OF GARDENING 639 
Sept. Plant. They fancy’d this, upon the ihe of |,one could not feek any Thing of ie Kind.. Sept, 
———-. Nature’s doing nothing in vain; and they fup- 
pofed thefe Bulbs muft be ufelefs if the Seeds 
grew. | 
The Matter would have been peal h better ex- 
plained by a longer Obfervation: they would have 
found the Purpofe of Nature in their Production, 
was to fupply the Place of Seeds during the 
Growth of the Plant; and that although the 
Principle of their Produ@tion continued after- 
wards, yet it became very limited in Quantity, 
from the Time the Growth was fufficient for. the 
ripening of Seeds. | 
‘: Culture of. this Litty.. ct aan 
Tt is a ‘Native of the warmer Parts of Europe ; 
but it bears without Hazard the open Air, and 
open Ground in our Gardens; and requires no } 
Compoft: for nothing fuits it _ Better cm the 
common Mould. 
There are in the Gardener’ s ‘Choice ‘three Me- 
thods of cultivating or raifing the Plant; the 
firft by Off-fets from the Root, the fecond by 
Seeds, and ‘the laft by thefe Bulbs produced in 
the Bofoms of the Leaves. 
If we wanted Varieties, we fhould propofe the 
Method by Seeds, for that is the true Source of 
them; but the Flower is naturally fo beautiful, 
that unlefs we wifhed to change for the worfe, 
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Pl. 2: The Curiaus in botanical Refearches have been { 
es fome Time acquainted with the white fruited 
Muntingia ; though till the great Reformer of the 
Science, Linnzzus, they did not know it by 
that, or by any other diftinct Name. PLuMIER 
had indeed called it fo; but his Authority, how- 
ever great his real Merit, was not fufficient to 
eftablith it ; and the World called it by the firft | 
rude Denomination, Calabura. ‘This 1s yet more 
new, nor is the Difference in Colour all, the 
Leaves are as different. 
Herman retaining the old Name, Calabura, 
adds, rubra foliis laurims : for the Diftinétion of 
this Species: Bay leaved Calabura with red Fruit. 
~ Commetine, though much amifs, refers it to 
the Mefpilus ; adding, to diftinguifh it from the 
numerous others, Americana laurifolia glabra frudtu 
~ subro mucilaginofo: {mooth Bay-leaved American 
Mefpilus with red mucilaginous Fruit. 
Linn@vus; and as the white Kind has but one 
- may add as the Diftinction, pedunculis multifioris : 
many flowered -Muntingia. 
& haracter. 
It is a large and ipreailitig Tree of isrepular 
Growth: 
and the young Shoots redifh. 
- The Leaves: are large and beautiful, oblong, 
The Characters refer it to the Muntingia of 
Flower on each Footftalk, and this feveral, we 
The Colour of the 
Fruit, though an obvious, is not a fcientifick 
the Branches numerous, and crooked ;. 
Therefore this Method, which is flow and tedious, 
and produétive of no eon. Good, is to be 
rejected, 
The Propagation by Of fers is eafy, but they 
weaken the main Plant 5 for it mutt ftand two or 
_three Years in order to produce any Quantity, and 
this never fails to impair the Beauty of the 
Flower. 
For thefe Reafons the Bulbs which Nature pro- ~ 
duces in the Bofoms of the Leaves, are prefer- 
able to any other Method of Propagation. They 
| are to be taken off when perfectly ripe, and they. 
will flower in full Luftre the fecond Year. 
‘The Soil is to be the common Garden Mould. 
The Bulbs are to be planted at a Foot Diftance, 
and covered a Quarter of an Inch; and not to be 
removed any more till after flowering. 
They will require no Care — the common 
Articles of weeding and watering, and when they . 
have flowered they fhould be raed up. About 
the latter End of September is the beft Time; 
the Bed‘ fhould be new dug, the Roots cleaned 
from their Off-fets, and then a again at 
the fame Diftance. 
They will thus flower in’ perfe& Beauty from — 
Year to Year, and they will always produce A- 
-bundance of new Bulbs from the young Plants, 
fo that fowing i is s altogether needlefs. 
SCARLET MUNTINGIA. 
broad, and undivided ; their Colour on the upper 
Side is a deep, and on the under a paler green, 
The Flowers are numerous, large, and of a 
delicate pale blue ;. they ftand in Clufters at the 
Extremities of the Branches, upon divided F oot- 
ftalks, and make a very glorious Figure. he 
Fruit which follows is no lefs beautiful, its Co- 
lour a fine {carlet. 
The Cup of the Flower is of one Piece, hol- 
lowed at the Bafe, and divided into three, fours ;. 
or five Segments at the Edge. 
The Flower is compofed of five Petals, and 
thefe have long narrow Bates. 
In the Centre ftand numerous F ilaments, with — 
roundifh Buttons : they rife from the Receptacle 
of the Flower, and furround a rounded Rudi- 
Head, without a Style. 
roundifh Seeds. 
The Number and Place of the F ilaments fhew 
the Tree one of the Palyandria of Linnaeus ; and 
Culture of this Muntincia. 
It is a Native of the warmer Parts of America, 
and with us will not fucceed well out of a Stove. . 
rich 
ment, which is crowned with a pentangular 
The Fruit is round, and marked with the five | 
Divifions of the Head, and contains many fmall — 
the fingle Head, that it is one of the Monogynia. — 
|. The Soil mutt be one of the light, and not over | 
