that those who cultivate it are disappointed in the expecta- 

 tions they had formed of its appearance. 



The noble specimen from which the accompanying 

 drawing was made by Miss Drake, was kindly forwarded 

 to us by the Right Hon. the Earl of Shrewsbury, in whose 

 Conservatory, at Alton Towers, it bloomed in August 

 last. We were not so fortunate as to see it in full perfec- 

 tion ; but we understand that at one time all those parts 

 of the spikes which in the figure are naked, were densely 

 covered with blossoms, so that the inflorescence was a 

 compact mass of crimson, forming a tuft measuring 8 or 

 9 inches every way. In this state it was a most splendid 

 object for several days; between eight and nine hundred 

 flowers contributing to its dazzling brilliancy. 



It is a tender stove plant, easily propagated by cuttings, 

 like all the rest of its tribe. Lord Shrewsbury procured 

 his plant from the Garden of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, 

 at Florence, in 1829; but the species was originally sent 

 to Miller by Houstoun in 1733. It should be grown in 

 peat, loam, and sand, in a high temperature, with an 

 atmosphere well filled with moisture. 



A dark -green bush, closely covered with leaves. 

 Branches taper, smooth. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, some- 

 what crenated, tapering into a long narrow petiole, some- 

 what wavy, acute, smooth on both sides, sometimes as 

 much as a foot long. Spikes terminal and axillary, densely 

 crowded, 4-cornered, from 4 to 6 inches long. Rachis 

 woolly. Anterior bractea ovate, concave, smooth, woolly 

 at the base, ciliated at the edge; the lateral lanceolate or 

 subulate, downy Sepals 5, smooth, rather longer than the 

 bractea, all of the same length, but the inner ones nar- 

 rowest Corolla scarlet, 2 inches long; tube curved, 



f SST^U^r%^ ; h ? h bilabiate * the u PP er H P lanceolate 

 erect, bifid, the lower lanceolate, recurved, entire, the two 



lateral segments dwarf and rounded. Stamens 4, didy- 



«f TzL* Tm A ng f TOm the base of the tube > wi *h no rudiment 

 ot a fifth. Anthers semisagittate, 1-celled, enwrapped in 



fl/ P ,v PP % , ,P ° f ? e e° r0lla ; the connectivum a little 

 the cor 11 % - ?C '- anging d0Wn after the first fal1 of 





disk annular, inconspicuous 



J. L 



