The botanist's repository for new and rare plants; vol. 07 [of 10] — Context and Discussion

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In Category - Plants Flowers

Authors: Andrews, Henry Cranke, active 1799-1828 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2024 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Plants -- Pictorial works; Plants, Cultivated -- Pictorial works; Rare plants -- Pictorial works Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 24,212

Reading time 106 min

Text sections 6

For The botanist's repository for new and rare plants; vol. 07 [of 10] — Context and Discussion, the stored edition analysis reports 24,212 words, 1 hr 46 min estimated reading time, and 6 detected text sections.

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Source: Project Gutenberg record #73371

This volume of Andrews's botanical series pairs hand-colored engravings with Latin and English descriptions, using a consistent structural formula while varying prose pace between terse technical notes and expansive cultural anecdotes.

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_Great American Aloe._

_HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Six Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

CALYX nullus. Corolla monopetala, sex-partita. Stamina sena, corolla longiora. Germen inferum. Stylus longior staminibus. Capsula trilocularis, trivalvis. Semina numerosa.

EMPALEMENT none. Blossom one-petalled, six-parted. Chives six, longer than the blossom. Seed-bud beneath. Shaft longer than the chives. Capsule three-celled, three-valved. Seeds many.

AGAVE, acaulis, foliis dentatis, spinosis: scapo e medio ramoso: floribus terminalibus in umbellis densissime capitatis: tubo corollæ læte viridi, e medio angustato: staminibus corolla longioribus: stylo staminibus longiore.

AGAVE, without a stem; leaves toothed and thorny: flower-stem in the centre branched: the flowers terminate the branches in close-headed umbels: the tube of the blossom is greenish, and narrowed in the centre: the chives are longer than the flowers, and the style longer than the chives.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. A plant in miniature. 2. A flower natural size. 3. The same spread open. 4. Seed-bud cut transversely. 5. The end of a leaf, the upper part scraped to show its thready fibres.

This tall and stately plant has ever been regarded, in this country, as an object of sufficient interest and curiosity to merit an exposure in the form of an exhibition; whilst in the southern parts of Spain and Portugal they are so abundant as to form hedges, by way of barriers to repress the inroads of cattle. There are several very slight varieties; one of whose leaves are edged with yellow, but the same in every other respect. Miller enumerates one whose paniculated flowers bear a very different aspect. Cortusus is said to be the first European that possessed this great Aloe, about the year 1561: in 1714 two flowered at Hampton Court, and one at the duke of Buckingham’s. At Friedericksberg, in Denmark, one flowered with 19 branches and 4000 flowers; and one in the king of Prussia’s garden, said to be 40 feet high. They are now more frequently found in bloom, as rarely a year passes without one or more of them being advertised for public inspection. In addition to their grand exterior, they possess many useful properties: Cavanilles, in his Natural History of Valentia, mentions their abundance, and the numbers of people employed in manufacturing them; for, when bruised, separated, and steeped in water, they yield a strong thread, of which all the bags are made in which dollars are imported. The juice of the leaves is said to be used as a succedaneum for soap, and the spungy substance of the stem for tinder. The points of the leaves are by the Indians made use of to head their arrows, whose hard consistence is a good substitute for iron; and the thready character of their fibres furnishes all that is necessary to fasten them. Linnæus has separated this genus from Aloe, from the extension of the stamens and style beyond the corolla, and the resting of the corolla on the germ: they also differ in growth, as all Agaves have their central leaves closely enfoliating and embracing the flower-stem, which, forming in the centre, never appears till they are expanded; it then proceeds with a rapidity that in a few weeks reaches maturity, and when the flowers are past the plant dies. On the contrary, the flower-stem of the Aloe comes out from the side annually from the same plant. Our figure was made from two plants at Kensington Gore, each bearing 2000 flowers, and about 70 years old, belonging to J. Vere, Esq. who perfectly recollects them for above half a century: but in those warmer climes, where they are so abundant, 25 or 30 years are sufficient to bring them to perfection.

_DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Ten Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

CALYX quinquedentatus, utrinque appendiculatus. Corolla papilionacea, alis vexillo brevioribus, Legumen uniloculare, dispermum.

CUP five-toothed, with a hanging prop on each side. Blossom butterfly-shaped, the wings shorter than the standard. A one-celled pod, two-seeded.

PULTENÆA, foliis iliciformibus, undulatis, contortis, rigidis, acutis: floribus minii colore, axillaribus, racemosis. Caulis humilis.

PULTENÆA, with holly-shaped leaves, waved, twisted, harsh, and sharp-pointed. Flowers minium-coloured, growing from the insertion of the leaves in longish bunches. Stem low.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

1. The cup, with its appendages. 2. The standard of the blossom. 3. One of the wings of the same. 4. The two leaves which form the keel. 5. The chives magnified. 6. The pointal, natural size. 7. The same magnified. 8. A ripe seed-pod. 9. The same spread open. 10. A ripe seed.

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Henry Cranke Andrews's seventh volume of The Botanist's Repository follows a rigorous pattern: each plate is accompanied by a Latin diagnosis, an English translation, and a reference key to the illustration. Yet within this fixed framework, the prose shifts noticeably in pace and register. Some entries, like the Agave americana, expand into historical narratives—mentioning the plant's use as hedges in Spain and Portugal, its flowering at Hampton Court in 1714, and a specimen in the king of Prussia's garden said to be forty feet high. Others, such as Goodenia tenella, remain concise, noting only its origin from the Comtesse de Vandes's collection and its graceful appearance. This alternation between brisk botanical fact and leisurely anecdote gives the volume an uneven rhythm, as if Andrews sometimes paused to indulge a wider curiosity.

The Latin–English Double Structure

Every entry opens with a Latin generic and specific character, followed by an English translation. The Latin passages are compressed and technical—“Calyx nullus. Corolla monopetala, sex-partita.”—while the English versions often expand slightly, clarifying terms like “chives” for stamens and “pointal” for pistil. This bilingual layout does more than translate: it creates two distinct reading experiences. The Latin lines move quickly, relying on abbreviations and a fixed word order; the English paragraphs slow down, sometimes adding explanatory phrases such as “the ungues or claws are inserted into the divisions of the calyx.” Readers who skip the Latin lose some precision, but those who read both encounter a deliberate change in pace from terse diagnosis to more discursive description.

Variation in Descriptive Depth

Andrews does not treat every plant with equal attention. The Agave americana entry runs to several paragraphs, covering varieties, historical firsts, and economic uses—Cavanilles's Natural History of Valentia is cited for the number of people employed in manufacturing the plant. In contrast, the Goodenia tenella is dispatched in a single paragraph, its “light an airy appearance” noted without further elaboration. The Lythrum fruticosum falls somewhere in between: it corrects a previous misidentification under Grislea tomentosa and cites Dr. Roxburgh's Coromandel Plants, but offers no anecdote. This inconsistency suggests Andrews prioritized novelty or personal interest over uniformity. The volume thus oscillates between a reference work and a collector's miscellany, where some plants receive a full botanical biography and others only a brief introduction.

Voice and the Role of the Author

Andrews occasionally steps into the first person, as when he writes of the Lythrum fruticosum: “upon examination we find it to be the Lythrum of Linnæus; in which opinion the author is sanctioned by the concurrence of s[ome].” This “we” is both editorial and collaborative, implying a community of botanists. Elsewhere, he acknowledges contributors by name—the Comtesse de Vandes for Goodenia tenella—and references earlier authorities like Miller and Labillardiere. These asides break the otherwise impersonal tone of the Latin diagnoses. The voice is that of a working naturalist who values accuracy but also enjoys a good story, as when he notes that the Agave “has ever been regarded, in this country, as an object of sufficient interest and curiosity to merit an exposure in the form of an exhibition.” Such remarks give the text a conversational quality that contrasts with the rigid plate numbering and systematic classification.

Because the excerpts represent only six of the volume's many plates, the patterns observed here may not hold throughout. Readers should note how Andrews handles plants from different regions—the New South Wales Goodenia versus the Hindostan Lythrum—and whether the pace of description correlates with geographical origin or with the author's personal acquaintance. Pay attention also to the errata and index, which may reveal last-minute corrections or organizational choices. This volume rewards a slow, comparative reading, plate by plate.

There’s something touching in how these old plates let the plant sit quietly on the page, no fuss. I catch myself slowing down, just looking. That same unhurried attention came back to me with North American Wild Flowers — A Closer Reading, like recognizing a familiar hand in a different garden. A small mercy, really, to find such stillness twice.