126 THE FLORIST. 



RoGiERA CORDATA. A branching evergreen stove-shrub, grooving from four to 

 six feet high, and bearing large cymes of rose-coloured flowers that are sweet- 

 scented. It is a native of the temperate regions of Guatemala, and was raised 

 from seed about four years ago by Mr. Smith, gardener to J. Anderson, Esq. of 

 the Holme, Regent's Park. Figured in the Magazine of Botany for April. 



EpiDENDRUM LiNEARiFOLiUM. A frce-flowering little Orchid, having small 

 psuedo-bulbs and narrow grassy leaves, and bearing a slender rather lax panicle, 

 consisting of from twelve to fourteen flowers. The sepals and petals are of a 

 purple brown, yellowish at the apex ; lip yellowish white, delicately veined with 

 purple. Probably a native of Mexico. 



WiGANDiA CARACASANA. A rather pretty soft-wooded tropical stove-plant, 

 having a terminal panicle or compound raceme of large unilateral flowers, of a 

 pale violet colour. It was introduced to our English collections from Berlin. 

 Its season of flowering is about February. A native of Caraccas. 



Chtsis aurea, variety macllata. This very elegant variety belongs to a 

 genus of Orchids that contains but three species in cultivation. They are all 

 natives of South America, and have long pendulous pseudo-bulbs, and racemes 

 of showy flowers. The present variety was introduced a short time ago to English 

 gardens from Columbia, and has flowered with Messrs. Lucombe and Pince of 

 Exeter. It has a pendulous raceme of six flowers ; the sepals and petals have 

 their upper half occupied by a large orange spot or blotch, and the middle lobe 

 of the labellum is prettily spotted with purple. 



Acacia urophylla. A moderate-sized evergreen greenhouse shrub, with 

 pale-yellow flowers, not very showy. It was raised from seed sent by Mr. 

 Drummond in 1843 from Swan River. The above four plants are figured in the 

 Botanical Magazine for April. 



Hemiandra pungens. a pretty free-flowering low greenhouse shrub, having 

 small linear leaves, and large axillary flowers of a pinkish lilac, with fine crim- 

 son spots. It is a native of Australia, occurring frequently in the Swan River 

 colony, and also at King George's Sound. It has been recently introduced to 

 English collections from the garden of Baron Hugel of Vienna. Figured in the 

 Magazine of Botany for April. 



Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. J. Houlston. 



STORING APPLES. 



It may seem out of season to speak of storing Apples at this time 

 of the year, as any hints are sure to be forgotten by the time 

 they might be useful. But lest I myself should forget what I 

 have to say when Apples are ripe, I wish to mention that on this 

 day, March 15, I have on the table a dish of Nonpareils as green, as 

 plump, and as high-flavoured as they were from the same store on 

 Christmas-day. This prolongation of their season is produced by a 

 plan I have used for several years, and always with the same result, 

 adopted at first merely to keep too curious eyes and hands from the 

 choicer table kinds, but examined with some care since its effects 

 have been perceived. It consists in storing them in glazed earthen- 

 ware. In this neighbourhood we make much use of a coarse and 

 cheap kind of glazed earthen jars of all sizes, from the dimensions 

 of those which figure in the history of the Forty Thieves down to a 

 common pipkin. They have lids to them, and answer the triple 

 purpose of preserving their contents from light, from evaporation, 

 and very tolerably from a circulation of air. It is in the union of 

 these three requisites, I imagine, that their efficacy consists ; for I 



