Seeds solitary, or many, between egg and kidney-shaped.
Obs. The capsule of some species is egg-shaped, of some long; the outer cup, 3-12-leaved.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Hibiscus follis cordatis, angulatis, quinquelobis, acuminatis, dentatis; calyce exteriore octophyllo; capsula villosa; caule arboreo; floribus plenis.
Hibiscus with heart-shaped leaves, angled, five-lobed, pointed and toothed; outer cup eight-leaved; capsule hairy; stem growing to a tree; flowers double.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The double cup with the Seed-bud, Shaft, and Summits in their place.
2. The Threads cut and spread open, with those which are perfect and have the tips, remaining; those which give the plant the double flowered character being cut away; one tip detached and magnified.
3. The Seed-bud, cut transversely to shew the perfect seeds in their cells.
Barnard Dickinson, Esq. of Monks-House, near Devises, Wilts, we believe to be, at present, the only possessor, in Britain, of this fine variety of Hibiscus mutabilis. The plants were produced in 1788, from some Jamaica seeds, which were sown at Bowden, another adjoining seat of that gentleman, and where they have flowered for several years. Although the flowers are double; yet good seeds are produced, which is common to most plants of this natural order, such as Alcea Malva, &c. the fullness of the blossoms being, as usual, formed from some of the chives becoming petals, many nevertheless remaining perfect; which in these plants stand particularly distinct from the pointal, being seated on the upper part of the tube, formed by the connection of the lower part of the threads, leaving the pointal as perfect as in a single flower. It is also propagated by cutting, and thrives in rich earth. It may be considered rather a tree, than shrub, as even in this country, it acquires the height of from 15 to 20 feet. It is a native of Japan, China, and the East Indies; where it is much esteemed for the extreme beauty of its flowers, as well as in our West India islands, where it is also cultivated. The Single-flowered has been known in England above a century, having, says the Kew Catalogue, been introduced by Mr. Bentinck in the year 1690. The specific title is assumed on the singular change of the flower, from white to flesh colour, before its decay, as shewn in our figure; which was taken from a fine branch received in a perfect state from Bowden in the month of November 1801, and obligingly communicated, to the author, by Mrs. Dickinson.[Pg 342]