1811.] 
[ 519 3 
MONTHLY BOTANICAL REPORT. 
last numlierof the Botanical Magazine may very well serve as a specimen of Mr^, 
Sydenham Edwards’s talents as a botanical draughtsman. This excellent artist appears 
to' us to continue to innprove , and we know of none that expresses v'ith more truth and na¬ 
tural ease the habit or mode of growth of the plant ] or that contrives better to display th« 
parts of fructificdlion, which can be seen without dis.section ] and this is the more impcrtaritj 
es the plan of the work, does not admit the latter illustration. There are artists who finish 
higher] but suc!> additional labour would be useless for a w'ork like the present, wnich is 
sold at so low a price, that it could not possibly afford the increased expense that must have 
attended the engraving and colouring of drawiiigs-Tinished in a higher style 5 nor for the pur-* 
pose of the botanist, or to assist in the knowledge of the species, would any advantage accrue 
from the greater labour bestowed. Ehret, in the last century, appears to us to have drawn 
plants far more naturally, and with less affectation, than any of his competitors ; and Ed- 
W'ards, if we mistake not, for his style of botanical drawing, has taken him for hi-s model. 
This artist has been fortunate too, in having his drawings copied by excellent engravers ; 
the late Mr. Sansum was minutely accurate, and faithfully copied the drawing before him— 
and his son, with all his father’s accuracy, unites a more delicate hand, and ffaishes the ten¬ 
der blossoms with a softer touch. 
As to colouring, we know of no coloured work, on Natural History, that can stand th« 
test.of a comparison with the Botanical Magazine. Let any one compare the figures in this 
cheap pcrfoimance, with the splendid and costly coloured engravings that have, of late, issued 
from the Paris press, having at the same time, living specimens of the plants represented, in 
his hand, and we have no doubt of the general superiority of the former, as approaching 
nearest to nature. We believe Mr. Graves was the first person who, under the eve of the 
late Mr. Curlis, established a manufactory for colouring botanical engravings, of any account 
in this city 5 and he still continues to maintain his superiority, whilst a large proportion of 
the best hands, in every department of Natural History, have issued from his school. 
This number contains t 
PancrAT iu.*.€ amhoi-neme. A rare plant from the collection of James Vere, esq. Mr. 
Ker has taken the opportunity of giving a new character, to this genus ; which, as it now 
stands, is not very definite ; the cells of the germen being described as bearing many seeds, 
or few and definite. The seeds in the capsule vary from many to a solitary’ one j but, as 
this arises, or is supposed to arise, from abortion, it is ofless consequence than the number 
ofovulain the germen. The present species having only two ovuia in each ceil, Mr, 
Browji, in his Prodromus, has remarked that it differs in this respect from all the rest of 
the genus, and also in the division of the corona, and approaches, as also in habit, to one 
of his New Holland genera, named Caloscemrna. Mr. Ker, however, could not observe any 
difference in the crown. We observe by the figure of this plant in the Paradises Londinen- 
518 that the foliation is involute. We do not know how far tnis circumstance may be thought 
to confirm Mr. Brown’s idea of a genetic difference. 
Allium fallens. The genus Allium contains a great number of species, and the proper 
designation ot each is attended with much difficulty j notwithstanding the assistance given by 
Kaller, who wrote a monograph upon it. This is not, however, according to Mr. Ker, the 
/>/ 3//£«5 of that author, which belongs to flavum j nor of Brotero or Redoute. Mr. Ker al¬ 
ways takes great pains to correct the synonymy, which is certainly of great importance, 33 
nothing tends so much to confuse the knowledge of a plant as an assemblage of false syno¬ 
nyms. The French botanists are apt to be particularly careless in this respect. 
Asthropodkim fa7jirulatum. This is the Anthericum Paniculatum of the Botanist's Repo- 
3 itoxy--~~mUlejloriim of Redoute : is a native of New Holland, and considered by Mr. Brow.n 
as a distinct genus ; but, though Mr. Ker has adopted this author’s name, he has positively 
stated that it is in no re,-pectdislinct from Jussieu’s genus Phalangium, which is usually united 
with Anthericum, judging from the habit alone, we liave always suspected it to be distinct 
frum Anthericum ] but, if Mr. Ker was convinced that it was not, he ought to have kept 
it witli that genus. 
PoEOnia humilis. This is, we doubt not, distinct from P. feregrlnay before figured in the 
Magazine 5 though the difFerence would have been more obvious, had the outline of a full 
sized leaf been given, wh.ch the size of the plate would not admit of; we cannot, however, 
but repeat our regret that a double sized plate is not upon all occasions had recourse to when 
the'true character of the plant cannot be given without it, 
JuskiciA i'.ko/az. This seems to be quite a new species, native of Luconia, one of the 
Philippine l.slands, whence the seeds were sent by Mr. William Kerr, who, we believe, is one 
of tlie gardeners sent Into foreign parts by his majesty, to collect plants for the royal garden 
at Kew. It appears to be an acquisition to our stoves. 'I'he name seems to have been sug¬ 
gested by some similarity in the form of the flower to Viola tricolor. 
Pfiistemoa fuhcscens and laevigata. These tw'O species are w'eil brought together, as their 
clstinction is not generally known, the latter having probably been seldom seen m our gar¬ 
dens of late wars, the narrowTeaved variety of the former being usually taken, for it. 
The 
