This curious little species of Melon, although no new introduction to the English gardens, is but rarely met with, yet well deserves a place in every curious collection for the beauty and fragrance of its fruit; which, when cut before quite ripe, will continue fragrant nearly a fortnight. It is however only to be valued for its odour and beauty, the flavour being insipid. It is said to have been first introduced by Lord Petre, who sent the seeds from Morocco to Peter Collinson, F.R.S. It is also cultivated in Persia, and a figure of the fruit taken there is given in Gmelin’s Travels, vol. iii. tab. 49. fig. 6. Its Hebrew appellation of Dudaim seems to have been bestowed by Linnæus, from the fantastical idea that it was the fruit mentioned in the Bible by the name of mandrake, with which Jacob’s neglected wife purchased her husband’s favours for one night of her rival. Another plant with perennial roots descending 6 or 8 feet into the earth, was taken be his pupil Hasselquist (sent to the East on purpose to illustrate the natural history of that country) for the celebrated Dudaim;—Which is the right one, let critics in Hebrew decide! The Melo Ægypticus minor of Tournefort, or Ægyptian Abdelavi, which Linnæus supposed to be the same as the Melo aurantii figura odoratissimus of Dillenius, and might partly have occasioned the name, is a very different species. Indeed the claim of our plant to Ægyptian origin seems doubtful, but we would reluctantly change a name that has been applied for more than half a century. Our specimens are from the collection of A. B. Lambert, esq.[Pg 113]
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PLATE DXLIX.
PASCALIA GLAUCA.
Glaucous-leaved Pascalia.
CLASS XIX. ORDER II.
SYNGENESIA POLYGAMIA SUPERFLUA. Tips united. Superfluous Pointals.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
Receptaculum paleaceum.