1076 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



CHAP. LXIX. 



OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER ERICA S CEIE. 



Distinctive Characteristics. Calyx and corolla each with 4 — 5 segments 

 Stamens 4 — 5 — 8 — 10, inserted variously, but alternately with the segments 

 oi' the corolla where not more numerous than they. Anthers, inmost, with 2 

 cells. Ovary with its cells, in most, agreeing in number with the segments of 

 the calyx or corolla. Style and stigma undivided. Seeds many. Albumen 

 fleshy. Embryo erect, slender. Shrubs (in Rhododendron arboreum, a timber 

 tree); various in habit, inhabiting most parts of the world. (Do?i's Mill, and 

 Lindleifs Introd. to N. S) This order contains many of the finest and most 

 ornamental shrubs of the temperate regions of the world: all the species which 

 compose it have hair-like roots, and require a peat soil, or a soil of a close 

 cohesive nature, but which is yet susceptible of being readily penetrated by 

 the finest fibrils which belong to any kind of plants. Peat, thoroughly rotted, 

 leaf-mould, or very fine loamy sand, are soils of this description, and are 

 accordingly required, more or less, for all the plants of this order. The hair • 

 like roots of the .Ericaceae soon suffer, either from a deficiency or a superfluity 

 of moisture ; and hence an important part of their culture in gardens consists 

 in keeping the soil in which they grow equally moist. In transplanting hair- 

 rooted plants, they are very apt to suffer from their slender fibrils coming in 

 contact with the air : but, fortunately, these fibrils are so numerous, and 

 so interlaced with each other, as to form a kind of network, which en- 

 closes and supports a portion of the soil in which they grow, and the 

 plants are, consequently, almost always sent from the nurseries with small 

 balls of earth attached to them. This practice, by continually diminishing 

 the quantity of peat earth in a nursery, occasions a demand for a con- 

 tinual supply of this expensive soil, and, consequently, tends to increase the 

 price charged for plants of the .Ericaceae. On the other hand, the adhesion 

 of the soil to the roots answers an economical purpose, as it does not require 

 the plants to be grown in pots for the convenience of sending them out ; since 

 many of them may be taken up and carried to a distance, at any season, 

 and even, if it were necessary, when in full flower, without sustaining much 

 injury. All the species are readily propagated by seeds, layers, or cuttings. 



The following characteristics of the genera, and of the groups which they 

 form, are deduced from Don's Miller, in which the whole order has been 

 remodeled by Professor Don. 



Sect. I. jE'ri'ceje. 



Sect. Char. Calyx not connate with the ovary, except in Gaulthena. Disk 

 nectariferous, hypogynous. Fruit, in most, a capsule. Inflorescence, in 

 the bud state, naked. 



§ i. Eri'ceie norma v les. Calyx and Corolla each with 4 Segments. Corolla 

 permanent. Stamens 8. Fruit with 4 Cells. 



Eb,1 s CA D. Don. Corolla globose, or pitcher-shaped. Filaments capillary. 

 Anthers not protruded beyond the corolla, bifid ; the cells short, opening 

 by an oblong hole, awned or crested at the base, or, in a few, without 

 any appendage. Stigma peltate. Leaves needle-shaped, scattered, or in 

 whorls. 



Gyfsoca'lLM Sal. Corolla bell-shaped, or shortly tubular. Filaments flat. 

 Anthers protruded beyond the corolla, 2-parted; the cells without any 

 appendage at the base, distinct, each on a short stalk, and opening by an 

 oblique Role. Stigma simple. Leaves needle-shaped, in whorls. 



Callutm Sal. Corolla shorter than the calyx, bell-shaped. Filaments 

 dilated Anthers nol protruded beyond the corolla, with two small appen- 



