A COMPEE 
O&ob, #re four Filaments; two longer, and thence con- 
fidered as more effential in the Impregnation of 
the Seeds, than the others. The Title is Didy- 
‘vamia, this Plant belongs to it. And as the 
Seeds have a Capfule, -it is referred to the fecond 
Section of that Clafs, the Angio/permia. 
It is a Native of the Canary Ifands, whete it 
grows in rotten Soils that have fome Shelter. It 
there flowers all the Year, and with good Ma- 
nagement will do nearly the fame with us. 
Moft Flowers contain in their Bafe a Honey” 
f ; ° e ° 
Juice: but this fhews fomething of that Kind more 
diftinguifhably than almoft;any other ; but-un- - 
der a particular Condition. Where it is a Na- 
tive, there continually ftands in the Centre of 
each Flower a large Drop of a clear, clammy 
r : 
Liguor of an extremely bitter Tafte. With us 
the Drop is fmaller, but it has the fame Bitter- 
nefs; and when at its full Bigfefs it wilk drop 
i 
whole Plant is bitter. °s 
from the Flower. This is particular, but the 
Culiure of the Goupen Fox-ciove. ... », 
Nature, and a Knowledge of its proper Soil 
in the Canaries, teach the Gardener how he is 
to manage this Plant. 
Itis to be raifed from Seeds ; and thofe ripen’d 
in Europe will produce it: but-as on ‘all ‘other: 
Occafions, when there is Opportunity of having 
them from the natural Place of Growth it is 
Better." 
> Which ever Way they come, they muft be fowed _ 
2 AP - BOD VY. 
; early in Spring upon a- moderate Hot-Beds. Odtob, 
and raifed by the common Culture given to - > 
Plants fo propagated, all that is particular is the 
Soil. : 
- This the. common Writers on.Gardening or- 
der to be light and fandy; and it.is therefore the 
Plants with u’ never reach fully their natural 
Size or Beauty. a 
When they have fome Strength in the Seed 
| hot Bed they muft be planted out into Pots, and ~ 
} thefe fet in another hot Bed, that they may the 
more freely root, and fend up nevweShoots from 
the Sides of the original Stem; for if that Be 
" prevented now by a carelefs Management, they 
will fometimes run up with a fingle Stalk, and 
aS Ft Ae Aaa ioe et gt. te ie Sieh ee hk a oS es Ge 9 ee Ce ee eee . * 
They muft in this new hot Bed be fheltered 
from the Sun, till they have taken Root; then 
expofed by Degrees to the Air; and at laft hav- 
ing been removed into larger Pots, they are to 
be fet, among the Greén-houfe Plants for Sum- 
mer, and howed with them in Winter. 
|... The proper Soil for them: is-that which -will : 
come neareft what they have in Nature ; and this _ 
is to be made of Garden-Mould, Wood Earth, 
and Pond or River Mud. 
Various: Trials have fhewn, that there is 
no better Proportion for their Mixture than to 
‘allow equal Parts of each ; and in this they will 
with frequent and moderate Waterings flower as 
in-their.natural Climate, from Yume till this Sea- 
fon, or later. | | nc ee | 
2 WHAT-E, C EY, O|\NURPLUMBAG O. 
evi" | The Singularity of this Plant has given it a 
cp: ’ Place in many Gardens, and it is very worthy t 
Fie -y y s, and it is very worthy to 
C-—= de’réceived ‘into all.” 5 
-.Its Refemblance to the Lychnis Kind has oc- 
cafioned fome Writers to refer it to that Genus; 
but by the more correct it is afcribed to the 
Plumbago, whofe Charatter it perfectly poffefies. 
Comme ine has called it Lychnis indica /picata 
— Ocymaftri foliis. The great Englifh Naturalift Sir 
Haws Sioang, calls it Dentillaria Lycknoides. 
Dentillaria is a Name given by many to Plum- 
bago; therefore he referred it to its right Place. 
Linn #us and Van Royen join in calling it 
Plumbago foliis petiolatis: Plumbago withthe Leaves 
on Foot-ftalks: the lower Leaves having this Cha- 
racter, though on the upper Part of the Plant, 
and near the Flowers, they are often Seffile. 
The Plant is two or three Foot high, and has 
a wild but not unpleafing Irregularity in its Man- 
ner of growing. The Root is thick, divided, 
brown; and to the Tafte violently acrid, and as it 
were burning. The Stalk is flender, green, and 
divided often into three or four Branches. The 
Leaves are large, and both their Form and Co- 
lour are, pleafing ; they are broad and divided, 
and ef a fhining green. 
The Flowers ftand at the Tops of all the 
Branches in long loofe Spikes, and have a fingu- 
lar Appearance. They are large, and of a 
{nowy white, and thence are not without their 
Beauty ; but their Form and Manner of Growth | 
excite the Attention more. _ | 
Each has its Cup, which is oblong, extremely 
rough and hairy, of a tubular Form, marked 
with five Ridges, and divided at the Top into 
e Top, 
The Number of Filaments, and their regular 
Growth and Difpofition thew the Student to 
what Clafs this Plant belongs in the Linnaan 
“Syftem. His fifth is called Pentandria, becaufe 
there are in each Flower fine regular Filaments ; 
and this is one of thofe Plants. 
The firft Section of that Clafs comprehends the 
Monogynia, or thofe which have the female Part 
fingle ; and the Style in this Flower being but one, 
fhews it to belong alfo to that Subdivifion. 
The 
