Tas. 4685. 
HELICONIA puLvervuLeEnNta. 
Powdery Heliconia. 
Nat. Ord. Musack®.—PENTANDRIA Monoeynia. 
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, Tas. 4475.) 
? 
Hetrcon1a pulverulenta ; foliis oblongis tenui-acuminatis marginatis basi cor- 
datis subtus albo-pulverulentis, spathis ternis coloratis (coccineis) folio 
bracteali concolori. brevioribus, floribus (parvis albis) spatha triplo bre- 
vioribus pallide viridescentibus, sepalo nano oblongo submucronato. 
Hexiconra pulverulenta. Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1648. 
Of this eminently handsome genus (He/iconia), a genus with 
the habit of Strelitzia, eleven species are enumerated by Romer 
and Schultes ; seven more are given in Walpers’ ‘ Annales,’ vol. 1. 
p. 811, and all are, we believe, indigenous to South America. 
Amongst all those, be they well-defined species or otherwise, 
our present plant is readily distinguished by the white pul- 
verulent substance of the underside of the foliage, and by the 
small flowers in comparison of the large rich scarlet bracts. 
A scarcely less handsome species is given at our Tab. 4475, our 
Heliconia angustifolia (from Brazil), with. shorter, paler-coloured, 
and more numerous sheathing bracts, larger flowers, and very 
long narrow leaves. The exact native country of the present 1s 
not known. It appears to have been introduced to our stoves 
some twenty years ago by the late Sir Abraham Hume, from 
whose hothouse at Wormleybury the figure m the ‘ Botanical 
Register’ was made. We possess a portion of a leaf of a Heli- 
conia from Dominica similarly white and pulverulent beneath, 
gathered there by our friend Dr. Imray, but whether identical 
with ours it is impossible to say without further materials, 
which we hope soon to receive. Our drawing was taken from 
a fine plant, that blossomed at Kew in June, 1852. 
Descr. A tall-growing plant. Stem four to six feet high, 
clothed with the long sheathing bases of a few petiolated leaves, 
DECEMBER lst, 1852. 
