P L A T E CCLXXVI.
M O N S O N I A FILIA.
Hairy-leaved Monfonia.
CLASS XVIII. ORDER II.
PO LYA DELPHI A DO DEC A NDJi I A. Threads in many Sets. Twelve Chives.
G E N E R I C C H A R A C T ER
C A L Y X . Periantliium pentapbyllum erectum;
foliolis lanceolatís, fub ápice mucronatis,
sequalibus, perfiftentibus.
C O R O L L A . Pétala quinqué, obovata sequalia,
flaccida, plicata, m a r g i n e inequaliter d c n t a t a.
S T A M I N A . Filamenta quindecim, erecta, conn
a t a in q u i n q u é corpora, e 3 fingula. ¿ i n -
therce oblongas, vería ti les.
P I S T I L L U M . Germen p e u t a g o n u m , b r e v e . Stylus
columnaiis. Stigmata quinqué, recurva,
oblunga.
P E R I C A R F I U M n u l l u m . Fructus r o í t r a t u s , pentacoccus.
S E M I N A fe-litaría, arillata; ariíta longiílima demuru
fpirali.
E M P A L E M E N T , Cup five-leaved u p r i g h t ; leaflets
lance-fhaped, pointed at t h e end, equal, and
r e m a i n i n g .
BLOSSOM. Five petals, inverfely egg-fhaped,
e q u a l , flaccid, p l a i t e d , u n e q u a l l y toothed at
t h e margin.
C H I V E S . Fifteen threads, u p r i g h t , formed into
five bodies, three to each. Tips oblong,
verfatile.
P O I N T A L . Seed-bud five-fided, fliort. Shaft
columnar. Five furomits, recurved and
oblong.
S E E D - V E S S E L none. Fruit fnrniflied with long
awns, five dry berries.
SEEDS folitary, in a feed-coat with a very long
awn, becoming fpiral.
Monfonia foliis incifo-lobatis
inequaliter dentatis.
S P E C I F I C C H A R A C T E R,
í i r f u t i s ; lubis II Monfonia with deeply-cut lobes, hairy; lobes
[| unequally toothed.
R E F E R E N C E T O T H E P L A T E .
1. T h e Empalement.
2. A Petal of t h e flower, fhewn from the backfide.
3 . A Petal of the flower, fhewn from the in fide.
4. T h e Chives and l'ointal diverted of t h e petals.
5. T h e Chives fpread open, to fliew the n u m b e r of diffinct bodies i n to
which they are divided.
6 . T h e Seed bud, Shaft, and Summits.
7- A Seed-bud cut. tranfverfely.
B. One of t h e berries, t a k e n from its coat, a l i t t l e advanced to m a t u r i t y.
T H E Genus Monfonia was formed by Linnaeus, in honour of the Right Hon, L a d y A n n Monfon, whole
enthufiafm, in p u r f u i n g the itudy of n a t u r a l hiftory, k n e w no b o u n d s ; and whofe liberal and foftering
hand c o n t r i b u t e d more, perhaps, t h a n any of her cotemporaries, by her encouragement and example,
t o the t h e n incipient, but now fo prevailing taite for tliefiudy of Botany.
T h e Monfonias are all natives of the Cape of Good H o p e ; are r a t h e r herbaceous plants than ihrubs,
a t leaft, thofe generally denominated fueh; for although the G e r a n i um fpinotum has been given to
t h i s genus, we have our doubts whether it o u g h t not to remain with Geranium. They are hardy
green-honfe plants, flower in the months of J u l y and Auguft; are propagated by the c u t t i n g fmali
portions from the roots; and ihould be planted in a m i x t u r e of fandy peat and loam. This fpecies
was introduced by Meifrs. Lee a n d Kennedy in the year 1 7 8 8 . Our d r a w i n g was made from a plant
in the Hibbcrtian collection,
J t is rather ltrange that T h u n b e r g in the fecond part of his Prod. Plant. Cap. publifhed in
1SOO; and Wildenow in his Spec. Plant, volume the third, part 1, publiflied the fame year,
fliould both, in the claflification of this genus rather w i i h to alter its clafs, asSchreber and Cavanilles
had done before them, t h a n give it, in their works, under the clafs and title where it was originally
placed, by the founder of the g e n u s ; or t a k e it u p on the a u t h o r i t y of t h e catalogue of t h e plants in
t h e K e .w gardens; where, u 11 q u e (lion ably, two fpecies, at Icaft. had flowered antecedent to t h e publicat
i on of that work. But indeed both of them, have fo j u m b l e d the different fynonims which they
have adapted to the three fpecies known at prefent in our gardens under the names of M . fpeciofa,
M. lobata, and M . filia, that it is nearly impoflible to recognize in either publication the diiferent
p l a n t s under the charactered titles they bear with us. As for T h u n b e r g , he has t h r o w n t h em all to
Geranium, under new fpecific names: and thus, has m a d e his alteration complete. Wildenow indeed
has b u t changed the clafs, a n d altered one fpecific t i t l e ; but by n e w naming that which is o u r M. fpeciofa
he has been obliged to give the name of fpeciofa to our prefent plant, and place the fpecific ¿7;a,
as given by Linnaeus to t h i s , as a fynonim to M . lobata, upon the authority of C a v a n i l l e s ; who, we
mull prefume, had never feen more t h a n dried fpecimens of any fpecies of this genus. But however,
we iliall not pretend to clear up t h e bewildered d a t e , in which w e there find this tribe of p l a n t s ; or
a t t e m p t lo t h r ow any farther light on a fubjeci that feems to have been, fhort as it is, a complete
p u z z l e to two fnch eminent b o l a n i f t s ; but merely Hate our ideas, that we think thefe plants were
fnfficiently well arranged under t h e firft nlTumed clafs, and equally readily to be k n o w n b y their old
fpecific titles.