© sin 
mY. 
in'very early Times, and afterwards left unob-— 
Fig. 5. 
“the Antients ; 
fin 
OF “GARDENUNG, 
full vedio an Inch‘and half: fill up this with tich 
Earth, from under a Wood-Pile, and give it good 
Watering. Thus let*it ftand the Night ; and i in 
the fame Manner treat every Plant. 
The next Day, when the Earth is a little funk, 
lay upon each Pot, and all round the Bafes of the — 
Leaves of the Plant, a Heap of the ereat white 
Sphagnum, freth gather’d from the ‘Bog : this is 
a tall white Mofs common on Bogs, with tufted 
Tops, ‘which holds Water in the Manner ‘of a 
Spunge. Pour upon this more Water, from a 
fine-nos’d watering Pot, ‘and fet the Pots in a 
warm, fhelter’d, and fomewhat fhady: Place. 
v ‘Repeat the Watering’ every Days and at the | 
Approach of Autumn. take them into the. Green- 
_ flower at the Beginning of the Winter. 
houfe. 
According to the Time “k dies Year, the 
Strength of the Plants, -and. other Accidents, 
they will be fit for flowering the ee or fecond 
Year. FF 
Whichfoever it al when they_ar are in good Con- 
dition, in the Month of Fuly, take them from the 
open Air into the Greenhoufe;, water them well 
and, after a Week, remove them into the Stove: 
Set the Pots up to the Rim in Bark, and water 
| them, from this Time, often, but by a little ata 
| Time: one or more of them will thus be- ‘brought 
forward into a Shoot for a Stalk; and thefe mut 
be carefully nurs’d for that Purpofe. - They will 
5. VARIEGATED FLOWERED ASCLEPIAS. 
This is a Plant of extreme Elegance, known 
ferved for many Ages, a Native of the Jndies, 
and of our American Poffeffions: Its Beauty is 
fufficient to enfure it in this Age of Curiofity 
from farther Neglect. 
It was one of the Plants called Apocynum by 
and thofe who firft reftored the — 
Knowledge of it, preferved it under the fame 
Name. 
Thus we read of it in Pruxener and Diuie- 
nius, but the more accurate Diftinétions efta- 
blifhed by Linn Avs, remove it from that- Clafs,, 
and make it an Afclepias ; ; adding | as the Diftinc- 
tion of the Species,  Folits ovatis rugofis nudis, 
caule fi mplici, umbellis [ubfeff effi libus Pedicellis tomeno- 
Afelepias with oval, rugged, naked Leaves, 
a fimple Stalk, and low Umbells with woolly 
Foot-ftalks.. The Name is long, but it conveys 
a Defeription of the Plant. 
The Natives of America. a it Wi atthse 2.4 
Name our People have learned from them. 
The Root is thick, and of an irregular Shape. 
The Stalk is firm, upright, purplifh at the 
Bafe, and of a pale Green upwards, and is a 
little downy. 
The Leaves ftand in Pairs, and they are es a 
fimple, pleafing Form, oblong, 
broad, fupported by fhort teddifh Foot-ftalks, 
and in themfelves of a deep coarfe Green, with 
a red middle Rib. 
They are not downy, as the Stalk is, but 
rough upon the Surface, from their owns natural, 
Inequalities, rita 
The Flowers are not large in dennis but: 
they cloathe the Top in a vaft Tuft, confpicuous 
at a Diftance by its bright Colour, and much 
more near from its elegant Variegations. 
The outer Part of pas F leivel is fometimes 
White, but when the Plant is in its higheft Per- 
fection, it is lightly ftained with Flefh-colours | 
the inner Part is of a glowing Crimfon, fome- 
what tinged with a Caft of Purple. 
Each Flower ftands in a little Cup, foamed of 
a fingle Piece, broke into five pointed Segments 
confiderably 
| with numerous Seeds in each, 
: Down, and a loofe Receptacle. 
at the Edge, which remains with the Fruit. 4 
‘The Body of the Flower is formed of a fingle 
Petal, cut into five deep Segments, which are of 
an oval Form, peired at has End, and fome-_ 
| what bent, | 
Within thefe frand | in each Flower five Neéta- 
ays 
ria, furrounding the Parts of Impregnation. © 
8 preg, 
Each of thefe is broad, fhort, and of an irregu- 
lar Figure; and from its Bafe rifes a kind of 
whofe Point turns towards the Fila- 
Horn, 
ments: Within this, round about the Filaments, 
| is placed another fingular Subftance of a trun- 
cated Form, furrounded by five Scales ina man- | 
This is an Appendage of the five Nectaria, 
which though feparate in themfelves, may be 
underftood as forming together with this trun- 
cated Body one gieat: Neétarium, diftinguifhing 
the Afclepias from the Apocynum, and from all. 
other Kinds. 
Within thefe ftand five Filaments, fo fhort 
; they would not be diftinguifhable but for the 
_ Buttons they fupport ; aA in the midft of them’ 
rifes a double Germen or Rudiment of a Fruit 
| with two Styles, fo fhort, that like the Filaments 
they would not be diftinguifhable, but for the | 
Tops or Stigmata they {upport. 
The Fruit ‘iikoeth a thefe, is a double Pod 
crowned witl " 
Singular as the Structure of this Flower ap- 
| pears, the Clafs to which it refers the Plant in 
the Linn 2an Syftem is obvious ; the fifth of 
that Author comprehends thofe Plants which 
have five Filaments, and to this it belongs. 
Under the fecond Section of that Clafs ara 
_ | comprehended thofe pentandrous Plants, which 
have two Styles, and this is plainly alfo of thag 
| Number, . 
On this and all other Occafions, let the Stu- 
dent remember, that the Buttons upon the Fila- 
ments, and the Tops or Stigmata fupported on 
the Styles are. their moft effential Parts ; there- 
fore though according to the Buttons and Stig- 
3 | mata, 
_ ner of a Cafe at the Sides, and opening by as - 
_ many Cracks, | 1 
