OP ORNAMENTAL EXOTIC PLANTS. 
77 
it gives them so rank an odour, that Thunberg says he could not endure the smell of the men who drove his 
waggon, and that he was obliged to keep so far from the party, on this account, as to be sometimes exposed to 
considerable inconvenience. 
7.— DIOSMA HIRTA Vent. THE PURPLE DIOSMA. 
Synonymes. — D. purpurea Hort.-, D. Ventenatiana Sprang. •, D. 
glandulosa Thuni . ; Agathosma lasiophylla G. Don ; Bucco Vente- 
natiana Dmm. et Schult. 
Engravings. — Bot. Reg., t. 369; and out fig. 4, in PI. 18. 
Specific Character. — Leaves imbricate, linear-lanceolate, incurved 
at tbe apex and bluntisb, hairy beneath. Branches a little whorl. 
Pedicels unequal, short, pubescent. Calyxes smooth. ((?. Don.) 
Description, &c. — This species, when not in flower, has very much the appearance of the kind of heath called 
Erica vestita, as the branches are completely clothed by the imbricated leaves. The flowers are produced in 
clusters at the ends of the shoots ; they are small, and of a bright purple. The plant is a native of the Cape of 
Good Hope, whence it was mtroduced in 1794. It requires the same treatment as directed for D. speciosa. 
OTHER SPECIES OF DIOSMA. 
D. RUBRA lAn. 
A little heath-like plant, with very small flowers, which are sometimes pm-ple edged with white, and sometimes 
white. It is a tolerably hardy greenhouse shrub, and when planted in the free ground of a conseiwatory, it gi’ows 
three or four feet high, and looks somewhat like a juniper bush. It was introduced about 1752. It is a true 
Diosma, and has the strong smell common to the genus. 
D. ERICOIDES Lin. 
A little plant, with very small white flowers. The leaves of this plant are said to have a more delicate 
fragrance than those of some of the other species, and they are so highly prized by the Hottentot ladies for 
making a superior kind of buku, that it is said that a thimbleful of the dry leaves in powder is reckoned equal in 
value to a sheep. The species was introduced in 1756, but is very seldom grown as it does not possess any beauty. 
D. CUPRESSINA Lodd. 
A very slow-growing little plant, rarely exceeding a foot in height, with white flowers, and small leaves clothing 
the stem. It has very little odour. 
D. SERRATIFOLIA Lodd. 
Rather a pretty-looking plant, with white flowers and large red anthers. The leaves are rather large for the 
size of the plant, and they are sharply serrated at the margin. It is one of the most ornamental of the small 
plants belonging to the genus. It is sometimes called Barosma serratifolia. 
There are many other species belonging to the genus, but those which have been enumerated are the kinds 
most commonly seen in greenhouses. 
