16 
THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
1.—PLATYSTEMON CALIFORNICUM, Benth. THE CALIFORNIAN PLATYSTEMON. 
Engravings.— Bot. Reg. t. 1679. I lanceolate, in tlirees. Scape axillary. Flowers of a pale sulpliur, or 
Specific Character. —The whole plant hairy and spreading. Leaves | lemon-colour; carpels hairy.— {Benth.) 
Description, &c.— The stem spreads about three feet or four feet from the roots ; but instead of rising erect, 
it reclines on the ground, gracefully curving upwards at the extremity of the shoots, which produce the flowers. 
The leaves and stem are of a pale bluish green ; and the flowers, which are fragrant, vary in different situations 
from cream-colour to a pale yellow. The whole plant has a remarkably elegant and delicate appearance, without 
being fragile. The stem is somewhat succulent; and when it is bruised, there issues from it a thin yellow juice. 
The leaves are long and narrow, and grow always three together ; and they are quite hairy, as well as the 'stem. 
The flower-stalk is very long. The calyx, which is of a reddish-brown, is divided into three sepals, which fall 
off as soon as the flower is expanded. The filaments are very remarkable, as instead of being long and thread¬ 
like, they look like Vandyke-shaped petals with the points uppermost. The carpels are numerous; they are 
placed side by side, and when young they are slightly united at the edges, but when they become mature they 
separate, and each will be found to consist of numerous jointed cells, each containing one seed, slightly attached 
to one side. In this curious construction of the carpel, Platystemon bears a close resemblance to the genus 
Hypecoum , which we shall speak of hereafter. 
The Platystemon californicum was discovered by Mr. Douglas, botanical collector to the London Horticul¬ 
tural Society, in California, and seeds and dried specimens of it were sent home by him in 1832, under the name 
of Boothia; but there being another plant with a nearly similar name, Mr. Bentham, who first described it in 
the Horticultural Society's Transactions , called it Platystemon , from two Greek words signifying broad stamen, 
in allusion to the extraordinary breadth of the filaments. The seeds sown in the Horticultural Society’s garden 
came up, and flowered but very sparingly the following year; and, as the plants died without maturing their 
seed, the species was supposed to be lost. It has, however, been re-introduced, and is now abundant in the 
nurseries and seed-shops. 
Culture.— The Platystemon , being a native of the colder part of California, is quite hardy, and will grow in 
any common garden soil. It may be sown as directed for Flos Adonis , but when it comes up it should be thinned 
out, and only one or two flowers left in each patch, as it spreads very much; and in favourable situations one 
plant will cover a space three feet or four feet in diameter. It flowers abundantly, and in situations where it is 
not too far from the eye, it is very ornamental. The plants taken out in thinning may be transplanted. 
2.—PLATYSTEMON LEIOCARPUM, Fisch. et Meyer. THE SMOOTH-FRUITED PLATYSTEMON. 
Engravings. —Floral Cabinet, vol. ii. p. 129; and our fig . 1, in Plate 1, copied from it. 
Specific Character. —Carpels smooth. 
Description, &c. —This plant, though described as a species, appears to be nothing more than a smooth- 
fruited variety of P. californicum. It was raised in the Birmingham botanical garden, from seeds sent there in 
1837 by Professor Fischer from St. Petersburgh. It is not stated of what country it is a native, but from the 
seeds being sent from the Russian capital, it is supposed to be a native of the north of Europe. It grows and 
flowers as luxuriantly as P. californicum , and ripens its seeds equally well. It flowered for the first time in the 
summer of 1838, in the Birmingham botanic garden. 
