20 



plant. Being placed in the stove towards the end of Sep- 

 tember, and trained along the rafter, it extended itself to a 

 length of about twelve or fourteen feet, pushing out flower- 

 ing branches from the axil of almost every leaf, and dis- 

 playing its first blossom on the 25th of October, in little 

 more than four month's from the first arrival of the seed, on 

 the 14th of the preceding June. The flower which first 

 opened exceeded in size and splendour any which have suc- 

 ceeded it, its diameter having exceeded four inches, with the 

 colour of a brighter and more ccerulean blue. The number 

 of flower-buds could not have been much less than 500, of 

 which as many as fourteen have been expanded at once, 

 making a most splendid appearance ; but from the lateness 

 of the season, and the consequent diminution of the stimulus 

 of light, 'great numbers of buds dropped off without ex- 

 panding. From the disposition of the roots to throw up 

 suckers, as well as from the ligneous character of the interior 

 part of the stem, it appears likely to prove perennial, at least 

 in the stove ; but as it is cultivated in the gardens of the 

 inhabitants of Mexico, there appears little reason to doubt 

 that it will admit before long of being cultivated as a hardy 

 annual in the open ground, and if so, will form a striking 

 ornament of our suburban and other gardens. Seeds were 

 distributed by Dr. Hamilton to Messrs. Loddiges of Hackney, 

 the Botanical Garden at Liverpool, Professor Desvaux the 

 Curator of the Garden at Angers, and others, but we have 

 not heard of its flowering any where hitherto but in Mr. 

 Pontey's stove. 



" Dr. Schiede gives no intimation of the native locality 

 of this beautiful plant, but merely states that it is cultivated 

 in the Mexican gardens." 



The foregoing accounj; of this plant was sent me in 

 December, 1836, by Dr. Wra. Hamilton of Plymouth, along 

 with a good drawing made by Mr. Nairn, the foreman in 

 Mr. Pontey's nursery. It appeared to me to be the same 

 as I. rubro-ccerulea, but, upon stating this to Dr. Hamilton, 

 I am assured by that gentleman that both species are culti- 

 vated by Mr. Pontey, and that they are quite distinct. It 

 is undoubtedly a most beautiful plant, and I therefore publish 

 Dr. Hamilton's account of it, in order that attention may be 

 called to its existence. The flowers are of a deep lapis 

 lazuli blue. 



