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[213]
POLYGONUM ORIENTALE. TALL PERSICARIA.
_Cla.s.s and Order._
OCTANDRIA TRIGYNIA.
_Generic Character._
_Cal._ 0. _Cor._ 5-part.i.ta, calycina. _Sem._ 1. angulatum.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
POLYGONUM _orientale_ floribus heptandris digynis, foliis ovatis, caule erecto, stipulis hirtis hypocrateriformibus. _Linn. Syst.
Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 377._ _Ait. Hort. Kew. V. 2. p. 32._
PERSICARIA _orientalis_ nicotianae folio calyce florum purpureo.
_Tournef. cor. 38._ Schovanna-modelamuccu. _Rheed. Mal. 12. p. 147.
t. 76._
Of the genus Polygonum, the present well-known native of the East, as well as of India, is the princ.i.p.al one cultivated in our gardens for ornament, and is distinguished not less for its superior stature than the brilliancy of its flowers; it will frequently grow to the height of eight or ten feet, and become a formidable rival to the gigantic sun-flower.
There is a dwarf variety of it, and another with white flowers; it has been observed to vary also in point of hairiness.
It flowers from July to October, and produces abundance of seed, which, falling on the borders, generally comes up spontaneously in the spring; but it is most commonly sown in the spring with other annuals: when the seedlings appear, they should be thinned so as to stand a foot apart.
This plant requires very little care, and will bear the smoke of London better than many others.
Was cultivated by the Dutchess of BEAUFORT, in 1707. _Ait. Kew._
The Stipulae on the stalk are deserving of notice, being unusual in their form, and making it look as if beruffled.
[214]
DRACOCEPHALUM DENTICULATUM. TOOTHED DRAGON'S-HEAD.
_Cla.s.s and Order._
DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA.
_Generic Character._
_Corollae faux_ inflata: _labium_ superius concavum.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
DRACOCEPHALUM _denticulatum_ floribus spicatis remotis, foliis obovato-lanceolatis superne denticulatis. _Ait. Kew. V. 2. p. 317._
About the year 1786, we received from Philadelphia, seeds of a plant collected at a considerable distance from that city, announced to us as new and rare, and which produced the present species of _Dracocephalum_: Mr. WATSON, Nurseryman at Islington, obtained the same plant from Carolina, about the same period.
It is a hardy perennial, multiplying considerably by its roots, which creep somewhat; it must be planted in a moist soil, and shady situation, for such it affects, and in such only will it thrive.
It flowers in August and September.
It bears a considerable affinity to the _Dracocephalum virginianum_, to which, though a much rarer plant, it is inferior in point of beauty; it spreads more on the ground, its flowering stems are not altogether so upright, nor so tall, the leaves are broader, and the flowers in the spikes less numerous.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
[Ill.u.s.tration]
[215]
RANUNCULUS ACRIS FLORE PLENO. DOUBLE UPRIGHT CROWFOOT.
_Cla.s.s and Order._
POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA.
_Generic Character._
_Cal._ 5-phyllus. _Petala_ 5, intra ungues poro mellisero. _Sem._ nuda.
_Specific Character and Synonyms._
RANUNCULUS _acris_ calycibus patulis, pedunculis teretibus, foliis tripart.i.to multifidis: summis linearibus. _Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14.
Murr. p. 517._
RANUNCULUS hortensis erectus flore pleno. _Bauh. Pin. p. 178. ?._
RANUNCULUS pratensis flore multiplici. _Park. Parad. p. 218._
The double yellow field Crowfoot.
In giving a representation of this species of Ranunculus, we have made a slight deviation from the strict letter of our plan, as expressed in the t.i.tle page, which confines us to the figuring of foreign plants only; we have thought, however, that it would not be inconsistent with the spirit of the _Flower-Garden Displayed_, were we occasionally to introduce such English plants as have double flowers, and which, on that account, are thought worthy of a place in every garden; they are but few in number, and we flatter ourselves that this trifling alteration will be approved by our numerous readers.
The _Ranunculus acris_ is the first that we offer of these; a plant, in its wild and single state, common in all our rich meadows, and in its improved, or to speak more botanically, in its monstrous state (all double flowers being monsters, for the most part formed from the preternatural multiplication of their petals) it has long been cultivated in gardens abroad, as well as here.
