THE FLORIST. 229 



window decoration, because I am not partial to it in that situation, 

 and it is a pity to expose it to the clouds of dust which it would 

 experience there ; and when shut up in a room with it, its fragrance 

 is too powerful to be agreeable. S. A. 



ABELIA FLORIBUNDA. 



The genus Abelia belongs to the Natural Order of Caprifoils, and 

 contains some pretty species ; but none handsomer than the subject 

 represented by our plate. It was found by Galeotti in the Cordil- 

 lera of Oaxaca and Vera Cruz, on the Peak of Orizaba, at an eleva- 

 tion of between nine and ten thousand feet. It was originally called 

 Vesalea ; a name under which it has been exhibited at our metropo- 

 litan exhibitions, where it attracted much attention ; but it is no 

 doubt a true Abelia. It has some resemblance to a Fuchsia ; and is 

 said to have borne that name in the Belgian gardens, through which, 

 we believe, it reached England. All the species of Abelia are hardy, 

 or nearly so ; and many of them, nay, most of them, are found in 

 abundance in the eastern districts of Asia. 



For the following account of this interesting plant we are in- 

 debted to the kindness of Messrs. Pince and Co. of Exeter, whose 

 Nursery furnished the specimen from which our plate was prepared. 



" When, as a Mexican production, we first became acquainted 

 with this gracefully-growing plant, not being then aware of the alpine 

 region from which it came, we treated it rather tenderly in the 

 greenhouse ; but subsequent information induced us to plant it out in 

 the open air, upon rock- work, where it has thriven amazingly, form- 

 ing an elegant pendant bush three feet high, and more than four feet 

 in diameter. It has been covered this spring with more than 2,000 

 rich purple-crimson flowers. The plant has stood in the above 

 situation two winters without the least protection, and is altogether 

 unblemished by the weather. We should, however, state, that 

 neither of these winters have been severe ones, therefore we have to 

 suspend our judgment before we can pronounce it to be thoroughly 

 hardy. Should our expectations of its hardiness, however, be realised 

 — and we are sanguine that they will — a more appropriate ornament 

 for rock-gardening could hardly be met with, its rich evergreen 

 foliage being not its least recommendation for that purpose. 



" Spirited and truthful as the present representation of it is, no 

 adequate idea of the great beauty of the plant can be formed from 

 it : it ought to be seen carelessly and gracefully spreading its nume- 

 rous branches, loaded with flowers, in every direction, to be tho- 

 roughly appreciated. 



" Nothing can be easier than the culture of this plant : a mixture 

 of equal proportions of sandy peat and loam, with good drainage, 

 suits it well." 



