Tas. 4959. 
ASTILBE rvusra. 
The Red-flowered Astilbe. 
Nat. Ord. SAXIFRAGEE.—DeEcaNDRIA DiGYnIa. 
Gen. Char. Calyx tubo brevi sublibero, limbi 4—-5-partiti lobis estivatione im- 
bricatis. Petala 4-5 v. 0, perigyna, lineari-spathulata, integra. Stamina 8-10, 
cum petalis inserta ; filamentis linearibus ; antheris oblongo-cordatis. Ovaria 2, 
ima basi calycis adnata, libera v. subconnata, unilocularia ; ovulis plurimis pla- 
centis suture: ventrali adnatis, biserialibus; stylis brevibus; stigmatibus simpli- 
cibus. Capsule 2, folliculares, erectee, libere, coriacese ; rima ventrali dehis- 
centes. Semina plurima v. pauca, lineari-oblonga; ¢esfa, membranacea, reticu- 
lata, utrinque longe ultra nucleum producta; embryone axi albuminis carnosi 
orthotropo, cylindrico.—Herbe Boreali-Americane, J aponice, e¢ montibus Indie 
borealis incole ; rhizomate perenni; caulibus erectis, simplicibus v. ramosis ; foliis 
bi-tri-ternatis ; floribus in spicas racemosas dispositis, albis luteis rubrisve. Endl. 
AstiLBE rubra; caule foliisque parce pilosis, foliis biternatis, foliolis cordatis 
acuminatis argute triplicato-serratis, panicule contracte rufo-villose ramis 
erectis, floribus ramulis lateralibus brevibus dense congestis breve pedicel- 
latis, petalis rubris lineari-spathulatis anguste linearibusve. 
AsTILBE rubra. Hook. fil. ef Thomson, Fl. Ind. ined. 
A very pretty and hardy plant, with the habit and appearance - 
of a Spirea. ‘It was originally detected in the Khasia moun- 
tains of Eastern Bengal by Dr. Griffith, and gathered afterwards 
in the same mountains by Drs. Hooker and Thomson, who found 
it flowering in the month of June at an elevation of 5000 to 
6000 feet above the sea, and by whom seeds were sent to the 
Royal Gardens of Kew, where it proves quite hardy, flowering 
in the late summer and autumnal months. 
Descr. Rhizome horizontal, about as thick as the thumb, 
giving off numerous fibrous roots. Stems simple, four to six 
feet high, covered, as are the petioles, with long, lax, patent, 
flexuous hairs; on the branches of the inflorescence these hairs 
are much more dense and copious, and turn of a fine rufous- 
brown in drying. Leaves biternate, with adnate, half-sheathing 
stipules ; Jeaflets one to two inches long, oblique, cordate, sharply 
JANUARY Ist, 1857. 
