The foliage when bruised has an unpleasant smell.
It is a native of the Cape, and, according to Mr. Aiton, was cultivated by the Duchess of Beaufort, in 1708; is propagated readily by cuttings.
_Flores_ mere masculi reliquis intersiti. _Cal._ 5-dentatus. _Cor._ 5-fida aut 0. _Stamina_ 4-locularis. _Legumen. Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 13. Gmel._
MIMOSA _myrtifolia_ foliis ovato-lanceolatis obliquis undulatis acuminatis margine cartilagineis: primordialibus pinnatis. _Smith Trans. Linn. Soc. v. 1. p. 252._
The seeds of this species of Mimosa having been sent over in plenty, with some of the first vegetable productions of New South-Wales, and growing readily, the plant has been raised by many cultivators in this country; Mr. Hoy, gardener to the Duke of Northumberland, produced a specimen of it in flower at a meeting of the Linnean Society in 1790; it is a shrub of quick growth, and a ready blower: a plant of it in the stove of Chelsea-Garden has this year (May 10, 1795) produced ripe pods, and perfect seeds. In the greenhouse, where it flowers from February to April, the blossoms go off without shewing any tendency to produce fruit.
It is first described by Dr. Smith, in the Transactions of the Linnean Society; the leaves in the plants that have fallen under our notice have not accorded exactly with those he has described, having neither been of a glaucous green colour, according to the usual acceptation of that term, nor very much undulated; and though those of an individual plant may have presented such an appearance, we are persuaded they do not do so generally when growing and in good health.
The foliage is usually edged with red, and the flowers are fragrant.
_Cal._ 4-phyllus. _Cor._ 4-fida. _Filamenta_ receptaculo inserta. _Antheræ_ apice bifidæ, pertusæ. _Caps._ 4-locularis, 4-valvis, polysperma.
ERICA _ampullacea_ foliis ciliatis mucronatis, bractæis coloratis, floribus umbellatis subquaternis erecto-patentibus, stylo exserto.
The Erica here figured has some affinity in the form of its flowers to the _E. ventricosa_, as these in their shape resemble a flask or bottle, especially of that kind in which water is usually kept, we have named it _ampullacea_; it is of very modern introduction.