P L A T E CCLVII.
F A L K I A R E P E N S.
Creeping Falkia.
CLASS V. ORDER II.
PENTANDRIA DIGYNIA. Five Chives. Two Pointals.
C A L Ï X . Perianthium mouophyllum, fub-inflatum,
corolla duplo brevius, quinquangulati
m. q u i n q u e p a r t í t u m ; angulis medio d i l
a t â t » , comprellis e x t a n t i b u s ; laciniis ovat
i s , acutis.
C O U O L L A monopetala, campanulata, crcnatod
e c c m - p a r t i t a ; limbo patente.
S T A M I N A Filamenta q u i n q u é , filifoimia, tubo
corolla; infería, erecta, inacqualia, corolla
breviora. A n t h c r a ova tas, compretTae.
Pi BULLA, Germen quatuor, fupera, glabra.
Styli duo, capillares, divaricati, longitudinc
corolla;. Stigmata orbiculata, lanata.
P E R I C A R P I U M nullum.
S E M I N A quatuor, globofa, arillata, in fundo calycia.
E M P A L E M E N T . Cup one leaf, a l i t t l e inflated,
i h o r t e r by half than the blofTom, five-cornered,
five-parted ; the angles widened in
t h e middle, flattened, ftauding out; fegments
egg-ihapcd, pointed.
B L O S S OM one-petal, bell-ihaped, t e n - p a r t e d by
fcollops; border fpreading.
C H I V E S . Threads five, hair l i k e , inferted into
t h e tube of t h e bloflbm, erect, unequal,
fhorter t h a n t h e bloflbm. Tips egg-ihaped,
flattened.
P O I N T A L S . Seed-buds four, above, fmooth.
Shafts two, h a i r - l i k e , firaddling, the length
of t h e bloflbm. Summits orbicular, woolly.
SRBD-VESSEL none.
SiiEos four, globular, covered by a coat, at the
b o t t om of t h e c u p .
S P E C I F I C CHARACTER.
W k ^ ^ c o n t a t i » ' P e t i o l ! s longíffiniis; caule II Falkia w i t h heart-ihaped leaves, and very lorn
rePeatB- I] foot-flalks; creeping flem.
R E F E R E N C E TO T H E P L A T E.
1. T h e Cup.
2. A Blotfom fpread open, with t h e chives in their place.
3. A Chive magnified.
4. T h e Pointals, natural fize.
5. T h e fame, magnified.
T H I S pretty l i t t l e plant was firft found by MatTon and T h u n b e r g , when on their j o u r n e y together in
the i n t e r i o r of t h e c o u n t r y of the Cape of Good Hope, and was named by ThunDerg after Proleflbr
Falk of P e t e r f b u r g h . It was introduced to t h e K e w gardens in the year 1 7 7 4 . Much as i t refembles
Convolvulus, it (fill has a g r e a t e r affinity to N o l a n a in all its o u t w a r d parts, but eipecially in t h e c up
of t h e flower, and t h e fituation and c h a r a c t e r of t h e feeds. Although the p l a n t is not (hrubby, the
(terns, which are w i r y , do not die down in winter, but take root, if laid clofe to the earth. It is
encreafed by p a r t i n g the roots i n M a y ; ihould be p l a n t e d in fimdy loam, and kept in t h e green-houfe,
where it will bloflbm in J u l y or Auguft. Our figure is from a p l a n t which flowered in t h e collection
of J . V e r c , Efq. Kenfington Gore.
I t is r a t h e r Angular that the indefatigable, and generally accurate, W i l l d e n o w , (hould have cont
i n u e d this plant in the fixth clafs, when he had fuch authority, as may be found, page 325, Vol. I ,
in t h e C a t a l o g u e of t h e K e w G a r d e n (where it unquefiionably has flowered) for the removal of it to
its proper one, t h e fifth. H is t r u e , h e had reafon to fnppoie, that no man would be rafii enough to
form a new Genus, without a due e x a m i n a t i o n of the plant, on which he grounds his a u t h o r i t y ; and
t h a t , as T h u n b e r g h a d discovered a n d n a m e d it, his a u t h o r i t y was fufficient, and of greater weight
t h a n any other, liut, u n f o r t u n a t e l y , in this inll.ince, for t h e tranlcriber, the defcriber has been niiftaken,
and has led his followers i n t o error. Indeed, the whole plant in its h a b i t and c h a r a c t e r h a s fo
l i t t l e affinity to a n y hexandrous g e n u s , t h a t , a l t h o u g h T h u n b e r g might have found a Angle flower, or
even a whole p l a n t , whofe flowers had fix chives (a circumltance we have not been able lo difcovtr,
upon an examination of the flowers from four different plants), in fuch a cafe, as a botanift, he ought
t o have looked farther, before he made fo violent a decifion; and Willdenow ought to have taken il
for g r a n t e d t h e a l t e r a t i o n would not h a v e been made, but upon due confideration. *