male catkins are axillary and sessile ; bnt have not the shming scales of the
Afyrlca Gale. The fruits are globose drupes, about the bigness ot a gram of
black pepper; covered with an unctuous substance as white as snow, which
gives them the appearance of a kind of sugar phini. Like the Myrica Gale
of Europe, it delights in wet places about swamps or rivers.
In France and Germany, it has been cultivated with a view
to its producing wax ; and it is said to thrive in sandy peat,
rather moist, and to produce an abundant crop ot berries
every year. In Prus.sia, it has been cultivated in a garden
on the banks of the Spree, near Berlin, in lat. 62“ 53' ; which
is nearly 1J degree farther north than London, but where the
mean annual temperature is 2“ 9' higher than London ; and
wax and candles have been made from the fruit.
M. spathulàta Mirb. Mém. Mus. IL. p. L74. t. 28. f. 1.;
and o u r /g . 174.5. — Leaves spathulate, blunt, quite entire,
glabrous. Male catkins sessile, axillary, solitary, shorter than
the petioles. A tree, with smooth, cylindrical branches.
Leaves 1 in. to 2J in. long, and J in. to 1 in. broad. Found in
Madagascar by M. Pérodet. Not yet introduced.
G enus 1 1 .
COMPTO HIA Solan. T h e C o m p t o n i a . U n . Syst. Monoe'cia Triándria.
Umlifícation. Ait. Hort. Kew., 2 ed., h. p. 2S4. ; Gærtn, Fruct., I. p. 58. ; N. Du Ham., 9. p. 45,
Synouyincs. Liquidámbar L in . Sp. ; Myrlca L in . h o r t. Clff'. 456. ; Gàie Petiv. Mus. 773. ; Comp-
tone, Fr. ; Coroptonie, Ger.
D e erivation riva t................................Named by ws Dr. Solander rtrodu
in honour of Henry Compton, Bishop of London, the introducer
and gardening of his time,
and cultivator of many curious exotic plants, and one of the greatest patrons ol botany
Gen. Char. Male catkins lateral, cylindrical, of several flowers.
Bracleas
inibricated. Flower of 3 twin stamens, seated towards the base of a bractea
; sessile. Anthci's 2-lobed, opening at the side.— Female catkins lateral,
ovate, of several flowers. Bracteas imbricated. Floiver consisting or a
calvx and pistil. Calyx free, flat, 6-parted. Segments slender, unequal in
length; the longest as long again as the bractea. Style short. Stigmas 'i.
Fruit 1-celled, ovate, bard, shining, attended liy the calyx. Seed 1, oval.
(G. Don.)
Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, deciduous ;
lanceolate, pinnatifidly toothed, downy, sprinkled
witb golden, resinous, transparent particles. Flowers
whitish.—Shrubs dwarfish ; natives of North America
; fragrant, from the resinous particles which cover
tbe whole plant. Culture and soil as in ilTyrica.
ja 1 .0 . /4SPLENIFOLIA Solan. The Asplenium-leaved
Comptonia.
Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 5. p. 2534.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept.,
2. p. 635.
Synonymes. LiquidSmbar «spIeniRilium L in . Sp. 1418.; L. percgri-
num J.in. S?/s/. 860.; Myrica L in. Hori. Cliff: 456. ; Gd/e mariftna
Fet. Mus. 773. ; il/^rtus brabSnlicas affinis P lu k . Phyt. t. iOU. f. 6,
7. ; the sweet Fern Bush, Amer.
Engravings. N. Du Ham., t. 11.; Dend. Brit., t. 166. ; and our
fig . 1746.
Spec. Char., Leaves long, linear, alternate, crenately
pinnatifid. (Willd.) A deciduous shrub. New
England to Virginia, in sandy, stony, or slaty woods. 1746. c. aspienifoiiA.
Height 3 ft. to 4 ft. Introduced in 1714. Flowers, in sessile catkins,
brownish ; March and April.
The young branches are downy. Leaves alternate, oblong, linear ; cut on
each side into rounded and numerous lobes, like those of the ceterach; and
sprinkled with shining dots, like those of the gales. This shrub is very hardy,
but it requires peat earth and a shady situation. Propagateti by layers, suckers,
or seeds. The first and second methods are the most common, as good
seeds can rarely be procured.
O r d e r L X X V . G N E T A C E jL,
O r d . Ch a r . Flowers unisexual, disposed in aments, which are involucrated
by opposite or decussate connate scales. — Male Jlower Yit\i a I-leaved
perianth, which is transversely cleft at apex, and branched into 1- or many-
anthered filaments ; cells of anthers separate or combined, each opening by
a pore at apex.— Female fiower composed of 2 connate scales. Ovanum
1-celled, perforated at apex. Ovulum solitary. Fruit indehiscent, drupaceous.
Albumen fleshy. (G. Don.)
Leaves simple, opposite, exstipulate, caducous j linear, and scale-like.
Flowers in terminal catkins. — Shrubs evergreen, from the colour of the
bark, with tubular jointed stems and branches. Natives of Europe, Asia,
and Africa. Cultivated in sandy soil; and propagated by division.
G enus I.
«E^PHEDRA L . TtiE E p h e d r a . Lin. Syst. Dioe'cia Monadélphia,
Identification. Lin. Gen., 1136. ; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 17.
Derivation. From ephedra, the Greek name for the Jiippùris, or Horsetail, which it resembles.
Gen. Char. See Ord. Char.
Low shrubs ; evergreen, from the colour of the bark of their branches, and
in that respect resembling the genera Casiiarina and .Equisetum. They are
nativesof the South of Europe, Barbary, and Siberia, on the sêa-shore, or in
saline or sandy wastes ; and they have been but little subjected to cultivation.
According to Du Hamel, they bear the shears well, and form beautiful round
balls, which may either be made to appear as if lying on the ground, or may
be supported on a short stem. The lower sorts, Du Hamel continues, may
be clipped to resemble turf ; and for that purpose the plant may be valuable,
in some parts of Australia and Africa, to form lawns which shall create an
allusion to temperate climates. The saving by using such plants as £'''phedra,
which would require little or no watering, instead of a great deal, as the
European grasses do in such a climate, would be very considerable.
a. 1. E . d i s t a ' c i i y a L . The two-spiked Ephedra, Great shrubby Horsetail,
or Sea Grape.
Identification. Lin. Sp., 1472. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. L, 3. p. 16.
Synonyines. Æ'phedra vuigàris Rich. Mém. Conif. p. 26. t. 4. f. 1. ; Polygonum marinum Tabern.
.Ic. R3G. ; P . /amiifòlium, &c., Bank. P in . 15. ; P'p h ed ra marítima màjor Tourn. In st. 663. ; Kaisin
de Mer, Ephèdre multiflore, Fr. ; Zweyahriger Ross Schwanz, Ger.
The Sexes. Both are figured in Tabernæmontanus, in Ciusius, and in Richard.
Eneravings. Du Ham., 1 .1. pl. 92. ; Rich. Mém. Conif., t. 4. f. 1, ; and our fig s. 1747. and 1748.
of the natural size.
Spec. Char., 4 ^. Peduncles opposite. Catkins twin. (^Lin.) A small ever