ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
Corolla irregularis, fauce nuda.
Blossom irregular, mouth naked.
See Echium grandiflorum, Plate XX.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Echium caule fruticoso; ramis, foliisque aculeatis; floribus spicatis, violaceis; corollis sub-æqualibus.
Viper’s Bugloss, with a shrubby stem; branches and leaves covered with sharp prickles; flowers growing in spikes, and violet coloured; blossoms nearly equal.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The Empalement.
2. A Blossom cut open, to shew the insertion of the Chives in the tube.
3. The Shaft and its Summit, magnified.
Although there are few species of this genus, but are rough, or hairy; yet this by far exceeds any of them, or almost any other plant not actually spiny, for its extreme coarseness to the touch; nevertheless it is a very handsome shewy greenhouse plant, growing to the height of two feet, and blowing freely. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and was introduced by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy in 1794; at whose nursery it flowered for the first time, this year, in the month of July. The only method of propagating the Cape Echiums is by cuttings, and that is done with great difficulty; of course, this, as well as the other species, are very scarce: they delight most in rich light mould.[Pg 158]