SPECIFIC CHARACTER, &C.
Liparia, floribus fasciculatis, foliis subrotundis concavis, extus tomentosis, intus villosis nudisque.
Liparia, with fasciculated flowers, leaves roundish concave, downy outwardly, and villose or naked within.
Liparia villosa α. Willd. Sp. Pl. 3. 1117. excluso synonymo Thunbergii; quod ad varietatem β. potius pertinet.
Liparia vestita, floribus capitatis, foliis ovatis concavis subtus lanatis. Thunb. Prod. 124. et etiam Willd. Sp. Pl. 3. 1115.
Genista africana tomentosa, folio cochleariformi, flore luteo. Seba Thes. 1. p. 38. tab. 24. f. 1.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The empalement.
2.The banner.
3.One of the wings.
4.The keel.
5.The chives and pointal.
6. The seed-bud
The Liparia villosa is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and rises with a shrubby, but not much branched stem, to the height of two or three feet. The silvery wool which clothes the younger branches and leaves of the plant, gives it a very handsome appearance; yet by age it sometimes acquires a somewhat rusty tint. The leaves are nearly round, and assume, particularly when dried, a deep concave form, and very much resemble in shape, small bivalve shells; a circumstance noticed long since by the great naturalist Seba, as will appear on consulting the synonyms above given. The variety β. of Willdenow has much narrower, and not concave leaves; and is a very distinct species.
The concave-leaved Liparia is propagated, but not readily, by cuttings; prefers the treatment of a green-house plant, a light, but good soil; and, like most woolly plants, is very liable to be destroyed by damps. Our figure was taken in May last at George Hibbert’s, esq.[Pg 45]