M U S 
they were carried from Guinea, where they grow na- 
turally : thefe plants are alio cultivated in Egypt, and 
in moft other hot countries, where they grow to per- 
fection in about ten months, from their firfc planting, 
to the ripening of their fruit; when their ftalks 
are cut down, feveral fuckers come up from the 
root ; they v/ill alfo produce fruit in ten months 
after, fo that by cutting down the ftalks at different 
times, there is a conftant fucceffion of fruit all the 
, year. 
In Europe there are fame of thefe plants preferved in 
the gardens of curious perfons, who have hot-houfes 
capacious enough for their reception, in many of 
which they have ripened their fruit very well ; but as 
they grow very tall and their leaves are large, they 
require more room in the ftove than moft people care 
to allow them : they are propagated by fuckers, 
which come from the roots of thofe plants which have 
fruited ; and many times the younger plants, when 
they are {tinted in growth, will put out fuckers ; thefe 
fhould be carefully taken off, preferving fome fibres 
to their roots, and planted in pots filled with light 
rich earth, and plunged into the tan-bed in the ftove : 
thefe may be taken off any time in fummer, and it is 
beft to take them off when young, becaufe if their 
roots are grown large, they do not put out new fibres 
fo foon, and when the thick part of the root is cut in 
taking off, the plants often rot. 
During the fummer feafon thefe plants muff be plen- 
tifully watered, for the furface of their leaves being 
large, there is a great confumption of moifture, by 
perfpiration in hot weather, but in the winter they 
muft be watered more fparingly; though at that feafon 
they muft be often refrefhed, but it muft not be given 
them in fuch quantities. 
The pots in which thefe plants are placed, fhould be 
large in proportion to the fize of the plants, for their 
roots generally extend pretty far, and the earth fhould 
be rich and light. The degree of heat with which 
thefe plants thrive beft, is much the fame with the 
Anana, or Pine Apple, in which I have had many of 
thefe plants produce their fruit in perfeftion, and they 
were near twenty feet high. 
The moft fure method to have thefe plants fruit in 
England is, after they have grown for fome time in 
pots, fo as to have made good roots, to fhake them 
out of the pots with the ball of earth to their roots, 
' and ’plant them into the tan-bed in the ftove, obierv- 
ing to lay a little old tan near their roots for their 
fibres to ftrike into, and in a few months the roots of 
thefe plants will extend themfelves many feet each 
way in the bark •, and thefe plants will thrive a great 
deal falter than thofe which are confined in pots, or 
tubs. When the bark-bed wants to be renewed with 
frefh tan, there fhould be great care taken of the 
roots of thefe plants, not to cut or break them, as al- 
fo to leave a large quantity of the old tan about them, 
becaufe if the new tan is laid too near them, it will 
fcorch their roots, and injure them : thefe plants 
muft be plentifully fupplied with water, otherwife 
they will not thrive •, in winter they fhould be water- 
ed twice a week, giving at leaft two quarts to each 
plant, but in fummer they muft be watered every 
other day, and double the quantity given to them 
each time. If the plants pulli out their fiower-ftems 
in the fpring, there will be hopes of their perfecting 
their fruit ; but when they come out late in the year, 
the plants will fometimes decay before the fruit is 
ripe. The ftoves in which thele plants are placed 
fhould be at leaft twenty feet in height, otherwife 
there will not be room for their leaves to expand ; 
for when the plants are in vigour, the leaves are of- 
ten eight feet in length, and two feet broad : fo that 
if the Items grow to be fourteen feet to the divi- 
sion of the leaves, and the houfe is not twenty 
feet high, the leaves will be cramped, which will 
-retard the growth of the plants ; befides, when the 
leaves are bent againft the glafs, there v/ill be dan- 
ger of their breaking them, when they are growing 
vigoroufly •, for I have had in one night the Items of 
M U S 
fuch bent leaves force through the glafs, and by the 
next morning advanced two or three inches above* 
the glafs. 
I have feen fome bunches of fruit of the firft fort, 
which were upwards of forty pounds weight, and per- 
fectly ripe in England ; but this is notfo good a fruit, 
as to tempt any -perfon to be at the expence of raffing 
them in England. The fecond fort is preferred to the 
firft, for the flavour of its fruit, in all thofe hot coun- 
tries v/here thefe plants abound : the bunches of thefe 
are not near fo large as thofe of the firft fort, nor are 
the Angle fruit near fo long ; thefe change to a deeper 
yellow colour as they ripen, but their tafter is fome- 
what like that of meally Figs. Some perfons who have 
refided in the Weft-Indies, having eaten fome of 
thefe fruit which were produced in England, and 
thought them little inferior to thofe which grew in 
America ; and I imagine, that the inhabitants of 
thofe countries would notefteem thefe fruits fo much, 
had they variety of other forts •, but, for want of 
better, they eat many kinds of fruit, which would 
not be valued in Europe, could they be obtained in 
perfe&ion. 
MU S CARI. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 347. tab. 180. 
Muft, or Grape Hyacinth, vulgo. 
The Characters are, 
Floe flower has no emp element . It hath one oval pitcher- 
floaped petal , which is reflexed at the brim. It hath three 
nedlarums on the top ofl the germen , and fix awl-Jhaped 
flamina which are Jhorter than the petal , whofle fummits 
join together , and in the center is fltuated a round! fo 
three-cornered germen , Jupporting a Jingle ftyle , crowned 
by an obtufe ftigma. Fhe germen afterward turns to a 
roundijh three-cornered capfuls , having three cells , filled 
with roundifo feeds . 
Dr. Linnaeus has joined this genus to the Hyacinth, 
which is placed in the firft fedtion of his fixth clafs, 
which contains the plants whofe flowers have fix fta- 
mina and one ftyle. 
The Species are, 
1. Muscari {Bo try aide) corollis globofis uniformibus, 
foliis canaliculato-cylindricis ftridiis. , Mufcari with uni- 
form globular petals , and cylindrical gut ter-Jh aped leaves. 
Mulcari arvenfe, juncifolium, caeruleum, minus. 
Tourn. Inft. 348. Smaller blue Field Mufcary , with 
Rufh leaves , commonly called Grape Hyacinth. 
2. Muscari ( Comofus ) corollis angulato-cylindricis, fum- 
mis fterilibus longius pedicellatis. Mufcari with angu- 
lar cylindrical petals , which on the top of the fpike are 
barren , and have longer foot-flalks. Mufcari arvenfe, 
latifolium, purpuralcens. Tourn. Inft. 347. Bread- 
leaved, purple, Field Mufcari , commonly called Fair-haired 
Hyacinth 
3. Muscari ( Racemofus ) corollis ovatis, fummis feffili- 
bus foliis laxis. Mufcari with oval petals. Mufcari 
obfoletiore flore. Cluf. Hift. 1. p. 178. Mufcari with 
an cbfolete flower , commonly called Mufk Hyacinth. 
4. Muscari ( Monfir of us ) corollis fubovatis. Mufcari 
with almofl oval corolla. Hyacinthus panieula cceru- 
lea. C. B. P. 42. Blue paniculated Hyadnth, called Fea- 
thered Hyacinth, 
5. Muscari ( Orchioide ) corollis fexpartitis, petalis tri- 
bus exterioribus brevicribus. Mufcari with petals which 
are cut into fix parts. Hyacinthus orchioides Africa- 
nus major bifolius maculatus, flore fulphureo, obfo- 
leto majore. Breyn. Prod. 3, 24. Greater African Hy- 
acinth , refembling Orchis , with two fpetied leaves , and 
a larger , obfolete , fulphur- coloured flower. 
The firft fort grows naturally in the vineyards • and 
arable fields in France, Italy, and Germany, and 
where it is once planted in a garden, it is not eafily 
rooted out, for the roots multiply greatly, and if 
they are permitted to fcatter their feeds, the ground 
will be filled with the roots. There are three varieties 
of this, one with blue, another with white, and a third 
with Afh-coloured flowers : the firft fort hath a final], 
round, bulbous root, from which come out many 
leaves about fix inches long, which are narrow, and 
their edges are incurved, lo as to be fhaped like a 
gutter : between thefe arife the flower-ftalk, which 
• 42 * 
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