native of Siberia or 'Tartary as far as we can discover.* It is 
cultivated by the Chinese and sometimes seen among their 
drawings of ornamental plants, being extremely handsome. ‘The 
original specimen is in the Linnean Herbarium, the only one 
we have ever met with in any collection.” Gmelin includes it 
in his ‘ Flora Sibirica,’ but expressly says, “stupende pulchri- 
tudinis planta, quae e Sinis a chirurgo Henke adportata fuit.? 
Drsor. Habit of Dielytra formosa (Bot. Mag. t.1335) except 
that it is caulescent : a foot or a foot and a half high. Leaves : 
pinnate, with three to five petiolate, pinnated pinnules, which 
are ternate or ternately and deeply cut, the segments broad, 
ovato-cuneate, incised. Stem, petioles, and peduncles red. Ra- 
ceme long. °Pedicels slender, with a subulato-deciduous bractea. 
Howers \arge, drooping, deep rose-red, inner petals nearly white. © 
Calyx of two small, narrow-ovate, concave, coloured scales. 
Outer petals very large, cucullate, gibbous rather than spurred = ™ 
at the base: the apex attenuated, reflexed, spathulate. Inner 
petals oblong, carinate at the back, remarkably constricted above 
the middle ; the upper portion with a broad wing at the back, 
the apices cohering. Stamens united in two bundles of three 
ange es above the middle, and the filaments are te - 
ree. Ovary narrow, cylindrical: style short: sti two-li ; 
wT ry y Ly t: stigma ppe 
Cunt. This handsome flowering herbaceous plant, has a 
fascicle of thick fleshy roots that lie dormant during winter, 
and push into growth early in the spring. We have not had it 
long enough under cultivation to enable us to say whether it - ‘ 
will prove hardy in our climate; but as it is from the north of = 
China we anticipate it will, especially if covered over with @ = © 
layer of old tan, or some such loose material during: our severe 
frosts. Its early habit may probably render it liable to be hurt 
by late spring frosts, but as it makes a pretty appearance in a 
pot, it will prove a desirable plant for the greenhouse. It thrives 
In any good garden-soil, and when it has done flowering it 
should be placed out of doors. After the decay of the flowering 
stems it may be kept in a frame during winter, giving it only 
water sufficient to keep the mould moderately moist. It is pro- 
pagated by division of the root or by cuttings. J. 8. 
* Alexander de Karamyschew, who appears to be the original authority for 
our knowledge of this fine plant in his ‘ Dissertatio’ entitled ‘ Necessitas Historie — 
Naturalis Rossie,’ (Ameen. Acad. vy. 7, p- 438) says, after alluding to Botanic 
gardens, “ Memini de czetero, me vidisse domi varias plantas omnium pulcher- 
nimas, utpote Hypecoum erectum, Fumariam spectabilem aliasque que dignissima 
essent, qué insererentur hortis magnatum summorum, ob illarum pulchritu- 
dinem, 
Fig. 1, 2, and 3. The different parts of the flower separated :—magnified. 
