It is one of those Heaths which are enumerated in the _Hort. Kew._ of Mr. Aiton, and was introduced to the royal garden by Mr. Masson, in 1774; is now to be met with in most of the collections of green-house plants about town, and flowers in May and June.
Mesembryanthemum Micans. Glittering Fig-Marygold.
_Cal._ 5-fidus. _Petala_ numerosa, linearia. _Caps._ carnosa, infera, polysperma.
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM _micans_ foliis subcylindricis papulosis distinctis, caule scabro. _Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14. Murr. p. 470._ _Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 190._
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM _micans_ flore phoeniceo: filamentis atris. _Dill. Elth. 292. t. 215. f. 1282._
FICOIDES capensis, tereti folio, flore croceo. _Pet. gaz. t. 7. f. 9._
FICOIDES capensis, folio tereti argenteo, petalis perplurimis aurantiacis. _Bradl. Succ. 1. p. 9. t. 8._
The _Mesembryanthemum micans_, so called from the glittering particles which are conspicuous on its stalks and leaves, is a species which has long been introduced to our gardens (having been cultivated by Prof. Bradley in 1716) for the beauty of its flowers, which in richness of colour are indeed surpassed by few; they are produced in the months of July and August, but do not expand fully, unless the sun shines powerfully on them; nor do they long retain that regular expansion observable in some species, but quickly assume a somewhat ragged appearance; nevertheless, upon the whole, it is one of those species which is highly deserving of culture, by those who are partial to this tribe of plants.
It is a native of the Cape, and readily propagated by cuttings.
_Cal._ 5-phyllus. _Petala 5._ _Caps._ polyspermæ, connatæ, pulpa repletæ.
DILLENIA _speciosa_ foliis oblongis rotundato-acutis denticulatis, pedunculis unifloris. _Thunb. in Linn. Trans. 1. p. 200._
DILLENIA _indica_. _Linn. Syst Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 507._
SYALITA Malabaris. _Rheede Hort. Malab. tom. iii. p. 39. t. 38. 39._
The name of _Dillenia_ was given by Linnæus to this genus of plants, in honour of John James Dillenius, Professor of Botany at Oxford, and the celebrated author of the _Hist. Muscorum_, _Hort. Elthamensis_, &c.
Until the publication of the first volume of the _Linnean Transactions_, only one species of _Dillenia_ was generally known; in that work Prof. Thunberg minutely describes five others, three of which are there figured; all these, and one more described by Dr. Roxburgh in his work on the Coromandel plants, are inserted by Prof. Martyn in his new and highly improved edition of Miller's _Dictionary_.