V.
MAGNOLIA ANNONÆFOLIA.
Annona-leaved Magnolia.
ORDO NATURALIS
Magnoliæ. Juss. Gen. p. 280.
Calyx 3-phyllus, petaloideus, sæpius caducus, in quibusdam nullus. Petula 6-9, decidua. Antheræ filamentis confluentes. Pericarpia numerosa, in Strobilum stipitatum imbricata, oblonga, 1 locularia, 2-valvia, 2-sperma. Semina e pericarpio dehiscente, filo pendula. Arbores et Frutices aromaticæ. Folia autumno decidua vel sempervirentia, sæpius grandia. Stipulæ intra foliaceæ, vaginales. Flores terminales, albi flavescentuli virides purpurcive, solitarii, in quibusdam grandes. Bractea 1, calyci proxima vel inferius sita, vaginalis, caduca.
* Calyx nullus
M. foliorum laminis lanceolatis: petalis valde inæqualibus, exterioribus pedunculo 2-plo longioribus: pericarpiorum stipite superne lævi.
Floret apud nos, ab Aprili in Junium.
A low shrub, lately brought into this country from China, and now in flower in the stove of the Right Hon. Charles Greville. It appears to me a legitimate species, though very nearly allied to the M. Fuscata of the Botanists' Repository, which I would distinguish by the following name and character. M. Versicolor: foliorum laminis obovato-lanceolatis: petulis inæqualibus, exterioribus pedunculo 4-plo longioribus: pericarpiorum stipite toto pubescente. The flowers in both diffuse a similar fragrance, resembling at a distance that of a ripe apple, but when nearly approached more like a melon: and this odour I suspect proceeds from the glands with which the petals abound, not from the antheræ.
REFERENCES TO THE PLATE.
- The Anthers and Germen.
- The Germen and Receptacle.
- An Anther magnified.
- A Germen magnified.
