CHAP. II. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER WINterà ceæ. THIS order, which was formerly,included in Magnoliacea, has been separated from it by Mr. Brown. It is named Winteraceae, because the Drimys Winteri Forst., previously Wintera aromática Murr. (named in honour of Captain Winter, who sailed with Sir Francis Drake), is the type of the order. The diagnostics are, calyx of 2-6 deciduous sepals, and 2 to many petals; the sepals and petals, when more than two, disposed ternarily; carpels whorled, very rarely solitary from abortion; leaves full of pellucid dots. Illícium is the only genus of this order which contains species that will stand out in the open air. GENUS I. ILLICIUM L. THE ILLICIUM, or ANISEED TREE. Lin. Syst. Polyándria Polygýnia. Identification. Lin. Gen., 611.; Lam. Ill.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 77.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 78. Synonymes. Badiane, or Anis étoilé, Fr.; Sternanis, Ger. Derivations. The generic name, Illicium, is formed from the Latin word illicio, to allure, on account of the agreeable aromatic smell of all the species. It is called the Aniseed Tree, from its smell bearing a strong resemblance to that of aniseed. Badiane appears to be an aboriginal French word; Anis étoilé, and Sternanis, signify literally the starry anise, and may allude to the starry disposition of the parts of the flower and of the capsules. Carpels stellately disposed, cap(Don's Mill., i. p. 79.) Gen. Char. Calyx of 3-6 petal-like sepals. sular, opening on the upper side, 1-seeded. Description. The species are evergreen shrubs, with smooth, shining, oblong, stalked, leathery leaves; generally attaining the height, in their native countries, of from 5 ft. to 12 ft.; and, in this country, of from 3 ft. to 8 ft. in the open air, and more in a conservatory. They are nearly hardy. Geography, History, &c. These shrubs are found in the southern states of North America, and in China and Japan. One species has been known in Britain since 1766; but the others are of more recent introduction. They are all spicy and aromatic; and, are employed, in their native countries, in the same manner as anise and coriander seeds are in Europe. Northward of London, as well as on the Continent, they are placed in the green-house during winter, or planted in the conservatory. Wherever they are planted, in common with most evergreen trees and shrubs having broad shining leaves, they prefer the shade to the sun; and, consequently, if they are planted against a wall, it ought to be one facing the south-east, or the south west, and never against one full south. They are all slow growers, and, to produce any effect, should never be planted near trees or shrubs which grow rapidly. They may all be planted in the open ground, in warm sheltered situations; but they require protection during winter. They are all easily propagated by cuttings of the ripened wood planted in sand, and covered with a glass, or by layers; and they all grow in a light loamy soil, or in a mixture of loam and sandy peat. One or more of the species is in most botanic gardens; and small plants may be procured, in some of the principal London nurseries, at from 2s. 6d. to 5s. each. The species are I. floridànum, I. anisàtum, and I. parviflòrum. 1. ILLICIUM FLORIDA'NUM Ellis. The Florida Illicium. Identification. Lin. Mant., 395.; Willd. Sp., 2. p. 1294.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 77.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 79. Synonymes. The Florida Aniseed Tree, red-flowered Anise-seed tree Mor. Hist.; Badiane de la Floride, Fr.; unächter (spurious) Sternanis, Ger. Engravings. Lam. Ill., t. 493. f. 1.; Curt, Bot. Mag., 439.; Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 209.; E. of Pl., 7901.; and our fig. 32. 32 Spec. Char. Petals 27-30, dark purple, outer ones oblong, inner ones lanceolate. (Don's Mill., i. p. 79.) West Florida. Evergreen. Flowers of a dark reddish purple. April to June. 1766. Height 6 ft. Description. A compact, many-stemmed, bushy, evergreen, slow-growing shrub, attaining, in the neighbourhood of London, the height of 6 ft. or 8 ft. or upwards, and flowering every year. The leaves are oblonglanceolate, quite entire, pointed at both extremities, smooth, shining, and, in common with the whole plant, have a rich reddish hue. The flowers are numerous, solitary, and terminal; and bear some general resemblance to those of Calycanthus flóridus. Geography, History, &c. Found in West Florida, on the banks of the river Mississippi, and in marshy places near the town of Pensacola, by Bartram, in 1766. At first this plant was kept in stoves and green-houses; but some specimens were planted out in the open air, by Mr. Gordon, in his nursery at Mile End, where they remained above forty years, sometimes without any protection at all, and at others with only a mat thrown over them, or a slight covering of peas haulm. They grew in a deep, dry, sandy soil, in a warm situation, sheltered from the north-east and east, and open to the south. They were sold, with some other fine specimens, in 1834 and 1835. The properties of this species are of a very decided kind. The leaves and the entire plant are strongly impregnated with a spicy aromatic taste and smell, approaching to that of the seeds of the anise or coriander. The leaves, when bruised, smell strongly of anise, and may be distilled like the seeds of that plant. Though not used in medicine, there is little doubt, Professor Burnet observes, that the bark would answer the same purposes as that of canella, or sassafras. (Outlines, &c., ii. p. 836.) The soil in which this plant is generally grown is a light sandy loam; but Dumont observes that, after trying it in loam, both in the open air and under glass, he found the leaves assume a yellow hue. He then tried pure heath soil, and soon perceived that the leaves had resumed their deep green colour, and the entire plant had begun to grow vigorously. The manner in which the plant is propagated in the London nurseries is, generally, by forming stools of it in a cold-pit, and laying down the shoots, which require two years to root sufficiently to admit of their being separated from the parent plant; but it is sometimes propagated by cuttings both of the young and of the old wood. As soon as the layers are taken off, they are potted, and kept in a green-house or frame till wanted for final transplanting. The situation of such a shrub in a garden should be in a select spot, where it can only be compared with slowgrowing plants like itself. Being an evergreen, and finishing its growth early in summer, it would take little harm by being covered with mats or fronds for several months, provided these were supported so as not to touch it, and they were occasionally opened on fine days, on the south side, to admit the sun and air, in order to dry up the damps generated within; a covering of spruce fir branches would also form a very suitable protection. For a small conservatory where there is no means of heating, but from which the extreme cold is excluded, by covering the glasses with mats in severe weather, this, and other species of Illicium, would prove very suitable shrubs. Plants may be obtained, in the principal London nurseries, at from 2s. 6d. to 5s. each; in the Bollwyller Nursery, at 4 francs; and in New York, at 1 dollar. They are always sold in pots, being so grown in order that they may be protected by a frame during winter. 2. ILLICIUM ANISA'TUM L. The Anise Illicium. Identification. Lin. Sp., 664.; Gært. Fruct., 1. p. 338.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 77. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 79. Synonymes. The Chinese Aniseed tree; Badiane de la Chine, and Anis étoilé, Fr.; achter (true) Sternanis, Ger. Engravings. Kæmpf. Amon., t. 881.; Gært. Fruct., 1. p. 338. t. 69.; Lam. Ill., t. 493. f. 2. Spec. Char. Petals 27-30, yellowish, outer ones oblong, inner ones linear awl-shaped. (Don's Mill., i. p. 79). China. Flowers yellow. April till June. 1790. Height 10 ft. Description. A large shrub or low tree, with a thick branchy stem, attaining the height of 20 ft. or upwards in its native country, but seldom appearing of half that height, even in conservatories, in England. The leaves are large, somewhat like those of the common laurel but smaller, lanceolate, thinly distributed on the lower parts of the shoots, but closer together near their points. The wood is hard, and finely scented, but fragile; and the bark is smooth, and russet-coloured. The fruit is composed of from 9 to 12 capsules (carpels) united at their base, and spread out at their extremities in the form of a star. Every carpel contains one oval seed, lance-shaped, and of a russet colour, which encloses a whitish kernel, somewhat oily, and agreeable to the taste, which is similar to that of the anise seed, but is more pungent. The shoots grow at about the same rate as those of the preceding species, and the plant attains its ultimate size of 10 ft. or 12 ft. in twenty or thirty years. Geography and History. It is found wild in China and Japan, where it is cultivated in gardens as a sacred tree, and also for its carminative and stomachic qualities. It was first described by Clusius, and afterwards seen in Japan by Kæmpfer, who has given us a great many interesting particulars respecting it. It was introduced into England in 1790, and soon after into the garden of Courset, near Boulogne-sur-Mer; and it is now occasionally met with in the green-houses of the principal botanic gardens of the middle and north of Europe, and in the open ground of those in Italy. Properties and Uses. The whole plant is stomachic and carminative, and it is used in the East both medicinally and in cooking. The Chinese chew it after dinner to promote digestion, and as a sweetener of the breath: the same practice prevails in Japan. In some parts of the East Indies the leaves are mixed with tea and sherbet, and the capsules are imported from China into Europe, under the name of Chinese anise, for the purpose of flavouring dishes, and making the liquor called anisette de Bordeaux. The Chinese make an infusion of the seeds with the roots of ninsin (Sìum Nínsi L.), and drink it, when they are fatigued, to recruit their strength and refresh their spirits. They also mix it both with coffee and tea, to improve the flavour. The capsules and seeds are infused in water, and fermented, so as to produce a vinous liquor, very much esteemed, and which the Dutch import under the name of anise arrack. Kæmpfer states that a branch of this plant, though not poisonous in itself, if put into a decoction of the poisonous fish called by the Dutch opblaser (a species of Tétrodon), increases the violence of the poison and makes it occasion death almost instantaneously. (Kampf. Amæn., fasc. v. p. 883.) The wood, which is called anise wood, is employed in cabinet-work: it is very hard and durable, but is rather brittle while being worked. In China, the watchmen powder the bark, and with it fill long narrow wooden tubes, which are graduated on the outside at regular distances. The powder is then lighted at the farther extremity of the tube, and, as it burns regularly and slowly, it is always the same time in burning a given distance; and the watchman, when he sees by the graduated scale that the flame has reached a certain point, rings a bell, thus forming of it a kind of pyrotechnic clock. The Japanese and Chinese consider the tree as sacred: they burn the bark as incense on their altars, and with the branches decorate the tombs of their friends. (Thouin, Dict. Agric.; Roy., Cours d'Agric.) Soil and Situation as in the preceding species, of which this, as Thunberg conjectures, is, in all probability, only a variety. It is, perhaps, rather more tender, and, therefore, should be placed in the warmest situation that can be found, but where it will, at the same time, not be too much exposed to the direct influence of the sun during the hottest months. The Propagation and Culture are the same as of the preceding species. Plants are to be met with, in the principal London nurseries, at from 2s. 6d. to 5s. each; and at Bollwyller, where the price is 3 francs; in New York,?. CHAP. 111. MAGNOLIA CE. 3. ILLICIUM PARVIFLO`RUM Michx. The small-flowered Illiciam. Identification. Mich. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 326. ; Ph. Fl. Amer. Sept. 2., p. 380.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 77. ; and Don's Mill., 1. p. 79. Synonymes. Illicium anisàtum Bartram; the small-flowered Aniseed Tree; Badiane à petites Engravings. Vent. Cels, t. 22.; Lois. Herb. Amat., t, 330. Spec. Char. Petals 9-12, yellowish, ovate-roundish. Sepals 3, ovate, somewhat ciliated. (Don's Mill., i. p.79.) West Florida. Flowers yellowish white. From May to June. 1790. Height 8 ft. Description. This species is more upright and free-growing than either of the other kinds. The twigs and stems, which are numerous, are quite green when young; but as they become old they assume a greyish hue. The leaves are of the same consistency as those of I. floridanum, and of nearly the same size, but longer, and paler on the under side, with very short petioles. The flowers are smaller, and not so open as those of the other species; and their colour is of a yellowish white. I. parviflòrum is a low evergreen shrub, or rather bush, highly aromatic in every part when in a growing state; but the scent soon evaporates from every part of the plant after it is gathered, except from the fruit, the scent of which becomes even more fragrant, and more penetrating, when it is dry. In England, this plant seldom produces annual shoots of more than 5 in. or 6 in. in length; and it will probably attain the height of 5 ft. in ten years, and its full size in about twice that period. In Florida it forms a compact evergreen bush from 8 ft. to 10 ft. high. Geography, History, &c. This shrub was first discovered by Bartram, and afterwards by Michaux, in Florida, on the bank of the lake Georgia; and it was sent by the latter to France, where it was cultivated in Cels's Nursery and in the Jardin des Plantes, in 1789. It was kept the first winter in the conservatory, and flowered in the course of the following summer. (Nouv. Duh.) It was introduced into England in 1790. The bark has exactly the flavour of the sassafras root, and the dried fruit is used for scenting linen. The propagation, culture, and price, in the London nurseries, are the same as those of the preceding species; at Bollwyller, ?; and in New York, 1 dollar. CHAP. III. OF THE HARDY TREES AND SHRUBS BELONGING TO THE ORDER THE term Magnoliacea is applied to this order, because the genus Magnòlia is considered as its type. The diagnostic of the order, as given by De Candolle, was made to comprehend some tribes which have since been separated from it; but, as the hardy species still belonging to Magnoliaceae are all included under the genera Magnòlia and Liriodendron, a sufficient character deciduous sepals; a corolla of 3—12 petals, for them will be: a calyx of disposed in threes; anthers adnate, elongated; carpels numerous, disposed along a spiked axis; leaves destitute of pellucid dots, stipulate when young, Evergreen and the stipules convolute, and enclosing the unexpanded leaves. deciduous trees and shrubs. (Don's Mill., adapted.) The differential characters of the genera Magnòlia and Liriodendron are as follows: : MAGNOLIA L. Carpel dehiscent; that is, opening to admit the escape of the LIRIODENDRON L. U 3 GENUS I. MAGNOLIA L. THE MAGNOLIA. Lin. Syst. Polyándria Polygynia. Identification. Lin. Gen., 690.; Gært. Fruct., 1. p. $43.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 79.; Don's Mill, 1. p. 82. Synonymes. Magnolie, Fr. and Ital.; Bieberbaum Hart.,; and Magnolie Willd., Ger. Derivations. The name Magnolia was given to this genus by Linnæus, in honour of Pierre Magnol, professor of medicine, and prefect of the botanic garden at Montpelier. He was author of Botanicum Monspeliense, published in 1676, and of other works. He died in 1715. The German name Bieberbaum, beaver-wood, is applied generically by Hartweg in the Hortus Carlsruhensis; but, in America, beaver-wood appears to be applied only to M. glaúca. Gen. Char. Calyx of 3 deciduous sepals, that resemble petals. Corolla of from 6-9 petals. Stamens numerous. Pistils numerous. Carpels disposed compactly in spikes, opening by the external angle, 1-2-seeded, permanent. Seeds baccate, somewhat cordate, pendulous, hanging out beyond the carpels by a very long umbilical thread. - Trees and shrubs with large entire leaves; and solitary, terminal, large, odoriferous flowers. Trees chiefly deciduous, but partly evergreen. (Don's Mill., adapted.) Description. One of the species is a lofty evergreen tree; but the others are deciduous, and partly trees and partly shrubs. The flowers of most of the species are white; but in some they are of a greenish yellow, and in others they are tinged with purple. The seeds are mostly of a scarlet colour. The roots are branched, and yet but sparingly supplied with fibres. Geography. The native country of most of the hardy magnolias is North America; but there are some hardy species found in China and Japan, and, perhaps, also, in the Himalaya. No species of Magnoliacea has hitherto been found in Europe, Africa, South America, or Australia; and the geographical range of this order in America and Asia is comparatively limited. The first magnolias were imported into Europe about the year 1730, and into France and England nearly about the same time. From that period to the present new species have been introduced at intervals, and some may be expected from the mountainous regions of India. Most of them are to be found in all the botanic gardens, and in the principal European nurseries. All the magnolias are highly ornamental; and though this is their principal use in Europe, yet in America they are valued for their medical properties. The bark of all the species is bitter; and it is used in America for the same purposes as the Jesuits' bark is in Europe. The magnolias may be cultivated in most parts of Britain, and of the middle and southern states of Europe; but, north of London and Paris, some of the species require protection during winter, or to be kept in the green-house. A deep sandy soil, and a situation sheltered from the north and east, will suit most of the species; though some, as M. glaúca, for example, thrive best in a moist peaty soil. Few of the species ripen seeds in England, but most of them do so in France. From these seeds, or from such as are imported, all the American species are most frequently raised; but the species from Asia are increased by layers, as are the American species very frequently. In France, all the deciduous magnolias endure the open air, even in the northern provinces, without protection during winter, because, in consequence of the warm summers, the wood is thoroughly ripened. In the neighbourhood of Paris, all the species, even those of Asia, ripen seeds; though the evergreen magnolia requires protection there during winter. In Holland and Belgium, the deciduous magnolias thrive nearly as well as in France, and some of them ripen their seeds. In Italy, the magnolias suffer from the heat, except when planted in moist situations, and among other trees. In the north of Germany, in Russia, and in the greater part of Sweden, most of the magnolias are green-house plants. The hardy species of this genus are included in two sectious, Magnolústrum and Gwillimia. |