3 
Diandria Liknvei, 
roseate nyctanthes. 
N Y C T A N T H E S MULTIPLEX. 
^ , s .,fo . r». o,.» . Ut: 
1 they boaft •’'"J ™in fo„e other of tl.e arts. Perhaps it is the 
tlicy exceed us m garJcni , frnonnee The Stem is more rohuR tlian ia 
MSI»bof .kewU for *6;“ ^ ‘ ,1,. U.,.« « al,„g„l,., 
tion- ‘there is only one upon each Footftalk or term.natton ot the Brar.ch, tho hey 
arnumerous on the entire Shrub : their form is not unhke that ot a double rofe , the.r 
bignefs iuft rvhat is here reprefented : they are white m colour, and tlicy exceed m fra- 
er!nce ^ven the f.ngle kind. The doublcnefs anfes from the ordinal nm of the Tube, 
^nd the two proper Filaments I found pcrihcl in the centre of leveral of the Flowers, 
with their eomplete buttons. The Cup in fome degree partakes of the nature of the 
Flower ; and its pointed fegments fall in filmy pieces down the Footftalk. 
We arc led one ftep towards the knowledge of Double Flowers and their conftruc- 
tion, bv this Shrub ; for here alfo the multiplied Petals rife from tlic knotted fubftance, 
whieh forms the rim of the Tube in the natural Flo«er : that becomes ' larger, more 
exuberant ; and inftcad of fending out one or two rows of Petals, burfts into many. 
If we could learn what power in nature occafions this ; we fhould know how to 
imitate it in the works of art. ’Tis not rank nourifhmenr, like that from dung, for 
this extends the entire Plant in height and bignefs ; which prevents, not favours the 
production of Double Flowers. From the Tulip to this Shrub ’tis ufual that thefe 
are produced on fhorter Plants than the lingic. May it not be, that nature, urged by 
fome accident in the general courfe of growth, opens fooncr into Flowers than othervvife, 
and fo makes them double ? The great caufc appears to me to be a proper addition of 
rich, but not rank nourifhment. 
In the common courfe of nature ; a Plant at a certain height, that is, at a certain dif- 
tance from the Root, produces Flowers ; the Bark, inftead of Leaves, then forming a 
Cup, and the inner rind Petals. Now if rich nourifhment force the Plant to break into 
Mowers at a lefs diftance from the Root, more food is carried to them, and more Petals 
are formed. The original Petal confifts of two membranes, and a fpungy fubftance 
between them ; in this Flower the innermoft fldn is thrown off, and becomes an entire 
Petal, and the chill air forms another Ikin in its place out of this fpungy part ; this is 
af erwards thrown off as the firft, and fo a fecond feries of Petals is formed ; and by the 
fame procefs afterwards are produced many more. 
T.ns is evidently the formation of the Double Flower in the prefent inftance. Nor 
is any to wonder, that in the place of four or five fingle ones there comes upon each 
Footftalk but one of thefe. V/c fliall fhew the fame change prefently in a more common 
Plant, the Naacissus. 
Scunce allows no Names lo Double Flowers j the Effeft of Culture. 
