Strelitzia, foliis ellipticis basi undulatis parallelo-costatis.
Strelitzia, with leaves elliptic undulated at the base, and ribbed in a parallel manner.
Strelitzia Reginæ. Willd. Sp. Pl. I. 1190.—Curt. Bot. Mag. tab. 119.—Ait. Hort. Kew. 1. 285. tab. 2.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. A miniature figure of the plant.
2.The two-petal-like nectary.
3.The upper short petal of the nectary.
4. The seed-bud, chives and pointal
At the request of several of our subscribers, who compliment us in saying this work contains nearly all the more showy plants now in cultivation; and who moreover are desirous that it should not long want any of them: we here beg leave to present them with that queen of hot-house plants, the superb Strelitzia: although strictly against our rules and plan; a coloured quarto print of it having already been given in the Botanical Magazine.
Of this majestic genus, first established in the Hortus Kewensis, there are now living in the British gardens, not fewer than four species, and several varieties; all natives, we believe, of the Cape of Good Hope, and all hot-house plants: viz. 1st, Strelitzia alba (Hortulanorum), which, towering far above the rest, and quite erect, attains the kingly height of twenty feet or upwards: it ought to have been called S. Regis;—2nd, S. Reginæ, here delineated, of which there are three or four varieties, differing only in the undulation of the leaves, and in their length, which (including the petiole) is usually from three to five feet;—3d, A nondescript narrow-leaved species, with very long petioles; this should be called S. Principis;—and 4th, another nondescript, but smaller sort, whose leaves are mere petioles, and scarce ever expand in the slightest manner into laminæ: this should be called S. juncea: it is very rare, and we believe at present only in the royal collection at Kew. All the Strelitziæ are propagated, though slowly, by carefully dividing their perennial roots, which are usually planted either in very large pots, or small beds annexed to the tan-bed in hot-houses. Our figure was made from a plant at Messrs. Colvill’s, in the King’s Road, last autumn, but the plant flowers freely at various seasons.[Pg 145]
