This is one of the most anomalous and singular of the British plants. I t grows in woods, principally of Pine,
in various parts of the kingdom, and is generally supposed to be parasitic* on the roots of other plants. In general
aspect it approaches nearer to Orooanche than to' any thing else, but is totally different in the structure of
its fructification. The young plants have a graceful appearance from the circumstance of their drooping heads,
which become quite erect as the flowers advance. There is a very peculiar smell arising from every part o f the
herb, which much resembles that of the primrose, but is not altogether so agreeable; partaking also, as it appears
tp- me,, of the odour of bees-wax. While drying, this scent is much more powerful, and it is retained even when
the plant is perfectly dry. ■ , . . . . , u
Almost every, author that I have consulted ascribes a calyx to the blossom of the Monotropa, in addition to the
five-cleft or five-petaled corolla (for it is difficult to determine which)-; but to me what is so called appears to be
nothin® but bracteee or scales, alternating upon the footstalk of the. flowers as they do upon the stem. Still more
extraordinary does it seem, that Sir James Smith should describe the flower as having no calyx, but as composed
of ten petals, of which the five outermost are concave, and honey-bearing at the base. This was not the case in
my specimens. _ , , ... . . . .
The structure of the anthers comes nearest that perhaps of the Personate, having only one c e l l b u t m tins
case they have two decided valves, one smaller than the other. The capsule and the seeds much resemble those
of Pvrola in which genus likewise there are scales upon the stalks ; and the younger Gosrtner first, I believe,
hinted at this affinity. Nuttall, in his American Flora, lately published, has gone further, and proposed an
order or a section of Ericeat, to be called Monotropece. In this he has, besides our plant, which he calls Hy-
popithys Europea, included two other genera, and thus defines the family: “ C alyx superior, five-parted, persistent,
sometimes wanting, or in the form of irregular bracteas. Coj'olla perigynous, monopetalous, persistent, mostly
divided to the base, so as to appear almost polypetalous. Stamina definite, distinct, double the number of the-
petals and arising from their base. Anthers eccentrically peltate, horizontal, adnate to the filaments, mostly one-
celled’ opening variously, not by terminal pores. Germen superior, style one, stigma simple, discoid. Fruit capsular
superior, five-celled, five-valved; septa medial, coalescing in the axis towards the b ase; receptacle fiye-lobed,
pendulous. Seeds numerous and very minute, nearly spherical, situated towards the centre of a samaroid, a tte nuated,
membranaceous episperm, sometimes alated at its summit. Plants, after the manner of Orooanche$ destitute
of leaves and verdure; stems simple, scapiform, squamose, one- or many-flowered.”
* M r Graves, who gathered the specimens here figured in July 1819, observes, “ TheMonotropa grows in great abundance in the neighbourhood
of Box Hill; where I have carefully coUected the roots of numerous specimens in all stages of their growth, and am convinced
that they are not more parasitical than those of Listera Nidus Avis. In some of them which I washed, they were decidedly not attached
to the roots of other plants, hot were only entangled among them. In one or two of the larger ones, I observed »great s.mdnntyw.th the
roots of the Listera, there being among- them a whitish, silky, somewhat fibrous matter, connecting them with the decayed leaves and
other vegetable substances among which they grew. I am doubtful if the roots be perennial, but am rather inclined to believe them to
be so since at the spots I am in the habit of visiting, I have taken up large patches, and transplanted them to other parts of the wood,
where they have always subsequently shown themselves for six or seven years. The plant affects the most shady and gloomy places,
where it generally may be found growing in company with Epipactis pollens.”
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