companied by, a loss of fertility, for M. Ortgies describes the 

 ray flowers as neuter, whereas those of our specimens have 

 fully-formed achenes, and short 2-fid styles sunk in the 

 corolla tube. 



Beyond its being a native of Mexico, nothing is known of 

 the locality or conditions in which it grows wild. Its tubers 

 were sent from that country to the Zurich Garden in 1862, 

 and being planted out the stems attained a height of seven feet; 

 these formed buds in October, and on removal to a conservatory 

 the plants bloomed imperfectly. More recently, under good 

 culture, D. imperialis attains a height of twelve to eighteen 

 feet, forming a knotted, erect, straight trunk, naked below, 

 and bearing above a pyramid of foliage and flowers. Flower- 

 ing at so late a season, when protection is necessary, there 

 are few establishments that can afford to grow and bloom so 

 gigantic a plant, in its natural state, but Messrs. Salters, of 

 Versailles Nurseries, Hammersmith, having successfully 

 grafted a plant on the root of a dwarf Dahlia, believe, that by 

 this means not only may plants of convenient size be ob- 

 tained, but that it may be induced to flower earlier, and thus 

 become an outdoor plant in this climate. Mr. Fitch informs 

 me that Mr. Salter's plants form a pyramid of six to eight 

 feet high from the ground, and bloom luxuriantly.—/. D. H. 



Fig. 1, Entire plant, reduced; 2, portions of leaf, and 3, of infloresence; 

 4, base of ray-flower, and 5, achene of ditto, all ofnat. size; 6, disk flower; 

 7, stamen, and 8, style-arm of ditto : — all magnified. 



