_Class and Order._

DECANDRIA PENTAGYNIA.

_Generic Character._

_Cal._ 1-phyllus, oblongus, laevis. _Petala_ 5, unguiculata: _Limbo_
sub-bifido. _Caps._ 5-locularis.

_Specific Character and Synonyms._

LYCHNIS _coronata_ glabra, floribus axillaribus terminalibusque
solitariis, petalis laciniatis. _Thunb. Japon. p. 187._ _Linn.
Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 435._ _Ait. Kew. V. 1. p. 117._

LYCHNIS _grandiflora_ floribus axillaribus terminalibusque folitariis,
petalis inaequaliter crenatis. _Jacq. Collect. V. 1. p. 149. Icon.
V. 1._

JAPONICE sen sjun ra, vulgo Ganpi. _Kempf. Amaen. Exot. Fasc. V. p. 873._

The rich and elegant blossoms of this Chinese or Japanese beauty,
possess a flatness and stiffness, which gives them an artificial air, to
which their colour, which is exactly that of common red lead, may
perhaps somewhat contribute; they make their appearance towards the
close of the summer, and as many (when the plant is in health and
vigour) are produced on the same stem, they continue a considerable time
in bloom; its root is perennial, and its stem, which rises to the height
of about two feet, herbaceous.

We remember to have seen this plant in the collection of the late Dr.
FOTHERGILL at Upton, about the year 1774, by whom it was first
introduced to this country: KAEMPFER, the celebrated Dutch traveller, who
saw it growing in Japan, gives a very short description of it in his
_Amaenitates exoticae_, and mentions a variety of it with white flowers:
Professor THUNBERG, who saw it also in its wild state, as well as in the
gardens of that country, confines himself to describing the plant more
at large: Professor JACQUIN, in his _Icones_, has given an admirable
figure of it.

Persons here differ in their mode of cultivating this species of
Lychnis, some treating it as a stove others as a greenhouse and others
as a hardy herbaceous plant; the latter mode is to be preferred,
provided care be taken to plant it in a sheltered situation, and to
guard it against the inclemency of particular seasons; it is propagated
by parting its roots, also by slips, and cuttings, but in this business
more than ordinary care is required to be successful.

[Illustration: _No 223_]

[Illustration: _No 224_]

[224]

PHYLICA ERICOIDES. HEATH-LEAV'D PHYLICA.

_Class and Order._

PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

_Generic Character._

_Perianthium_ 5-partitum, turbinatum. _Petala_ 0. _Squamae_ 5,