CHAP. I. 



JJANUNCULA^CEiE. CLe'maTIS. 



233 



time of Matthiolus to the recent introductions from the Hiraalaya. The acrid 

 properties of the Clematis are well Itnown to herbaHsts. The bark, leaves, 

 and blossoms are used to raise blisters on the skin, or to produce a slight ex- 

 ternal inflammation : taken internally they are a corrosive poison. The flow- 

 ers contain a peculiar substance, called clematine, which is similar to gluten ; 

 the green leaves, bruised, are applied to ulcers, to produce sloughing. The 

 floricultural use of these plants is, to cover bowers, or ornament verandas or 

 trellis-work. The greater number of them ripen their seeds in England, and are 

 easily propagated by them, or by layers. They all require support by props of 

 some kind ; and all grow freely in any soil that is tolerably dry, but more es- 

 pecially in one that is calcareous. From the acridity of these plants, they are 

 not very liable to be attacked by insects ; nevertheless, snails and slugs are oc- 

 casionally found eating their young herbage. Most of the species and varieties 

 which we shall describe are to be found in the principal botanic gardens of 

 Europe, and have been seen by us in that of the Horticultural Society of 

 London j and the more ornamental of them are cultivated for sale in the prin- 

 cipal European and American nurseries. 



The ligneous species of Clematis are included in four sections; viz. Flam- 

 mula, Viticella, Cheiropsis, and yinemoneflora. 



§ i. Flammula Dec. 



Sectional Character. Involucre wanting. Tail of the carpels long, bearded 

 and feathery. Cotyledons distant in the seed. {Don's Mill., i. p. 3.) 

 -A 1. Cle'matis Fla'mmula L. The inflaramatory-^'zaVei Clematis, oi 



sweet-scented Virgin's Bower. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 766.; Willd. Sp., 2. p. 1293. ; Hayne Den., p. 119. ; Lam. Diet. Encyc, 2. p. 42.; 



Dec. Prod., 1. p. 2. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 4. J . i ^ ^ 



Synonymes. C. urens Gerard; C. maritima All. Fed. ; C. suaveolens Saltsb. Prod. ; Clematite odo- 



rante, Fr. ; Scharfe waldrebe, Ge}: 

 Derivation. Ftomfla?nmare, to inflame ; on account of the blistering qualities of the species 

 Engravings. Park. Theat., p. 381. f. 3, ; Knorr. His., 2. p. 9. ; and our Jig. 9. 



Sjyecific Character. Leaves pinnate, smooth ; with orbicular, oval, oblong or 

 linear, entire or three-lobed, acutish leaflets. (Z>on's Mill., i. p. 4.) Flowers 

 white. July to Oct. Height 15 ft. 1596. 

 Varieties and their Synonymes. The following are given by De Candolle j 

 but they are not of much importance in point of general effect. 



1 G. F.2 rotimdifolia Dec, frdgrans Tenore. — Leaflets almost orbicularj 

 1 C. -P. 3 maritima Dec. — Leaflets linear. 



-i C. i^. 4 rubella Dec. — Leaflets oval, usually emarginate. Sepals 



four, reddish on the outside. 

 1 C. i^. 5 ccespitosa Dec, C. ccespitosa Scop., C. Flammula Bertol. — 



Leaflets minute, entire, or cut. 



Description. A vigorous-growing plant, the stems of which attain the 

 length of 10 ft. or 15 ft. in a wild state, and from 15 ft. to 30 ft. in a state of 

 culture. The leaves of the entire plant are subject to much variation, from 

 soil, situation, and climate. The shoots of a well-estabHshed plant, which 

 has been cut down, grow with great rapidity in the early part of the season, 

 attaching themselves to whatever is near them. The peduncles of the flowers 

 arc sometimes simple and sometimes branched. The colour of the sepals is 

 white, slightly pubescent on their exterior margins. The whole plant has a 

 dark green hue ; and in autumn it is abundantly covered with flowers, the 

 odour of which is of a honeyed sweetness, exceedingly disagreeable to some 

 persons when near, though at a distance it is not unlike the fragrance of the 

 common hawthorn. The number of the styles varies from five to eight, each 



