45 
MELIANTHUS major. 
The great Honey-flower. 
DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMI4A. 
MIELIANTHUS, Cal. magnus profundé 5-fidus coloratus per- 
sistens, laciniis inaqualibus, infim& remotd ceteris minore, deorsim 
gibba & cucullata, intis cava & fovente glandulam melliflaam (ex disco _ 
hypogyno hinc enatam ?) membrana propria conduplicaté cinctam. Pet. 
5 liguleformia; 4 inferiora declinata, clandulz inserta extra membranam, 
basi & apice distincta, medio agglutinata; quintum nunc ceteris proxi- 
mum, nunc procul inter lacinias 2 calicinas superiores enatam. Stam. 
4, germini circumposita; horum jilamenta 2 superiora distincta, 2 
inferiora breviora basi connata inter germen & glandulam media; anth. 
incumbentes. Germ. 4-striatum; stylus 1; stigma sub 4-fidum. Caps. 
membranacea vesicaria 4-loba, 4-loc.; loculi medio 1-spermi, com- 
pressi aleformes, supra distincti & angulo interiore dehiscentes, infra 
margine connati in dissepimenta angusta, introrstm apice’incisa pro semi+ 
num receptaculo centrali; sem. subrotunda, nitida; embryo cotyledoni- 
bus parvis, radicula longiore intra albumen carnosum. ‘Lrutex ; folia 
alterna, impari-pinnata petiolo alato, stipuldcea stipulis distinctis aut 
in unam petiolo intis adnatam connatis ; flores spicati axillares aut ter— 
minales, singuli bracteati. Jussieu. gen. 297. 
M. major, stipulis solitariis petiolo adnatis. Willd. sp. pl. 3. 402.° 
Meliauthus major. Lin. sp. pl. 2.802. Mill. dict. ed. 8.n.1. J. 
Miller illustr. Fort. Kew. 2. 367. ed. 2. 4. 69. 
M. africanus, Herm. lugdb. 414. t. 415. B 
Suffrutex modd orgyalis, radice laté repente. Caulis cuniculatus, bast 
crassitudine pollicis. Folia decursivé —pinnata, amplexicaulia, glaucissima, 
trita digitis narcoticé alentia ; foliola ovalia, acute serrata: stipule in unam 
auriculato-cordatam supra petiolum connate. Racemus erectus, laxe spicatus, 
subconcolor ; bractez simplices, cordato-acuminate pedicello tereti-striato & 
corollam cequante pariim breviores. Stam. subulata, longitudine calycis. 
Stylus siti horum ; subulatus. Germ. 4-gonum, 4-dentatum. 
Native of the Cape of Good Hope; whence it was 
brought to Holland in the year 1673, and thence to Eng- 
land by Mr. Bentinck, afterwards Lord Portland. 
Au undershrub, (that is, a perennial plant, which is 
partly woody and partly herbaceous) sometimes attaining 
the height of ten feet, or even more, and spreading itself . 
in all directions by suckers: stem piped, woody below, 
herbaceous above; /eaves large, grey, decursively pinnate; 
leaflets in four or more pairs; with a single terminal one, 
: Y) 
- £, 
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