlers terminal, confift- 

 ing of mimiX.tJlo'wers, intermixed with large ovate braileas. 

 Linnieus. Neither Mr. Brown nor profefTor Thunberg men- 

 tion this fpecies. There is no authentic fpecimen of it in 

 the Linnaean colleftion, and we are ahnoft convinced of its 

 being the fame plant as the following. Willdenow has made 

 a fingular miftake in copying the fpecific charafter of Th. 

 Fr'tfea, fee n. 9, over again, for the amplexkaule, which 

 ftands above it in the Mantiffa. 



20. Th. euphorbioides. Spurge-like Thefium. Berg. 

 Cap. 74. Linn. Mant. 214. Willd. n. 17. Thunb. 

 Prodr. 46. (Planta africana frutefcens, portulaese foliis, 

 Morgfani Syrorum, ex brevi pediculo binis, fimilis ; Pluk. 

 Amalth. 173.) — Stalks three-flowered, terminal. Leaves 

 roundifh-ovate, acute, flefhy. Stem fhrubby, witk alter- 

 nate coryrabofe branches. — Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. This was adopted from Bergius by Linnaeus, with- 

 out feeing a fpecimen, at leaft from that author. One is 

 preferved in his own herbarium, on which he had written 

 Thefium capenfe, which his fou alttred to euphorbioides, con- 

 fidering it as the fame with the plant of Bergius. A fimilar 

 fpecimen lies in the Bankfian colleftion for Th. amplexkaule. 

 Both names are excellent, btit perhaps euphorbioides, as the 



original 



