JASMINUM angustifolium; B; laurifolium. DIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Nat. ord. JASMINEE. Jussieu gen. 104. JASMINEE. Brown prod. 1. 520. JASMINUM. Suprà vol. 1. fol. 1. Div. II. Div. Foliis simplicibus. J. angustifolium, foliis ovatis mucronatis subtrinerviis, pedunculis terminalibus subternis unifloris. Vahl enum. 1. 29. Jasminum angustifolium. Willd. sp. pl. 1. 36. (a) angustifolium, fruticosum, volubile, læve: foliis oppositis, petiolatis, ovatis, glabris nitidè et saturatè virentibus; floribus terminalibus 1-2-3; corollæ limbo 8-9-partito; calyce 8-9-fido; baccà simplici. Roxb. fl. ind. 1. 95; (ex anglico). (B) laurifolium, scandens, læve; foliis oppositis ovato-lanceolatis lucidis trinervibus; floribus axillaribus terminalibusque, 1-5, elongatè pedunculatis; laciniis calycis 6-7 filiformibus, corollæ 9-12 linearibus longitudine tubi. Roxb. loc. cit. 91; (ex anglico). (B) laurifolium. Rami teretes, basi ad divisuras membranâ brevi vaginatis? Fol. coriacea, ovato-lanceolata cuspidata, divaricata, nitida, saturatè virentia, 3-nervia nervis 2 lateralibus obsoletis, subavenia, 2-4-uncialia latitudine plus minus unciali: pet. subsemiamplexicaulis, brevis crassus canaliculatus, horizontali-patens, articulatus geniculato-ascendens. Flores fragrantissimi ochroleuco-albicantes, maximi, sæpiùs trichotomo-trini, pedunculis firmis subuncialibus, lateralibus divaricatis. Bractea opposita, subulata, caduca. Cal. viridis, pedunculi subæquicrassi continuus, circà brevior tubo corollæ, ad partes usque partitus, tubo brevissimo, segmentis senis radiato-divaricatis semitereti-setaceis canaliculatis. Cor. nunc extùs purpurá nimbata; tubus erectus striatulus ad partes unciæ longus; limbus stellatorecurvus sub-11-partitus diametro sesquiunciali v. majore, laciniis angustis lineari-acuminatis. Stam. demersè inclusa; fil. medio tubi inserta linearia erecta alba circa breviora antheris lineari-oblongis mucronatis, polline fulvo-flavescente. Germ. breve conicum bicolle: stylus brevis: stig. clavatocontinuum oblongum bilobum. Laurifolium of Dr. Roxburgh, which we have included in angustifolium, as a variety, is most probably of a distinct specific type, although we can find no mark, in the description given by the above botanist, that in our view will justify the separation. A comparison of samples of the two plants might have furnished the means of satisfactory discrimination; but we have not yet met with any certain one of angustifolium; though the plant is said to be in our gardens, and very common in India, where it is found in every forest on the Coast of Coromandel. In Mr. Lambert's Herbarium, there is a closely allied species found at Sembu, in Nepaul, by Dr. Buchanan, and inscribed dichotomum; but which may be at once distinguished from the present species by segments of the calyx, which are subulate and shorter than the tubular portion. (B) laurifolium is a twining shrub with a simple brightgreen shining leaf, and a large exquisitely fragrant flower, diffusing a perfume which in some degree reminds us of frankincense. It is found in the mountainous country to the East of Bengal, and has been very lately introduced, having flowered in October last, for the first time, in the hothouse of the nursery of Messrs. Colvill, in the King's Road, Chelsea. The following description is by Dr. Roxburgh: "Leaves opposite, subsessile, ovate-lanceolate, firm and glossy; margins entire, somewhat thick; faintly 3-nerved; "from two to four inches long, and from one to two "broad. Peduncles terminal and axillary, sometimes single, "sometimes several together, and sometimes, when termi"nal, subracemed; long and slender. Bractes opposite, "subulate. Calyx from 5 to 7-cleft; segments long, slen"der, filiform and smooth. Corolla: tube twice the length "of the calyx, subclavate; limb of from 9 to 12, ensiform, "spreading segments which are as long as the tube. Sta"mina within the tube. Germen 2-celled, with one ovulum "in each cell, attached to the middle of the partition. "Style and stigma clavate, scarcely reaching to the an"thers." We find by the Flora Indica that twenty native species of Jasmine are cultivated in the Botanic Garden of Calcutta; of which some, from the mountainous and consequently cooler regions of India, have never flowered in that establishment. |