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P L A T E CCCCXLVIL
P R O T E A ARGENTIFLO RA.
Silverif-^owercd Protect.
C L A S S IV. ORDER I.
TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointal.
E S S E N T I A L GENERIC CHARACTER.
COROLLA 4-fida, seu 4 pétala. Antlierae lineares,
petalis infra ápices insertae. Calyx
proprius, nullus. Sem. solitaria.
BLOSSOM fonr-cleft, or of four petals. Tips linear,
inserted into the petals l)elow the
points. Cup proper, none. Seeds solitary'.
S P E C I F I C CHARACTER.
PROTEA argentiflora ; floribus paniculatis, densissime
confertissimis, parvis rotundatis capitatis,
fragrantibus, nitidissimis ; foliis bipinnatis,
linearibus, apice acutis, erecto-patentibus.
PROTEA with silvery flowers : theflowers grow in
panicles, closely crowded together, in little
round heads, sweet-scented and very shining:
leaves twice divided, linear, sharp-pointed,
and between erect and spreading.
R E F E R E N C E TO THE PLATE.
1. One of the scales.
2. A blossom detached from the umbeL
3. A section of it magnified.
4. Seed-bud and pointal, summit magnified.
5. The cone with the scales attached.
6. The same without the scales,
7. The naked cone.
FROM the shining silvery appearance of this Protea we have drawn its specific title, although aware of
the insurmountable difficulty of doing justice to it : but in so extended a genus it will be frequently
impossible to give a discriminating or unoccupied specific from its foliage :—our title may always be
ascertained when the plant is in bloom, whether in perfection or not, as the flowers living or dead
always retain a shining silvery aspect. It also possesses a most exquisite sweet scent; but its superior
fragrance only exists whilst the flowers are in perfection ; as after that period it grows fainter, and is at
last scentless. Our figure was made from the collection of ,G. Hibbert, esq.
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