but the rest forming a crown of dense spreading /eaves a foot 
and more long, spreading all round like those of an Aloe. Zeaves 
narrow-lanceolate, densely silky and strigose on both sides. At 
the flowering season the apex of the trunk lengthens out into an 
upright densely silky, nearly leafless, corymboso-paniculate stem. 
There are a few leaves at the base, but these gradually pass into 
linear dracteas, and those again seem insensibly to merge into 
the involucral leaves. Capitula moderately large, yellow, the 
disk mclining to brown. Morets all subtended by a ligulate 
membranaceous scale : those of the ray ligulate, very numerous, 
compact, three-toothed, rather short in proportion to the disk. 
Ovary oblong, triangular, naked (no pappus). Séy/e thrice as 
long as the tubular portion of the corolla, branches linear-subu- 
late. Florets of the disk male (in all as far as I could see) five. 
toothed. Stamens a little protruded beyond the mouth of the 
corolla. W. J. H. 
Curr. This singular-looking plant is a native of the mountains 
of New Granada, and was observed by Mr. Purdie to ascend 
nearly to the limit of perpetual snow, at an altitude where, on 
- account of the diminished weight of the atmosphere, he found 
the cold very piercing, much more intense to the feelings than was 
Indicated by the thermometer. He describes the old specimens 
as bearing a resemblance to posts about three feet high, covered 
with wool, and having a tuft of leaves on the top. Growing under 
such circumstances, the plant may be expected to prove tolerably 
hardy in this climate, but on account of its soft woolly nature it 
is lable to suffer from wet and damp. We therefore consider it 
best to keep it in a dry and airy part of the greenhouse, and, 
durmg damp weather in winter, to give it just sufficient water 
to keep the soil in a moderately moist. state, wetting the woolly 
leaves as little as possible. ‘A light sandy peat soil suits it; 
the pot being well-drained in the usual way, and in summer 
being placed in a position so that the sun’s rays do not fall on 
the side of the pot. It will continue to be a scarce plant, as the 
only specimen that has flowered in this country has not ripened 
seeds, and the plant does not readily produce side-shoots. /.S. 
Fig. 1. Floret of the ray with its scale. 2. Floret of the disk and scale :— 
magnified, 
