CHAP. IT. 



WimETlA'CEJE. ILLI CIUM. 



257 



Spec. Char. Petals 27 — 30, dark purple, outer ones oblong, inner ones lan- 

 ceolate. (Don's Mill, i. p. 79.) West Florida. Evergreen. Flowers of a 

 dark reddish purple. April to June. 1766. Height 6 ft. 

 Description. A compact, many-stemmed, bushy, ever- 

 green, slow-growing shrub, attaining, in the neighbour- 

 hood of London, the height of 6 ft. or 8 ft. or upwards, 

 and flowering every year. The leaves are oblong- 

 lanceolate, quite entire, pointed at both extremities, 

 smooth, shining, and, in common with the whole plant, 

 have a rich reddish hue. The flowers are numerous, solitary, and terminal ; 

 and bear some general resemblance to those of Calycanthus floridus. 

 _ Geography, History, Sfc. Found in West Florida, on the banks "of the 

 river Mississippi, and in marshy places near the town of Pensacola, by 

 Bartram, in 1766. At first this plant was kept in stoves and green-houses; 

 but some specimens were planted out in the open air, by Mr, Gordon, in 

 his nursery at Mile End, where they remained above forty years, some- 

 times without any protection at all, and at others with only a mat thrown 

 over them, or a slight covering of peas haulm. They grew "in a deep, dry, 

 sandy soil, in a warm situation, sheltered from the north-east and east, and 

 open to the south. They were sold, with some other fine specimens, in 1834 

 and 1835. The properties of this species are of a very decided kind. 

 The leaves and the entire plant are strongly impregnated with a spicy aro- 

 matic taste and smell, approaching to that' of the seeds of the anise or 

 coriander. The leaves, when bruised, smell strongly of anise, and may be 

 distilled like the seeds of that plant. Though not used in medicine, there is 

 little doubt, Professor Burnet observes, that the bark would answer the same 

 purposes as that of canella, or sassafras. {Outlines, S^c., ii. p. 836.) The soil 

 m which this plant is generally grown is a light sandy loam ; but Dumont 

 observes that, after trying it in loam, both in the open an- and under glass, he 

 found the leaves assume a yellow hue. He then tried pure heath soil, and 

 soon perceived that the leaves had resumed their deep green colour, and the 

 entire plant had begun to grow vigorously. The manner in which the plant 

 IS propagated in the London nurseries is, generally, by forming stools of it in 

 a pold-pit, and laying down the shoots, which require two years to root suf- 

 ficiently to admit of their being separated from the parent plant; but it is 

 sometimes propagated by cuttings both of the young and of the old wood. As 

 soon as the layers are taken off, they are potted, and kept in a green-house or 

 frame till wanted for final transplanting. The situation of such a shrub in a 

 garden should be in a select spot, where it can only be compared with slow- 

 growing plants like itself. Being an evergreen, and finishing its growth early 

 m summer, it would take little harm by being covered with mats or fronds for 

 several months, provided these were supported so as not to touch it, and they 

 were occasionally opened on fine days, on the south side, to admit the sun and 

 air, m order to dry up the damps generated within ; a covering of spruce fir 

 branches would also form a very suitable protection. For a small conservatory 

 where there is no means of heating, but from which the extreme cold is 

 excluded, by covering the glasses with mats in severe weather, this, and other 

 species of Illlcium, would prove very suitable shrubs. Plants may be obtained, 

 in the principal London nurseries, at from 2s. 6d. to 5s. each ; in the BollwvUer 

 Nursery, at 4 francs ; and in New York, at 1 dollar. They are always sold iu 

 pots, being so grown in order that they may be protected by a frame durmg 



* 2. Illi'cium ^nisa'tum L. The Anise Illiciura. 



MentificaUon Sp., 664. ; Gert. Fruct, 1. p. 338. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 77. ; Don's Mil., 1. p 79 



^sTernanls, G^r^ Chinese Aniseed treej Badiane de la Chine, and Anis etoile, Ji-.j 5chter (Irue) 

 Engravings'. Kajmpf. Amcen., t. S81. ; Gajrt. Fruct, 1. p. 338. t. 69. ; Lam. 111., t. 493. f. 2. 



Spec. Char. Petals 27—30, yellowish, outer ones oblong, inner ones linear 



V 2 



