TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointal.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Calyx quadripartitus. Petala quatuor. Stamina glabra, glandulis insidentia. Stylus simplex. Stigma subquadrilobum. Capsulæ quatuor coalitæ. Semina arillata.
Cup four-parted. Petals four. Chives smooth, sitting on glands. Pointal simple. Summit generally four-lobed. Fruit of four cohering capsules. Seeds covered with an arillus.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. Empalement magnified.
2. Chives and pointal.
3. A chive magnified.
4. The same shown from the outer side.
5. Empalement, seed-bud, and pointal magnified.
The Zieria Smithii is a dwarf warty shrub with opposite branches, and leaves which are composed of three lanceolate leaflets, rough with transparent dots, which probably secrete an oil, as the bruised leaves are very fragrant. A few small scattered hairs are just visible on their upper surface. The panicles of flowers rise from the axils of the leaves, which they often excel in length, and branch in the same opposite manner as the stem, with linear bracts at the divisions. The cups are very short, finely haired and dotted as the leaves. The petals are broad-lanced, pointed, and slightly tinged with purple on the outside. The genus was established by Dr. Smith in the fourth volume of the Linnean Society’s Transactions, and named in memory of his friend Mr. Zier, whom he calls “an indefatigable botanist, but whose labours generally gained celebrity under another name than his own.” Were celebrity only to be gained by real merit, many of the high-sounding names that now swell the trump of fame would, we fear, have far less pretensions than Zier. The Zieria Smithii was communicated last April by A. B. Lambert, esq. from his collection, and we have seen dried specimens of four other species preserved in his Herbarium, all (like the present) natives of New Holland, and agreeing in their shrubby nature, opposite branches, ternate leaves, and axillary bunches of flowers. None of the species have before been published.