1. The nectary, or honey-cup.
2. The blossom detached.
3. The seed-bud, chives, and pointal, the hood lifted up that covers the chives.
4. The same magnified.
Amongst this numerous parasitic tribe there are many whose claim to beauty is by no means powerful, and certainly the present figure has little to boast of in that particular: but the singular and curious structure of their flowers will always render every new species and even distinct varieties desirable, particularly as they are an essential connecting link in the interesting family of the Orchidiæ. We were at first inclined to regard it as the E. fuscatum of Dr. Smith on rare plants; but on comparison with that figure we found it in foliage nearly the same, but so different both in the size and colour of its flowers, that, if it might be regarded as a variety, it must certainly be a very distinct one. It is a native of Jamaica, and as such requires the protection of the stove. From a plant plunged in the tan-bed our drawing was made at the gardens of G. Hibbert, esq.[Pg 19]
PLATE CCCCXLII.
PROTEA PULCHELLA, Var. speciosa.
Waved-leaved Protea, Speciosa Variety.
CLASS IV. ORDER I.
TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointal.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.