﻿Oct., 1857.] 



ELLIOTT SOCIETY. 



247 



1. Vitis cordifolia, Winter grape. 



2. Vitis bipinnata, 



3. Ampelopsis quinquefolia, Wild Ivy. 



4. Galactia pilosa, 



5. Clitoria mariana, 



6. Rosa levigata, Cherokee Rose. 



7. Passiflora lutea, Yellow Passionflower. 



8. Lonicera sempervirens, Wild Honeysuckle. 



9. Convolvulus sagittifolia, Red Morn ingg lory. 



10. Lyonia maritima, 



12. Smilax tamnifolia, ] r ,, • -o . 



J ' y China Briar. 



11. Smilax ovata, J 



Ampelopsis quinquefolia, sometimes called Wild Ivy, is regarded 

 by some persons as a poisonous plant; it is quite innocuous, and is 

 probably mistaken for Rhus radicans, the Poison Vine, from which 

 it is easily distinguished, the Poison Vine having the leaves 

 trifoliate, or by threes, while in this plant the leaves are quinquefo- 

 liate, or by fives together. The Poison Vine was not seen. Clitoria 

 mariana was conspicuous, with its large lilac papilionaceous 

 flowers, the largest papilionaceous flower we have. Rosa levigata 

 is certainly not a native of the island, but completely naturalized. 

 Passiflora lutea appeared to flourish here, contributing, with Loni- 

 cera sempervirens and the Smilaces, to form the drapery which 

 clothed the trunks of the Palmettos which grew among the 

 thickets; its leaves three inches wide. Convolvulus sagittifolia 

 and Lyonia maritima were found in moister places, running 

 over low bushes of Myrica cerifera, Iva frutescens, &c. the former 

 quite ornamental with its large rose-colored, funnel-shaped flowers. 



Besides Rosa levigata, two other introduced plants attracted 

 attention, on account of their flourishing condition, Nerium Oleander 

 well known as the Oleander, and Tamarix gallica, the Tama- 

 risk; neither appeared to be naturalized. Nerium Oleander was 

 found in full flower at the foot of one of the sand-hills, and partly 

 enveloped by it about the roots; it doubtless formerly belonged to 

 some garden, though not now within any inclosure. Its dry and 

 sterile soil would never suggest the origin of the generic name, 

 (from v?)po£, damp,) nor enable one to comprehend Ritter's conjec- 

 ture, that this was the tree a.luded to in the first psalm, as " planted 

 by the streams of water, which bringeth forth his fruit in due 

 season, whose leaf shall not wither." But around the Mediterra- 

 nean, its native region, the Oleander is found along the banks of 



