PACHYPODIUM 
TUBEROSUM.— TUBEROU S PACHYPODIUM. 
Class V. PENTANDRIA. — Order II. DIGYNIA. 
Natural Order, A P O C Y N E M. 
From thick, and mbr iroSbr , a foot ; in allusion to its succulent stem and swollen root. 
Professor Lindley observes that, “ When Mr. Brown remodelled the order of Apocynese in 1809, he 
pointed out the Echites succulenta and bispinosa, two remarkable Cape plants, which he had had no oppor- 
tunity of examining, as likely to constitute a distinct genus. In this opinion, the plant now figured, shews 
that he was right. It evidently differs from Echites, in the segments of the corolla being equal sided, and 
in the want of hypogynous scales ; and is more nearly allied to Holarrhena, which differs in having its 
stamens arising from the bottom of the corolla instead of the middle, regularly opposite leaves, and whole 
habit. 
“ This plant offers an exception to the usual position of the leaves in Apocynese, they are not opposite, 
as in the order generally, but scattered irregularly over the surface of the stem ; a circumstance which 
appears to be owing to the unusually succulent and distended state of the stem. 
“ A native of barren, sandy plains, at the Cape of Good Hope. If it is the Echites succulenta, it was 
found by Mr. Burchell in the Kloof and its mountains ; but upon this point there is some doubt, It agrees 
with neither the figure nor description of Thunberg in minor details, but it has so much general resemblance, 
that it is very probable they are the same, — allowances being made for Thunberg’s loose mode of descrip- 
tion. 
“ Stem spherical at the base, tuberous, smooth ; branches taper, succulent, divided, spiny. Spines 
proceeding from below the leaves, 2 or 3-lobed, subulate, flat. Leaves scattered, sessile, oblong, obtuse, 
fleshy, downy beneath. Calyx inferior, 5-leaved ; leaflets ovate, acute, hairy, imbricated. Corolla hypo- 
crateriform, hairy on the outside ; the tube inflated in the middle, hairy inside below the stamens ; limb 
contorted ; segments equal-sided, oblong, obtuse, slightly unguiculate ; throat naked. Stamens inserted in 
the middle of the tube ; anthers sessile, sagittate, opening lengthwise. Ovarium double, many-seeded. 
Styles 2. Hypogynous scales none.” 
I was lately walking in a solitary corn-field, and could not help reflecting how many heartfelt pleasures 
are within our reach, if we rest satisfied with those which reason and religion equally approve ; instead of 
sighing after vain and fugitive delights, especially such as it would be our highest wisdom, if offered, to 
reject. 
The morning was a fine one. The first beams of the rising sun shone bright on the glittering windows 
of distant cottages, and tinged with a warm gleam the tall forest-trees, as they waved gently in the wind. 
The heavens were bright and clear. The fog was lying in the valley, serene as the unruffled waters of a lake, 
while the high hills rose like little islands covered with corn-fields and orchards, the trees of which were 
loaded with fruit. It was delightful to look over the smiling landscape, and to listen to the bleating of the 
sheep, the cheerful whistle of early labourers, and the shrill cry of wakeful birds, chasing each other through 
the air, or darting into the valley, where they were lost in a sea of mist. As the sun advanced in the heavens, 
his beams enlivened the spot on which I stood, and shed a golden tint on the glossy heads of the ripening 
corn, which gently rustled in the breeze, and glittered like a thousand little mirrors. 
Homer, whose descriptions of nature are equally correet and beautiful, frequently characterizes different 
countries by the various productions peculiar to them. One he has celebrated for the grape, another for the 
olive, a third for the laurel, a fourth for the palm ; but to the earth he has given the general epithet of corn- 
bearing. No appellation could be more appropriate. Corn is the produce of almost every soil and climate. 
Even amid the rugged rocks of Finland, as high as the sixty-first degree of north latitude, crops of barlev are 
frequently to be met with, luxuriant as those which clothed the fertile plains of Sicily. Trees are gene'rallv 
adapted for the sites they occupy ; the willow delights in marshy places, and will scarcely flourish in any 
other : the cypress of Louisiana stands with its roots in the water ; whilst the fir grows best in elevated 
stations. Flowers are also suited in their various constructions to different soils and seasons ; but the corn- 
plant may be termed a citizen of the vegetable world. The roots are long and ramified; consequently, they 
are seldom liable to be uprooted by the wind, while at the same time they draw considerable moisture from 
the earth in arid situations. 
