ALPHABETICAL INDEX
TO THE
FIGURES IN VOL. II.
THE
HEATHERY;
OR A
MONOGRAPH
OF
THE GENUS ERICA:
CONTAINING
COLOURED ENGRAVINGS,
WITH
LATIN AND ENGLISH DESCRIPTIONS, DISSECTIONS, ETC.
OF ALL
THE KNOWN SPECIES OF THAT EXTENSIVE AND DISTINGUISHEDTRIBE OF PLANTS.
By H. C. ANDREWS.
IN SIX VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
SECOND EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED.
LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1845.
DISSERTATION continued.
The unabating ardour that still prevails in the science of botany, andrather increases than diminishes, renders it almost impossible (from theextreme minutiæ annexed to this elegant tribe) for the pencil of theartist to keep pace with the numerous importations from the Cape (atpresent the sole emporium of the genus Erica): the limits of the genusit is impossible at present to prescribe, but by the termination of thenext Volume we have no doubt of being able to ascertain, in somemeasure, its extent. The Author’s intention is therefore to figure(first) all the most elegant and desirable of the genus, including manyvery beautiful varieties, of recent introduction, that far surpass thosefrom which they derive their name; reserving, as a dernier ressort, themost uninteresting and least attractive, to subjoin at the terminationof the genus, as necessary links in the chain of this extensive family.The great difficulty attending the cultivation of many of the species,so generally complained of, can only be surmounted by great care andattention to keep them from the partial damps and fogs so prevalent inthis island. Among the most tender and difficult to preserve, and whichrequire the most care are the E. obbata, E. retorta, E. ampullacea, E.Aitonia., E. Jasminiflora, E. vestita alba, and E. Massonia; the last ofwhich is perhaps the most tender, owing most likely to the closeness ofthe leaves, joined with the soft hairs that surround them, which is agreat encourager of secreted damps: this, assisted by the greatsucculence that pervades the upper part of the plant, and its ratherabrupt commencement from the wood, renders it so difficult to bepreserved. They should by no means be intermixed with other plants, butkept in a house entirely appropriated to them, and so arranged that theair may have as free an egress and regress as possible to them all; asundoubtedly the mixing of them with plants whose foliage is so muchlarger, although it may produce a pleasing contrast, must exclude thefree approach of the atmosphere, to which they are so much exposed intheir native clime, and to which the nearest approximation must[Pg 6][Pg 5][Pg 4]certainly be most congenial.
ERICA ardens.
DESCRIPTIO.
Antheræ cristatæ, inclusæ. Flores