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P L A T E CCCCVI.
APONOGETON MONOSTACHYON.,
Simple-spiked Aponogeton.
C L A S S XI. ORDER IV.
DODECANDRIA TETRAGYNIA. Twelve Chives. Four Pointais.
E S S E N T I A L GENERIC CHARACTER.
AMENTUM e squamis compositum. Calyx NULlus.
Corolla nulla. Capsulae 4, trispermae.
CATKIN composed of scales. Empalement
none. Blossom none. Capsules A, threeseeded.
S P E C I F I C CHARACTER, &C.
APONOGETON, spicâ simplici, foliis cordatoovalibus.
WÌM. Sp. PL 2. 927.
APONOGETON, with a simple spike, and heartoval
shaped leaves.
R E F E R E N C E TO THE PLATE.
1. The chives detached.
2. The pointals detached.
3. The same magnified.
FOUK species only of tliis singular genus have hitherto been enumerated by authors : viz. the present
one from tlie East Indies; crispum, a native of Ceylon; and angustifolium and distachyon, from the
Cape of Good Hope ; the last of which is the most showy, and is figured on our agOtli plate.
They are all water plants, and could no more thrive with tlieir roots and natant leaves out of that
element than an Aloe or Stapelia could prosper in i t : they are therefore, along with other tropical
aquatics, cultivated in our hot-houses in troughs or cisterns of rich earth and clear water; in which,
consociated witli the majestic Nymphaeas, the stately Thalia, and the more humble but not less interesting
Menyanthes indica, they produce a most fragrant and desirable appearance j that perhaps
is indebted for some of its charms to the fine contrast formed by die terrestrial exotics which surround
them.
_ In a collection of tropical plants, where a few cisterns of aquatics are judiciously interspersed, the
oppressive heat of the stove in which they grow, is as it were delusively alleviated, " in tlie mind's eye,"-
by the simple, yet cooling sight of the little pools of water in which they float, Few are the number
of observers who contemplate them witliout imbibing pleasure. This unquestionably arises from the
strong but agreeable contrast that is exhibited to the eye, by the happy junction of the productions of
the waters with those of the earth. They are vegetables of widely different orders—productions of
very different natures—and inhabitants of elements diametrically opposite.
The simple-spiked Aponogeton produces roundish tubers in various parts of its shoots; by tlie
transplantation of which the plant is readily and speedily propagated. Our drawing of it was made in
July last, at J. Vere's, Esq. Kensington Gore, in whose collection it thrives very well. We Iiave not;
as yet seen it in any otlier.
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