111 .
CHAP. CXI.
GNETA'cEjE. z/phediia.
2063
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tries, ripens in spring, becoming succulent, like a little mulberry, with a slightlyacid, and yet sugary and agreeable, taste. In the warmer parts of the southof England, this fruit might be cultivated so as to become valuable for thedessert; from its ripening at a time when no other fruit in the open air inBritain is ever found ripe. The plants, when allowed to grow to their fullsize, form evergreen bushes; not by the colour of their leaves, which arescarcely perceptible, except when very closely observed; but by the deepgreen bark of the shoots, which, in old plants, are very numerous, and form adense head. According to Du Hamel , they bear the shears well, and formbeautiful round balls, which may either be made to appear as if lying on theground, or may be trained on a short stem. The lower sorts, Du Hamel continues, may be clipped to resemble turf; and for that purpose the plantmay be valuable, in some parts of Australia and Africa, to form lawns whichshall create an allusion to temperate climates. The saving by using suchplants as E'phedra, which would require little or no watering, instead of agreat deal, as the European grasses would do in such a climate, would be very-considerable.
• 1. E. dista'chya L. The two-spiked Ephedra , Great shrubby Horse-tail, or Sea Grape.
Identification. Lin. Sp., 1*72.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 19.; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 1., 3. p. 16.
Synonymes. e phedra vulg&rU Rich.
Mim. Con>/.,?. 26. 1 4. f.l.; Polygonummarinum Taber n. Ic., 836.; P. qu&r-tumPlinw Clus.Hi*t.,92.» Icon., t.836.;
P. lamifblium, &c., Bauh. Pin ., 15.;f'phedra maritimatnkjor Toum. Irut.,
663., Schaw. Sp., No.214., *V. Du Ham.,
1 .1. p. 220.; Trigos Cam. Hort., t. 46. jRaisin de Mer, Ephddre multiflore,
Pr. ; Zweyahriger Rosa Schwanz Ger.
The Sexes. Both are figured in Taber-nsraontanus, in Clusius , and in Ri-chard.
Engravings. Tabern. Ic., 836 ; cius.
Icon., t. 836.; Cainer. Hort., t 46 • ,7
Schkuhr Hand., 3. t 339.; Du Ham.’ +
t. l. pi. 92.; Rich. Mim. Conif.,t. 4 !r. 1. ; and ourji^i. 1973. and 1974. 1973
Spec. Char $C. Peduncles opposite. Catkins twin. (Lin.) A small ever-anTfurnished a^ each"art?c u 1 ’ 11 dr ' ca 1 wand-like branches, articulated,
tion with two small linear leaves.
A native of the south of France and Spain , in sandy soils on thesea shore, where it grows to theheight of 3 ft. or 4 ft.; and flow-ers in June and July, ripeningits berries a short time after-wards. It was cultivated in Eng-land before 1570, by MatthiasL’Obel; but, as far as we haveobserved, justice has never beendone to this, or any other spe-cies of Ephedra in British gar-dens. There are plants in theHammersmith Nursery, in theTwickenham Botanic Garden,m the Horticultural Society’sGarden, at Kew, and at Messrs.
Loddiges.
1974
«- 2. E. mo.nosta'chya L. The one-spiked Ephedra, or Small shrubby
Horsetail.
Identification. Lin. Sp„ 1472.; Ail. Hort Kew., 3. p. 116; V. Du Ham., 3. p. 18
0 s