merely suspended to the rafters in a-warm and moist stove, they 
exhibit signs of life often for two or three years, but seldom longer, 
and they blossom very rarely. Many of them, we know, are ex- 
tremely ornamental; and it is hoped that our stoves may be yet 
permanently adorned with their flowering specimens. 
Derscr. Tufted, stemless. Zeaves four to six inches long, 
quite subulate, hoary with a minute scurfy pubescence, chan- 
nelled, especially towards the base. Scape, including the spike 
of flowers, about as long as the leaves, almost entirely concealed 
with the beautiful, delicate, red, imbricated and sheathing drac- 
teas. Calyx greenish-white. Petals quite white. Filaments of 
the stamens singularly undulato-crispate above the base. 
Fig. 1. Flower, with its bractea. 2. Flower apart from the bractea. 3. Petal 
and two stamens. 4. Pistil :—magnified. 
