Curtis's Botanical Magazine/Volume 60/3236

[ 3236 ]

Dryandra armata. Sharp-pointed
dryandra.

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Class and Order.

Petandria Monogynia.


(Nat. Ord. - Proteaceæ)

Generic Character.

Perianthium quadripartitum vel quadrifidum. Stamina
apicibus concavis laciniarum immersa. Squamulæ hypo-
gynæ 4. Ovarium uniloculare, biovulatum : Ovula post
fœcundationem cohærentia. Folliculus lignosus. Disse-
pimentum ligneum, semibifidum fructus maturi omnino
simile. Receptaculum commune planum, floribus indeter-
minatim confertis; paleis angustis, raro nullis. Involucrum
commune imbricatum.-Frutices plerumque humiles. Rami
dum adsint sparsi vel umbellati. Folia sparsa, pinnatifida
vel incisa, plantæ juvenilis conformia. Involucra solitaria,
terminalia, raro lateralia, sessilia, foliis confertis, interiori-
bus quandoque nervis obvallata, hemisphærica, bracteis ad-
pressis, in quibusdam apice appendiculatis. Stylus sæpe pe-
rianthio vix longior. Br.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

Dryandra armata; foliis pinnatifidis lobis triangularibus
planis divaricatis rectis spinoso-mucronatis terminali
proximis longiore subtus reticulatis venulis nudis, ra-
mis perianthiique laciniis glabris, stylo basi pubescenti,
stigmate subulato sulcato. Br. in Linn. Trans. v. 10.
p. 213. Ejusd. Prodr. v. 1. p. 297. Spreng. Syst.
Veget. v. I. p. 486.

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Descr. A much branching shrub; branches flexuose,
glabrous, clothed with a brown bark. Leaves alternate;
often
--
often fasciculated, on short branches, patent or reflexed,
very rigid, lanceolate, glabrous, below only furnished with
several rather long, rigid, dark-coloured hairs, deeply pin-
natifid, the segments patent, triangular, acute and mucro-
nate, dark green above, paler beneath, marked with nume-
rous reticulated, slightly elevated veins, which are glabrous,
while the small areolæ are white as if mealy. Involucre
terminal, solitary, of numerous imbricated, linear scales,
clothed with short, dark brown hairs, surrounded by a sort
of ray of numerous leaves. Flowers numerous, long, slen-
der, yellow, deeply divided into four very narrow, linear
laciniæ, slightly enlarged upwards, in which portion the
linear anthers are, as it were imbedded. Pollen copious,
and as well as the anthers, yellow.

In the inestimable Prodromus Fl. Novæ Hollandiæ of
Mr. Brown, thirteen species of Dryandra are enumerated,
and in the Supplement to the same work, twelve new spe-
cies are added; all of them, as Mr. Brown observes, natives
of the South-western shores. "It is worthy of remark"
says that gentleman, "that while Banksia is generally
spread over all the coasts of New Holland and of Van
Diemen's Island, Dryandra has hitherto been observed
only on that part of the South coast called Lewin's Land
where, however, its species are nearly as numerous and
abundant as those of Banksia itself." D. armata was dis-
covered by that gentleman in the country just mentioned,
and from seeds sent from thence by the late Mr. Fraser,
plants have been raised in the Glasgow Botanic Garden,
which flowered in February, 1833.

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Fig. 1. Segment of a Leaf, seen from beneath.-Magnified.


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