E R I 
fHgma with two fmall roundifli oppofite ears; capfule 
fmall, grooved on each fide, the valves when ripe bifid to 
the middle. Partition doubled, formed by the edges of 
the valves bent in. Receptacle oblong, comprelfed a 
little, not fattened to the partition. Seeds ovate, ferru¬ 
ginous, rugged with obfcure crowded tubercles. The 
leaves are about half an inch long, and one-eighth of an 
inch broad, of a dark green. The flower-ftalk is fcarcely 
two inches high ; the flowers are in a loofe raceme, and 
purple. They appear in May, or earlier, and fometimes 
are fucceeded by ripe feeds in July. It is a defirable little 
plant for the decoration of rock-work, growing in clofe 
tufts, and producing- its numerous lively purple flowers 
during moft of the fummer months. Native of Germany, 
of the Swifs Alps, of the Pyrenees, and the fouth of 
France. 
2 . Erinus Africanus, or African erinus: flowers late¬ 
ral, feflile ; leaves lanceolate, fomewhat toothed. Native 
of Africa. 
3. Erinus Capenfis, or Cape erinus: flowers fpiked, 
leaves linear, toothed. Perennial. Stem ere6t, round, 
pubefcent, two feet high. Native of the Cape of Good 
Hope. 
4. Erinus fragrans, or fvveet-fcented erinus : leaves 
lanceolate-oblong, toothed; divifions of the border en¬ 
tire. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
5. Erinus Peruvianus, or Peruvian erinus : leaves lance¬ 
olate-ovate, ferrate. Native of Peru ; faid alfo to be found 
at the Cape. 
6. Erinus maritimus-, or fea-fide erinus: leaves lanceo¬ 
late, quite entire, fmooth ; divifions of the border cloven 
half way. 7. Erinus triftris, or dull erinus : leaves ob¬ 
long, gafhed, toothed; divifions of the border emarginate. 
Thefe flowers are of a dull colour, but fweet. Both thefe 
are natives of the Cape. 
8. Erinus laciniatus, or laciniate erinus: leaves laci- 
niate. See Buchnexa Canadetijis, and Verbena Aubletia. 
9. Efinus tomentofus, or rough erinus: tomentofe, 
flems procumbent, flowers feflile, axillary. Stems trail¬ 
ing, about fix inches long. Leaves fmall, oval, placed 
on every fide, very white, and woolly. At the joints juft 
above the leaves come out the flowers, fitting very clofe 
to the ftems ; they are white, and are fucceeded by round 
capfules. This plant has great refemblance at a diftance 
to fea cudweed. It was fent to Mr. Miller by Hr. Houf- 
toun from Vera Cruz. 
10. Erinus Americanus, or American erinus : ftem eredl, 
leaves lanceolate, oppofite, flowers loofely fpiked, ter¬ 
minating. Stem upright, two feet high ; towards the top 
two fmaller branches, oppofite, and ere£t; thefe and the 
middle (talk are terminated by loofe fpikes of purple 
flowers, fucceeded by oval capfules, Difcovered by Dr. 
Houftoun, at the fame place. 
11. Erinus frutefcens, or fhrubby erinus : ftem upright, 
fhrubby; leaves ovate-lanceolate, ferrate, alternate; flow¬ 
ers axillary. Stem about four feet high, dividing into 
feveral fmall hairy branches. Flowers Angle, or two and 
three at a joint, feflile, white, fucceeded by round capfules. 
12. Erinus verticillatus, or whorled erinus: ftem branch¬ 
ing, trailing; leaves ovate, ferrate, fmooth, oppofite; 
flowers in whorls. Stems many, fmooth, branching out 
very much on every fide, about feven or eight inches long, 
and garnifhed with fmall leaves. Flowers feflile, white, 
making but little appearance, and fucceeded by round 
capfules. 
13. Erinus precumbens, or procumbent erinus : ftems 
procumbent; leaves ovate, fmooth ; flowers folitary, axil¬ 
lary ; peduncles longer. Stems feveral, trailing, fix inches 
long, dividing into many (mailer branches. Flowers bright 
yellow, on l'ong (lender peduncles, fucceeded by oval cap¬ 
fules. This is a fpecies of lindernia, according to Swartz, 
and a native of Hifpaniola. See Lindernia. 
Propagation and Culture. The firft is propagated by part¬ 
ing the roots in autumn ; they mud have a lhady fituation 
and a loamy foil without dung, for in rich earth they are 
E R I 003 
fubje£l to rot. The Cape forts mu ft be kept in the green, 
houfe, dry ftove, or glafs cafe, and may be increafed by 
cuttings. Thofe from South America mud be placed in 
the bark-ftove. The eleventh being a fhrubby plant, will 
continue feveral years, but the others are annual. They 
are propagated by feeds, fown in pots filled with light 
earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed, where fome¬ 
times they will come up in five or fix weeks ; but they 
frequently do not vegetate till the following fpring, efpe- 
cially when the feeds have been kept long. When the 
plants are fit to remove, they fhould be each planted in 
a feparate lmall pot filled with light earth, not too rich 
with dung, and then plunged into the bark-pit. When 
they have taken new root, treat them as other plants from 
the fame countries, by admitting proper air w-hen the wea¬ 
ther is warm, and frequently refrefhing them with water; 
with this management the annual forts will flower in July 
and Auguft, and often ripen their feeds in autumn, if 
they be brought forward early in the fpring. The fhrubby 
fort mult alfo frequently be refrefhed with water in win¬ 
ter, but not in large quantities, nor in very cold weather : 
the plants will flower and perfeft their feeds the fecond 
year. See Campanula and Lobelia. 
ERIOC AU'LON,/] [from sgiov, wool, and v\o;, Gr„ 
a (talk.] In botany, a genus of the clafs triandria, order 
trigynia, natural order of enfatae, (junci, JnJf.) The ge¬ 
neric characters are—Calyx : perianthiuni common, glo- 
bofe-deprefled, imbricate ; fcales lanceolate, equal, per¬ 
manent. Corolla : univerfal uniform, convex ; proper 
three-petalled ; petals equal, lanceolate, obtufe, villofe 
at the tip, attenuated at the bafe, and connected into a 
ftyle-fhaped pedicel which is hairy. Stamina: filaments 
three, capillary, fitting on the germ ; antheras oblong, 
verfatile. Piftillum : germ flender, fuperior, under the 
ftamens; ftyles three, capillary, fhort; ftigmas Ample. 
Pericarpium: none ; calyx unchanged. Seeds: folitary, 
crowned with the corolla. Receptaculum : chaffs of the 
fize and figure of the calycine fcales, one-flowered, very 
many. Other fpecies muft be furveyed before the Cha¬ 
racter can be completed.— EJfential Chara&er. Calyx com¬ 
mon, an imbricate head ; petals three, equal; ftamina 
upon the germ. 
Species. 1. Eriocaulon triangulare, or triangular erio- 
caulon : culm triangular, leaves enfiform, head ovate. 
Linnaeus fays he could not difcern the flofcules in Pifo’s 
Herbarium, which is in the polfeflion of Burmann. Na¬ 
tive of Brafil. 
2. Eriocaulon quinquangulare, or quinquangular erio- 
caulon : culm quinquangular, leaves enfiform. 3. Erio¬ 
caulon fexangulare, or fexangular eriocaulon: culm hex- 
angular, leaves enfiform. 4. Eriocaulon fetaceum, or 
briltly eriocaulon : culm hexangular, leaves fetaceous. 
Thefe are natives of the Eaft Indies, and this of Cochin- 
china. 
5. Eriocaulon decangulare, or ten-fided eriocaulon: 
culm decangular, leaves enfiform. Leaves two, fubu- 
late, flat, channelled, jointed. Flowers in a head, with 
male flowers in the difk, and female in the circumfe¬ 
rence. The character of the genus remains to be exa¬ 
mined in the other fpecies. Hope has-very well defcribed 
this. The remaining fpecies muft be feen, before the 
character can be corrected. Native of North America, 
in the fwamps. 
6. Eriocaulon quadrangulare, or quadrangular eriocau¬ 
lon : culm quadrangular, leaves enfiform, head of flowers 
globular, truncate at the bafe. This is an annual herb, 
with an upright naked four-cornered culm, eight inches 
high. Leaves fhort, fmooth, few. Heads of flowers 
whitifh, flattilh at the bafe, with roundifh fcales, atte¬ 
nuated at the bottom, one-flowered, clofed. Petals two, 
fubconcave, blunt at the tip, toothed. Seeds three, 
ovate. Common every where in Cochin-china. 
7. Eriocaulon feptangulare, or feven-angled eriocaulon: 
found in Ireland, by Dr. Walter Wade of Dublin, and 
communicated to the Linntean Society in 1S02. It h;id 
never 
