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ite ae ‘ “ ha ‘ a ec che ILLITE NOLO A DLO Nn ee, 
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A ~GCOMPEPAT BODY 
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tea aetermmndids-andatered * Wi oak 
May ‘The. Root demands “Attention; It is bulbous, ; Cells numerous flatted Seeds, roundifh, and placed May. 
~ ton and compofed of two unequal Parts. From 
the Middle rifes a kind of Pillow, and from this 
the Stalk, whofe Bafe is hung with many Fibres. 
The Subftance of the-Root is uniform g-# and 
white, andpit 1s” ingither coated nor covert | with 
Films. & #* 
The Stalk is aed upright, not eat hick 
or ftrong, but ten Inches high; {pungy within, 
and cover’d with a tough green Rind, ting’d often | 
with brown and purple. 
The Leaves are placed from Top, to: Bottom: 
with perfect Irregularity, five or fix, fometimes 
more grow on a Stalk; often fewer. T hey are | 
long, narrow, of a deep green, hollow’ d, perp 
: ‘pointed, and of an Acid Tatte.. 
From the Top hangs one large Hiswec: Cul- 
ture gives many, but we treat here. of the Plant } 
in a State of Nature ; or little removed from it in 
common Gardens. This bends its weak Stalk, 
and the Mouth opens to the Ground. It is large 
and extreamly beautiful, as well as fingular. It 
- rifes naked from the Stalk, without Cup or any 
diy tee 
Fig. 2. 
other Defence. It is very large in Shape like a 
Bell, wide at the Bafe, and form’d of fix Petals, 
_ which ftand parallel, and are pointed at the 
“Ends. | 
Near the Bafe of each of thefe is an ‘oblong 
hollow, containing a Drop of Honey Juice. This 
is the Nectarium: each Hollow baving. 3 its Gland 1. 
for the Secretion of that Fluid. 
Within the Flower are placed fix Filaments. 
They cling about a fingle Style, and they have 
oblong Buttons. 
The Flower’ is follow’d he a. Gadel oblong. : 
Secdveitel, of three Valves, which holds in three | 
in a double Series. 
The fix Filaments fhew the Plant ohe of. the 
Hexandria of Linn aus, his fixth Clafs; and the 
fingle Style.one.of the Monogynig...... 
The Colouring of the Flower\even in its wild 
State, is not without its Changes : and it is 
in all beautiful. The general Tinge is purple, 
chequer’d with various Degrees of red ‘and © 
white. 
The Variegations a1 are not difpofed at random as 
in the Generality « of painted Flowers, but placed 
“in regular little {quares; they are more diftin& on 
the Outfide of the Petals, for within the Flower 
glows with a more uniform purple down the 
Middle of each: on the Outfide there alfo 
ufually runs a Rib- of a yellowifh Hue, adding 
no little Grace. 
This is the Appearance Nature gives the Flower 
in the. ntoft favourable Soils; but from a Variety 
- of Accidents it often declines from this its natural 
Luftre. The purple grows faint, the yellow 
creenifh, and the Variegations fade one into ano- 
ther. Always there remains, however, a great 
deal of Beauty. 
“In poor Soils the Plant will be fmall, and the 
‘F lowers nearly or. entirely white. 
Of this Variety in Nature Culture takes Ad- 
vantage ; and what in her is Imperfection raifes 
into Beauty. °Tis fo in the Tulips of which we 
have laft treated; and we fhall fhew in many 
other Inftances, that what Changes Nature makes 
in the Flower of a Plant in a ftarving Soil, Art 
does by frequent Removals; and the Mould all 
the Time being rich to the Height, the Changes. 
are all beautiful. - 
‘PURPLE PYRENEHAN FRITILLARY, 
‘. Short vein will ‘explain this. Species ; ;. 
ahete general Form and Characters are the fame 
with thofe of the preceding Kind ;: it’s moft ob- 
vious Difference, in. the Size and Colour of the | 
kK lower. | ; 
‘The Root is a double Bulb, foft, flefhy and 
nated. In the wild State it ‘is {mall, but in 
Gardens, it often exceeds that of the other. 
“The Stalk is flender, upright, green, and be- 
fet with many Leaves. ‘Thefe. are long, narrow, 
‘tharp-pointed, flatted, and of a frefh green. They 
{tand irregularly on the upper Part of . the Stalk, 
but on the lower Part in Pairs. Tis hence Liy- 
NZZUS names the Species. | 
“The common Writers have: called it from the 
Smallnefs of the Flower, Fritillavia flore. minore, 
from its Colonr, which is a dufky: blackifh yel- 
low 3 Fritillaria flore obfoleto, luteo nigricante, and 
from its ufual. Place of Growth, the Pyrenean 
and the Aquitain Fritillary. 
Our Gardeners according to the Degree of Black- 
nefs, or of ag in. the F lower, call it the Black 
4, 
HE rititlay, or Leather Coat, ‘Linn eds, the ‘moft 
correct of Writers names it, Fritillaria foliis infimis 
| oppoft itis, Fritillary with the loweft Leaves placed 
oppofite. 
One Flower as in the other hangs naturally 
from the Top of the Stalk ; and it is bell- -fhap’d, 
as in that ; ; and form’d of fix Petals ; thefe turn: 
| their Edges a little upward, and are varioully ftain’d 
with yellow; the Ground Colour is a dufky | 
blackifh, and there is accafionally _ more or lefs 
of the yellow. 
The Edges that turn up fhew a yellowifh Hue : 
‘this with ‘more or lefs Mixture of green is the 
Colour -of the whole inner Surface » the Flower 
is there more glofly than without; and the whole 
is mark’d with irregularly chequer’d Spots of 
purplifh. Thefe are moft diftin@ toward the 
lower Part of the Petals. 
. Thefe Flowers have their Nectaria, chais Fijla- 
ments and Style as in the other; and are fuc« 
ceeded by a like Seed-veffel, only fmaller. 
Culture of thefe FRITILLARIES. 
Thele two Kinds are Native of many Parts of 
Europe , and love a rich and-fomewhat moift Soil, 
where they have a little Shelter. The Foot of a 
io 
Hill where there runs near fome little Spring, and 
a Wood defends the Spot from the North, af- 
fords them their full natural Perfection. 
From 
