CHAP. CXIV.

OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER EMPETRA`CEÆ.

Identification. Nutt. Gen., 2. 233.; Don in Edinb. New Phil. Journ., 1826; Hook in Bot. Mag., t. 2758.; Lindl. Syn., 224.; Bart. Órd. Nat., 372.; Arnott in Edinb. Encyc., 129.

Gen. Char. of the Order. Flowers semi-sexual. Sepals hypogynous imbricated scales, the innermost of which are sometimes petaloid. Stamens equal in number to the inner sepals, and alternate with them; anthers roundish, 2-celled, the cells distinct, bursting longitudinally. Ovary superior, seated in a fleshy disk, 3-6- or 9-celled; ovules solitary, ascending. Style 1; stigma radiating, the number of its rays corresponding with the cells of the ovary. Fruit fleshy, seated in the persistent calyx, 3-6- or 9-celled; the coating of the cells bony. Seeds solitary, ascending; embryo taper, in the axis of fleshy watery albumen; radicle inferior. Small shrubs, with heath-like evergreen leaves, without stipules, and with minute flowers in their axils. A very small group, comprising a few species from North America, the south of Europe, and the Straits of Magellan. (Lindl. Nat. Syst. of Bot., p. 117.) The fruit is in all a small berry.

There are only three genera, which are as follows: —

E'MPETRUM L. Calyx 3-leaved, coriaceous, with 6 imbricated scales at the base. Petals 3. Stamens 3. Stigma 6-9-cleft. Berry depressed, 6-9stoned. Small, branchy, procumbent shrubs; natives of the north of Europe and the Straits of Magellan. Leaves alternate, linear tongueshaped, obtuse; flat above, convex and marked with a membranaceous line beneath; dark green, shining. Flowers axillary, solitary, sessile, dark red. Berries black or red. (D. Don in Edinb. New Phil. Journ.) CORE MA D. Don. Calyx 3-leaved, membranaceous, naked at the base. Petals 3. Stamens 3. Stigma 6-cleft. Berry globose, 3-stoned. A small, erect, branchy, rigid shrub, covered with resinous dots; a native of the south of Europe. Leaves scattered, linear, obtuse, spreading; flattish above, revolute on the margin. Flowers in terminal heads, sessile, situated on a hairy disk; white, large. Heads having villous scales. Berries white. (D. Don in Edinb. New Phil. Journ.)

CERATI OLA Rich. Calyx 2-leaved, membranaceous, with 4 scales at the base. Petals 2, converging into a tube. Stamens 2. Stigma 6-cleft. Berry globose, 2-stoned. A small, upright, branchy, rigid shrub; a native of North America. Branches straight, simple. Leaves alternate, spreading, needle-shaped, obtuse, glabrous, shining, green; marked beneath with a narrow furrow; slightly canaliculate above; about in. long; sometimes crowded, as if verticillate. Flowers axillary, sessile, numerous (2—4), rarely solitary; sometimes (like the leaves) verticillate. Berries red,? (D. Don in Edinb. New Phil. Journ.)

GENUS I.

E'MPETRUM L. THE CROWBERRY. Lin. Syst. Dice'cia Triandria.

Identification. Lin. Gen., 515.; Juss., 162.; Fl. Br., 1072.; Tourn., t. 421.; Lamb., t. 803., Gærtn., t. 106.

Derivation. From en, upon, and petros, a rock; in allusion to the place of growth.

Description, &c. Small evergreen heath-like shrubs, natives of Europe and South America. Propagated by cuttings or seeds, and thriving best in peat soil.

1. E. NIGRUM L. The black Crowberry, or Crakeberry.

Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 1450.; Willd, Sp. Pl., 4. p. 713.; Fl. Br., 1072.; Eng. Bot., t. 526.; Hook. Scot., 287.; Mill. Illust., t. 86.; Fl. Dan., t. 975.; Dicks. H. Sicc., fasc., 2. 10.; Eng. Fl., 4. p. 233.; Mackay Fl. Hibern., p. 238.; Hook. Br. Fl., p. 431.; Lindl. Synop., p. 224.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836.

Synonymes. E. montanum fructu nigro Raii Syn., 444.; E. No. 1605., Hall. Helv., 2. p. 279.; Erica Matth. Valgr., 1. p. 139.; Erica baccifera Cam. Epit., p. 77., Clus. Pan., p. 49., Dalech. Hist., p. 188., Bauh. Hist., 1. p. 526.; E. coccífera procúmbens Ger. Emac., p. 1883.; E. Coris folio undecima Clus. Hist., 1. p. 45.

Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 526.; Mill. Illust., t. 86.; Fl. Dan., t. 975.; our fig. 2375. to our usual Ecale; and fig. 2376. of the natural size.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves linear-oblong. Berries black and clustered. (Hook.) A procumbent shrub, a native of Britain.

Variety.

4

E. n. 2 scóticum Hook. Br. Fl., p. 437., is somewhat smaller than the species.

Description, &c. A small, procumbent, much-branched shrub; the outer bark of which is deciduous and brown, but the inner bark is yellow. The branches are rough with the remains of the petioles of the fallen leaves. The leaves are in fours, somewhat 3-cornered, with a white linear keel, and petioled; and they have their margins so much recurved as to meet behind. The flowers are axillary towards the summits of the branches, small, and purplish, with a whitish calyx. The berries

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are of the size and colour of juniper berries, but become of a brownish black when ripe. They are marked at top with a small round hole, and protected at bottom by the persistent calyx. The flesh is rather firm, and of a pale green, except in the centre, where it is purplish. The receptacle is columnar, and slender; and from 6 to 9 bony palecoloured seeds are fixed round it in a ring, and attached to it a little above the base. This species is a native of the north of Europe, generally in elevated situations, both on dry and barren, and on moorish or boggy, soils. It is found in moors, from the Baltic to the Eastern Ocean, in Kamtschatka, and in the islands towards America. According to Linnæus, it will live on the mountains of Lapland, where other plants perish with cold. It is found in Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and the northern counties of England, and abundantly in Scotland. The Scotch Highlanders and the Russian peasants eat the berries, which are esteemed antiscorbutic and diuretic. feed on them; and, boiled in alum water, they afford a dark purple dye. Linnæus mentions that the Laplanders use them for dyeing otter and sable skins black. Cattle do not browse on this shrub. The crowberry is the badge of the clan M'Lean. The Empetrum nigrum thrives very well in gardens, but it requires a moist boggy soil, and a shady situation. The seeds remain a year in the ground before they vegetate, and the plants are very slow in their growth. (Mart. Mill., and Hook. Brit. Fl.)

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2. E. RU BRUM L. The red-fruited Crowberry. Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 713.; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1783.

Synonyme. Cranberry of Staten Island.

Berries red.

Engravings. Bot. Reg., t. 1783.; our fig. 2377. to our usual scale; and fig. 2376. of the natural size. Spec. Char. Leaves and branches with woolly margins. (Lindl.) An evergreen procumbent shrub, with brownish purple flowers, and red fruit. A native of the southern point of South America, where it is found

along the sandy coast, spreading over the stones, but especially thriving at the back of the low sand hills, by which the shore is often skirted." (Bot. Mag.) It is also found near Concepcion. It was introduced in 1833, by Mr. Low of the Clapton Nursery, and flowered there in July, 1835. “ According to Gaudichaud, the red berries are pleasant to eat." It grows freely in peat, and is quite hardy.

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GENUS II.

CORE MA D. Don. THE COREMA Lin. Syst. Diœ'cia Triándria.

Identification. D. Don in New Edin. Phil. Journ.; Lindl. in Nat. Syst. of Bot.

Synonyme. E'mpetrum, in part, L.

Derivation. From korēma, à broom; in allusion to the habit of the plant.

Description, &c. An upright shrub, a native of Portugal; closely allied to E'mpetrum, and requiring the same soil and culture in British gardens.

1. C. ALBA D. Don. The white-berried Corema.

Identification. D. Don in New Edin. Phil. Journ.

Synonymes. Empetrum álbum Lin. Sp., 1450., Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 712., Gærin. Fruct., 2 107., Mart. Mill., No. 1., Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., 5. p. 366.; E. lusitánicum, &c., Tourn. Inst., 579.; Erica eréctis, &c., Bauh. Pin. ; the white-berried Heath, Portugal Crakeberry.

Spec. Char., &c. Stem erect. Branches pubescent. Leaves linear, with revolute margins; somewhat scabrous above. (Willd.) A shrub, a native of Portugal. Introduced in 1774.

Description, &c. An upright-growing low shrub, very much branched, rigid, sprinkled with resinous dots. Leaves scattered in all directions, linear, obtuse, spreading; flattish above, revolute on the margin. Flowers terminal, grouped, sessile; imposed upon a hairy disk, white, and larger than those of Empetrum. Groups bracteolated with villose scales. Berry white. Introduced from Portugal, in 1774, by Messrs. Kennedy and Lee. Culture the same as for E'mpetrum nigrum.

GENUS III.

CERATIOLA Michx. THE CERATIOLA. Lin. Syst. Monc'cia
Diándria.

Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 222.; Lindl. in Nat. Syst. of Botany, ed. 2.
Derivation. From keration, a little horn; in allusion to the shape of the stigma.

Engravings. Pursh, 1. t. 13.; Bot. Mag., t. 2758.; our fig. 2380. to our usual scale; and fig. 2379, of the natural size.

Description, &c. A small, heath-like, evergreen shrub; a native of North America; grown, in British gardens, in peat soil, and propagated by cuttings.

Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 222.; Bot. Mag., t. 2758; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 712.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. t. 13.

Spec. Char., &c. Flowers in the axils of the upper leaves, solitary, except a small abortive one by the side of the principal flower.

Description, &c. An upright much branched shrub, greatly resembling a heath, and varying from 2 ft. to 8 ft. high. Branches subverticillate, erect, and marked with the remains of the petioles of the fallen leaves. The upper and younger branches retain their leaves, which are slightly tomentose. Leaves in whorls of 4, spreading, long, linear, rigid, acerose. Flowers very small. A native of South Carolina, on the Edisto River, where it covers a space 300 or 400 yards in width, and two or three miles long, which appears to have been a sand-bank formed by some of the ancient freshets of the river, and on which only a few stunted oaks (Q. Catesbæ'i and Q. nigra) are found intermingled with it. According to Pursh, it is also found in the gravelly dry soil of Georgia and Florida; and, in great plenty, on the islands at the mouth of St. Mary's River. It was introduced in 1826.

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CHAP. CXV.

SMILA CEÆ.

Identification. Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot., p. 359.

Synonymes. Liliaceæ, in part, Juss. Gen., 48.; Sarmentàceæ, in part, Nees Von Esenbeck Gen. Pl.; Smilaceæ, in part, R. Brown Prod., p. 292,. Lindl. Synops., p. 270, Bart. Ord. Nat., p. 52. Derivation. From Smilax, a beautiful youth, fabled to have been changed into this plant (see Ovid Met.); or, according to others, from smile, a scraper, from the roughness of the stems of most of the species.

General Characteristics, &c. Monocotyledonous. Flowers hermaphrodite or diœcious. Calyx and corolla confounded, inferior, 6-parted. Stamens 6, inserted into the perianth near the base; seldom hypogynous. Ovary 3celled; the cells 1- or many-seeded. Style trifid. Stigmas 3. Fruit a roundish berry. Albumen between fleshy and cartilaginous. Embryo usually distant from the hilum. (Lindl. in Nat. Syst. of Bot.) Small climbing shrubs, with woody stems, and reticulated leaves, though they are considered as monocotyledonous plants. This order is nearly allied to Liliàceæ, of which it was formerly considered to form a part. The plants composing it are found in small quantities in most parts of the world; but the only ligneous plants which it contains belong to the genus Smilax.

GENUS I.

SMILAX L. THE SMILAX. Lin. Syst. Dice`cia Hexándria.

Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 1120.; Reich., No. 1225.; Schreb., No. 1528.; Tourn., t. 421.; Juss., 42.; Gærtn., t. 16.; Mart. Mill.

Description, &c. Evergreen shrubs, climbing by means of their tendrils, with stems that are generally prickly. Leaves with veiny disks. The tendrils are intrapetiolar stipules. Natives of Europe and North America. In British gardens, they grow in sandy loam, and are readily propagated by division of the root. They are not showy, but they are interesting from their twining character, as being generally evergreens, and as being some of the few hardy ligneous plants which belong to the grand division of vegetables Monocotyledoneæ. The species being little cultivated, and many of those which are being seldom seen in flower, are very imperfectly known by cultivators. The greatest number of species are at Messrs. Loddiges's, in the Botanic Garden at Twickenham, and at Kew. Plants, in the London nurseries, are from 2s. to 5s. each, according to the scarcity of the species.

The following fungi are found upon the North American species:- Sphæ`ria smilacícola Schwein, S. erúmpens Schwein, Rhytísma Smilacis Schwein, chiefly on S. laurifòlia and S. rotundifòlia; Hystèrium Smilacis Schwein, on S. rotundifòlia; Cladosporium Smilacis Fr., Urèdo Smilacis Schwein, Ecídium Smílacis Schwein.M.J. B.

fi. Stems prickly and angular.

1. S. A'SPERA L. The rough Smilax.

Identification. Lin. Sp., 1458.; Gron. Orient., 316.; Scop. Carn., No. 1221.; Gouan Hort. Monsp., 505.; Vill. Dauph., 3. p. 272.; Mart. Mill., No. 1.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. Rough Bindweed; Smilax, Fr. and Ger.

Engravings. Schk. Han., 3. 328.; and our fig. 2381.

Spec. Char., &c. Stem prickly, angular; leaves toothed and prickly, cordate, 9-nerved. (Willd.) A native of the south of Europe, Asia Minor, and Africa. Cultivated in the Oxford Botanic Garden in 1648.

Variety.

I S. a. 2 auriculata Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. iii. p. 401., has the leaves earshaped at the base.

Description, &c. An evergreen climbing shrub, with numerous slender angular stems, armed with short crooked spines, and having tendrils on their sides, by which they fasten themselves to any neighbouring object for support. The roots are thick and fleshy, "spreading wide, and striking deep." The leaves are rather large, and heart-shaped; somewhat stiff, of a dark green, marked with 5 longitudinal nerves, and with a few short reddish spines round their margins. The flowers are axillary, on short branches, small and whitish; and those on the female plants are succeeded by berries, which are sometimes red and sometimes black. It is a native of the south of France, Italy, Spain, and Carniola; and it has also been found near Tripoli, and between Rama and Joppa. It is stated, in Martyn's Miller, to have been introduced by Mr. John Tradescant, in 1656; but the Hortus Kewensis informs us that it was cultivated in the Oxford Botanic Garden before 1648. The roots are sometimes sold by the druggists

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