All who have mention’d it have {poke of its 
Beauty; but, from the Uncertainty. of its Genus, 
they have call’d it by various Names. 
_ Avsertus Sepa figures it under the Title of 
Dec. 
em 
a Sifyrincbium. Breywius calls it.a Gladiolus, | 
adding, as the Diftinction of the Species, flare 
Singulari miniato inferioribus laciniis luteo viridibus. 
Neither of thefe Names properly belong to the 
_ Plant; for the Characters of the Flower {eparate it 
altogether from thofe Genera, : 
~ ~The Root. is a recular Bulb, of a brown Co- 
four and firm Subftance. x 
~~ The Leaves rife in a Clufter, three or four to- 
gether, clofing about one another at the Bafe, 
and there ufually are fome fmall, imperfeét or de- 
eay’d ones about their Bottoms; thefe are of a yel- 
lowifh Hue, the others of a very elegant green, 
of the blueith Tinge ; and ftain’d lightly with pur- 
ple at the Bafe. eS 
They are broad, oblong, wav’d a little at the 
Edges, in the Manner of ‘the Leaves of the 
white Lilly’, and they terminate in a Point. 
The Stalk rifes in the Centre, and is a Foot or | 
more in Height; naked, firm, purplifh at the 
Bottom, and green on the upper Part. - : 
The Top bends with the Weight of a large fingle 
Flower. It is at firft contain’d in a Scabbard, 
of an oblong pointed Form, which burfting into 
three Parts, difclofes the perfe@ Flower. . 
_ This is, in the higheft Degree, fingular, as 
well as beautiful. It is. compos’d of fix difting 
Petals, three broad and three narrow. — | 
2 The three broad which ftand upwards, are of 
the moft perfect Scarlet : the three lower.are va- 
negated with green and yellow, both very ftrong 
and lively Colours, and they have their Points 
-tipp’d with Crimfon. es 
In the Centre of the Flower rife three F ilaments, | 
which have their Place under the uppermoft. Pe- — 
tal, and are of a pale Flefh-Colour, with large © 
Buttons of a deeper Scarlet than the Flower. | 
~~ Down the Middle of each of the lower Petals — 
there alfo runs a Vein of deeper Red; and along — 
the Midft of each of the three upper, there runs | 
a like Vein, with feveral fimaller broken Lines, | 
with the fame Degree of Red. This gives the | 
aera 
whole Flower a-Grace unknown almoft to an} 
other. | 
To find its Clafs in the Linnzan Syftem, no 
We know how Heralds play with Nature in 
‘the Reprefentations of Plants and Animals ; 
beyond a Doubt, this is the proper Flower-de-Luce 
of the French Arms, | 
Culture of the Luria. 
The Plant is a Native of Africa, where it grows 
on the Sides of “Hills, in a. loofe but not barren 
Soil. Thence I receiv’d the Specimen of it, 
on which this Account is form’d; and thence the 
| Roots may be obtain’d, as thofe of many other of the 
Plants which we have defcrib’d from that Quarter. 
of the World, and have frequent in our Stoves. ° 
The Time of taking up the Roots thould be 
when the Leaves are faded; and they will thus 
keep very well out of the Ground during the 
Voyage. . . 
At their cgming into Europe they mutt be 
planted each in a feparate Pot, with a Mixture of . 
three Parts Pafture-Earth, and one Part Sand, 
and plac’d in the Shade. ~ - : 
Once in a Week they fhould have a little Wa- 
ter till they fhoot; and as foon as they do that, 
they muft be remov’d into an opener Place, where 
the Sua has more Power; and water’d every E- 
| vening, but a very little each Time. 
‘Toward Autumn they fhould be remov’d into’ 
; the Greenhouf, and thence into the Stove, where, 
with the common Care of foreign bulbous Plants, 
| they will produce their moft confpicuous and ele. 
gant Flowers. : | | 
‘The Plant thus once eftablifhed, there will be 
no Fear of multiplying the Roots, for they will 
produce Off-fets; which being taken off ontte in 
three Years, will rife to Perfection by the fame 
io) ene | 
4) 8 DEL AgErE | Dowie pos NTH E'S, 
P.XVI. This ig 4 Shrub of confummate Elegance, and, | . 
Fic, 4, with its Beauty, has the Advantage of a powerful | _and with the upper. oval and fharp-pointed. 
Sag Fragrance. Its Refemblance in Flower to the Jaf- In Place of the. common but improper Englifh 
‘mine, has occafioned’ its being vulgarly call’d_ by | 
the fame Name ; and by the earlier Writers alfo it | 
ftands rank’d under that Genus: to this Name our 
People annex that of its Country, and think they 
have fufficiently exprefs’d it. ne 
Linn us, more correct and diftinctive in his 
Charaéters, has clearly and happily pointed out 
its Difference from the Jafmine, and, arranging it 
“under a feparate Genus with the Name Nyfanibes, 
adds, as its Diftinction, foliis inferioribus corda- 
tis obtufis, fuperioribus ovatis acutis: Nydanthes, 
N° 16. 
with the lower Leaves heart-fhap’d and obtufe, 
Name, we have given it that of .Stellate Nyéan- 
thes; the Form of its Flower naturally. reprefent- 
ing the Rays painted about a Star. 
It is a weak Shrub of ftrageling and irregular 
Growth in its natural Condition; and never fuc- 
ceeds fo well in Gardens, as when artfully united 
to a ftronger Stock by Grafting, 
The Root is woody, whitifh, and fpreading. 
The Stem is covered with a brown Bark; and 
the long weak Branches are of a pale green. 
The Leaves ftand naturally in Pairs, and they 
Bbb are 
