etc. They do not suffer if kept dry at the root, and the 
poorer the soil the healthier they are; but they must be in 
a position where they can get plenty of sunlight and air. 
The handsomest of them is P. caerulea, which has flowered 
several times at Kew. Between this and P. violacea there 
is a close resemblance, but the flowers of the latter are 
smaller. The latter flowered on the rockery at the south 
end of the Mexican House in June last year, where it has 
stood since the house was built, in 1897. The plant was 
presented to Kew in 1879 by the late Mr. J. Anderson 
Henry, Hay Lodge, Trinity, Edinburgh, who had it under 
the name of Puya paniculata.—W. Wa'rson. 
Fig. 1, a petal and a stamen; 2, a pistil—both enlarged ; 3, whole plant :— 
about 4 nat. size. 
