13 
Hsxakdria LiN'Njei. 
imperial gloriosa. 
gloriosa superb a. 
T he Tulip was confider-d before this Flower ; the doublenefs of which has in it 
fomethinUioft extraordinary; bccaufe it will explain how nature has pc.form’d 
the wonder. The waved Edges, and the inverted fttuation of the Petals in this are what it 
has in reality fo f.ngular : Thcfe are from nature, for in the fingle ftate of the Plant t^y 
have the lame curl’d and bent afpea. The reft is owing to a fimple procefs : the double- 
nefs is formed tuft as in the Tulip, but it is not quite fo perica. There the Buttons are 
entirely loft here there remain fome Veftiges of them ; and tho’ but lightly, they delortn 
the Flower We fee a thoufand double Tulips in the fame ftate of impcrfcaion, tor one 
that is like that, reprefented in our plate: and on the fame principle, in the gardens of 
Chin.^, doubtlefs a perfea Gloriofa might have been found : but the gentleman who col- 
leaed for me, could not have the fame Advantages as if he had undertaken the friendly 
talk in Europe. 
Tho’ double, it produces Seeds : For the Rudiment of the Seed-velTel continues un- 
hurt ; and it is poft'ible thcfe remains of Antheri-, or the more perfea ones, in lingle 
Flowers, near the Plant, may impregnate them. 
We have been accuftom’d to receive the Species with fingle Flowers from the E.vst 
Indies, 1 have not heard of it double before this fpecimen ; but in any ftate it is a Plant 
of vaft lingularity and elegance. It climbs among the bufties or winds itfelf round trees. 
Nature has furnifticd few Plants fo well for fupporting themfelves ; for befides that the 
finMc Stalk twifts itfelf naturally as our hops round about whatever is near it, the Leaves 
all terminate in fine long twilled Points, a kind of Tendrils that lay hold alfo on every 
thing near them. 
Thus the Gloriofa, in the fingle ftate, covers whole thickets, fpreaditig over their Tops 
and falling down again every where before and among the branches. In that ftate, the 
Flower is made of fix Petals, as the Tulip, and there rife from the Bafe of it fix Fila- 
ments. In this peculiar form of doublenefs, the Filaments have become broad and form’d 
themfelves into other Petals ; and afterwards have fplit flatwife as in that F'lower when 
fully double ; and this in the fame manner has eighteen of them. 
The Chinese boaft they produce this change by art ; and without exception they are 
good gardeners: but probably the firft came from nature. We fee double Ranunculus’s 
and Anemones rife from feed with the fingle, and double Tulips appear in thofe beds where 
only fingle ones were planted. Nature does fomething in this which does not fall under 
the examination of our fenfes, but we fee the effefl. Probably they who in China faw the 
firft tendency to doublenefs in a Gloriofa, gave the Plant a more careful culture. If they 
have an abfolutc art beyond this, it is one we ftiould be very happy to acquire. 
This, as the Plants with double Flowers in the preceding inftances, is lower than the 
fingle kind, it winds among their rocks, but five feet is its ufual height. The root is 
tuberous. 
Gijtiol’a fuptrba. Superb Lilly vulgo. 
/y^.r /r-y\ 
