that those who cultivate it are disappointed in the expecta- 

 tions they had formed of its appearance. 



The noble specimen from which the accompanying 

 drawing was made by Miss Drake, was kindly forwarded 

 to us by the Right Hon. the Earl of Shrewsbury, in whose 

 Conservatory, at Alton Towers, it bloomed in August 

 last. We were not so fortunate as to see it in full perfec- 

 tion ; but we understand that at one time all those parts 

 of the spikes which in the figure are naked, were densely 

 covered with blossoms, so that the inflorescence was a 

 compact mass of crimson, forming a tuft measuring 8 or 

 9 inches every way. In this state it was a most splendid 

 object for several days; between eight and nine hundred 

 flowers contributing to its dazzling brilliancy. 



It is a tender stove plant, easily propagated by cuttings, 

 like all the rest of its tribe. Lord Shrewsbury procured 

 his plant from the Garden of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, 

 at Florence, in 1829; but the species was originally sent 

 to Miller by Houstoun in 1733. It should be grown in 

 peat, loam, and sand, in a high temperature, with an 

 atmosphere well filled with moisture. 



A dark -green bush, closely covered with leaves. 

 Branches taper, smooth. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, some- 

 what crenated, tapering into a long narrow petiole, some- 

 what wavy, acute, smooth on both sides, sometimes as 

 much as a foot long. Spikes terminal and axillary, densely 

 crowded, 4-cornered, from 4 to 6 inches long. Rachis 

 woolly. Anterior bractece ovate, concave, smooth, woolly 

 at the base, ciliated at the edge ; the lateral lanceolate or 

 subulate, downy. Sepals 5, smooth, rather longer than the 

 bracteee, all of the same length, but the inner ones nar- 

 rowest. Corolla scarlet, 2 inches long ; tube curved, 

 gradually widening ; limb bilabiate, the upper lip lanceolate, 

 erect, bifid, the lower lanceolate, recurved, entire, the two 

 lateral segments dwarf and rounded. Stamens 4, didy- 

 namous, arising from the base of the tube, with no rudiment 

 of a fifth. Anthers semisagittate, 1 -celled, enwrapped in 

 the upper lip of the corolla ; the connectivum a little 

 fleecy. Styles scarlet, hanging down after the first fall of 

 the corolla ; disk annular, inconspicuous. 



J. L. 



