■ft ' Mm * ; ■
^ í
M . ’
I i
a iM'í '
Î ÏMl ;"
f t i 'IM Iv
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a half long, and about half an inch broad. Septum none.
Seeds about three, pendulous, immarginate, when mature
frequently solitary. . x r c •
This is a hardy annual, a native of various parts ot oyria,
and cultivated by Philip Miller in the Apothecaries Garden
at Chelsea in 1757, but although repeatedly introduced
since that period, the plant has rarely been continued beyond
the first year, possibly from its not ripening its seeds
readily in the open border in our moist climate. 1 he aspect
of the plant is by no means inelegant, especially when the
fruit are partially advanced towards maturity, and irom its
peculiar habit, and the profusion of its purple blossoms,
resembling those of the Virginian stock (Malcomm mantima),
we consider it well entitled to a place in the flower border.
For the specimens represented in our plate, we are in debted
to our friend Mr. George Booth, who obligingly procured
them for us from the extensive nurseries of his brother
at Hamburgh, where they were raised last spring from seeds
collected by himself in the vicinity of Jerusalem m iVlay
1836 Mr. Booth met with the plant abundantly in various
parts'of Palestine, affecting more especially rocky situations,
and flowering in April. . c u .
There is no evidence of the plant being a native ot Fgypt,
and we willingly adopt the trivial name of Lunaria in preference
to tha t of oegyptiaca given to it by Linnæus.
The etymology of the generic name has puzzled the
learned, but as it has the appearance of a proper name, it is
not improbable- that Linnæus, who first established the genus,
intended by it to commemorate Sir Paul Ricaut, for many
years Secretary to the British Legation at Constantoople,
and afterwards Consul at Smyrna, in the reign of Charles
the Second. He had travelled much in various parts ot Asia,
and was author of “ A Continuation of Knolles’s History ot
the Turks,” and the translator of De la Vega’s Commentaries
of Peru. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society, and
author of a paper in the Transactions of that body.
^ D . Don.
1. Stamens. 2. Pistil.