HORTICULTURE. 



301 



Rheum nobile 



upper of which have pink 

 edges, the large, bright, glossy, 

 shining, green radical leaves, 

 with' red petioles and nerves, 

 forming a broad base for the 

 whole. On turning up the 

 bracts, the beautiful, membra- 

 neous, fragile, pink stipules 

 are seen like red silver paper, 

 and within these again the 

 short, branched panicles of in- 

 significant green flowers. The 

 root is very long — often many 

 feet — and winds amongst the 

 rocks; it is as thick as the 

 arm, and bright yellow in- 

 side. After flowering, the stem 

 lengthens, the bracts separate 

 from one another, become 

 coarse red-brown, withered, 

 and torn ; finally, as the fruit 

 ripens, they fall away, leaving 

 a rugged-looking stem, covered 

 with panicles of deep-brown 

 pendulous fruit. In winter 

 these naked black stems, pro- 

 jecting from the beetling cliffs 

 at an elevation of 14,000 feet 

 above the sea-level, or tower- 

 ing above the snow, are in dis- 

 mal keeping with the surround- 

 ing desolation of the season. 



Such is Dr. Hooker's ac- 

 count of this curious plant. Some of the seeds sent to Kew Gardens grew, and the seedlings 

 lived two years ; but we regret to learn that they have now been lost. 



Saxe-Gothcea conspicua. — This remarkable plant, which will probably rank among the 

 most highly valued of our hardy evergreen trees, is a native of the mountains of Patagonia, 

 where it was found by Mr. Lobb, forming a beautiful tree 30 feet high. In the nursery of 

 Messrs. Veitch, of Exeter, England, it has lived in the open air four years without shelter, 

 and has all the appearance of being well adapted to the climate of England. The country in 

 which it grows is, indeed, more stormy and cold than any part of Great Britain. Its native 

 habitat is described as the most desolate and sterile of any part of the western coast of Pata- 

 gonia. One variety grows to an enormous size, particularly in the vicinity of the snow-line. 

 Trees have been seen by Mr. Lobb upwards of 100 feet in height, and more than eight feet in 

 diameter. Saxe-Gothaea may be described as a genus with the male flowers of a podocarp, 

 the females of a dammar, the fruit of a juniper, the seed of a dacrydium, and the habit of a 

 yew. The leaves of this plant have altogether the size and general appearance of the English 

 yew, (Taxus baccata;) but they are glaucous underneath, except the midrib and two narrow 

 stripes within the edges, which are a pale green. The male flowers consist of spikes appear- 

 ing at the ends of the branches, in a raceme more or less elongated. The female flowers 

 form a small, roundish, pedunculated, terminal, scaly, imbricated cone. 



Mysore hexacentre, (Hezacentris Mysorensw.) — This charming stone-climber, from India, is 

 well worthy the attention of amateur or professional growers of new and rare plants. It was 

 shown first in England, in May, 1852, before the London Horticultural Society, and was pro- 

 nounced the most attractive among all the new and fine plants exhibited. This is saying a 



