Calyx 4-phyllus. Corolla 5-petala, inæqualis. Capsula 4-locularis, 4-valvis, polysperma.
Empalement 4-leaved. Blossom 5-petaled, unequal. Capsule 4-celled, 4-valved, many seeded.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Lopezia ramis longis, simplicibus, adscendentibus: foliis sub-ovatis, acutis, dentatis, lucidis: petiolis decurrentibus: floribus axillaribus, in umbellis terminalibus.
Lopezia with long, simple, ascending branches. Leaves nearly ovate, pointed, toothed, and shining, with decurrent footstalks. Flowers growing from the axillæ of the leaves, and terminate the branches in umbels.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The empalement.
2. The chives and pointal, with the lower petal magnified.
3. The capsule cut transversely.
4. A seed.
The Lopezia coronata is a hardy little annual, of recent introduction, and a lively addition to this short genus, which at present contains but two species besides the one now figured. We have seen them all three in fine bloom in several collections. Our figure represents a branch from a plant in the conservatory of the Countess de Vandes, where we observed the side petals of many of the flowers of a pure white at the ends, which gave them a very singular and different appearance from plants of the same description we have seen elsewhere: and Mr. Fordyce the botanic gardener informs me it was always the character of his plant, after it had been some time in flower, for the large petals to acquire a white appearance, as if bleached, previous to their going out of bloom. We have therefore left one flower in that state in our specimen, to delineate the variation incidental to the plant from which our figure was taken.[Pg 119]
[Pg 120]