936 



AKBOKKTUM AND FKUTICETUM, 



PARI HI. 



Genus I. 



LA. 



CALYCA'NTHUS Lindl. The Calyca'ntiius, or American Allspice. 

 Linn. Syst. Icosandria Polygynia. 



Identification. Lindl. In Bot. Reg., t. 404. ; Nees Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. Bonn., 11. p. 107. ; Dec. Prod., 



& p. 2. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 652. 

 Synonymcs. Calycanthi sp. Lin., Lam., Willd. ; Biittnen'a Du Ham. Arb., 1. p. 114., not of Lin. ; 

 *Beurren« Ehret. Pict., t. 13.; Basteria Adans. Fam., 2. p. 294.; Pompadotira Buchoz ; Calycante, 



Fr. ; Keith Blume, Go: 

 Derivation. From kalu.r, a calyx, and anthos, a flower ; the calyx is coloured, and resembles a 



corolla. The name allspice was given to it by the inhabitants of Carolina, from the strong aromatic 



smell of the bark. 



Description. Deciduous shrubs, natives of North America ; propagated, in 

 England, by layers. De Candolle states that the removal of the terminal leaf 

 bud of a shoot causes the production of two new flower buds; and that by this 

 practice a succession of flowers during the whole summer may be obtained. 

 {Dec. Prod., iii. p. 2.) The price of the common kinds, in the London nur- 

 series, is 75s. per hundred, or 9d. each ; at Bollwyller, ]i franc ; and at New- 

 York, from 37^ cents to half a dollar. 



St 1. C. flo'ridus L. The flowery Calycanthus, or Carolina Allspice. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 718.; Nutt. Gen. Araer., 1. p.312. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 2. ; Don's Mill., 2. 



p. 652. 

 Synonymcs. C. sterilis Walt. Car., 151.; sweet-scented Shrub, in Carolina; common American 



Allspice. 

 Engravings. Bot. Mag., t. 503. ; Du Ham. Arb.,1. t. 45 ; Lam. 111., t. 445. f 1. ; Guimp. Abb. Holz., 



t. 4. ; and our fig. 659. 



Spec. Char.,fyc. Wood of the trunk, and especially of the root, intensely 

 camphor-scented. Branches spreading; branch-lets tomentose. Leaves oval, 

 tomentose beneath. Flowers mostly abortive. Fruit top-shaped. A native of 

 the shaded banks of rivulets in Carolina. (Dec. Prod., iii. p. 2.) 



Varieties. De Candolle gives two forms of this species. 



flfe C.f. 1 oblongus, leaves oblong (Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., 3. p. 282.); and 



St C.f. 2 ovdlus, leaves roundishly ovate (Ait. H. Kew.,ed. 2., 3. p. 282.). 



The following varieties are in Loddiges's Catalogue for 1836 ; and plants 

 of most of them are in their arboretum, and in that of the Horticultural 

 S ociety : — 



sfc C.f. 3 asptenifolius has cut leaves. 



& C.f. 4fera,v has fertile flowers. 



* C.f. 5 glaucus has leaves somewhat glaucous. 



* C.f. 6 inodorus has flowers nearly scentless. 



* C.f. 7 longifdlius has elongated leaves, 

 flfc C.f. 8 variegdtus has variegated leaves. 



Description, cfc. A shrub, growing to the height of 6 ft. or 8 ft., and form- 

 ing a dense orbiculate bush ; the shoots covered with brown bark, and the 

 leaves opposite on short footstalks. The flowers 

 grow singly on short peduncles at the extre- 

 mity of the branches ; they have two series of 

 narrow thick sepals, which spread open, and 

 turn inward at the top, like those of the ane- 

 mone or clematis. They are of a dusky purple 

 colour, and have a powerful aromatic scent. 

 The plant is a native of Carolina, and was in- 

 troduced by Mark Catesby in 1726. It was not 

 common in British gardens till about 1757; 

 when, according to Miller, many plants were 

 brought from Carolina, it having been greatly 

 increased in the gardens about Charleston. It 

 bent in alight, rich, sandy soil, kept 



