86 



cunda, a Sumatra plant, with the leaves obtuse at the base. 

 One of the principal features in the genus Medinilla, namely, 

 the spur at the back of the anther, is so nearly wanting here 

 that it only appears in the form of a very small lobe, quite 

 at the base of the anther, opposite the anterior auricles. 

 The species is quite a Medinilla in habit. 



159. GARDOQUIA betonicoides. 



G. betonicoides ; caule stricto leviter pubescente acutangulo, foliis petiolatis 

 ovatis serratis glabris utrinque viridibus basi et apice integris floralibus sub- 

 sessilibus integerrimis, cymis densis pedunculatis basi foliatis, calycis glabri- 

 usculi dentibus brevibus acutis, corolla arcuata duplo longiore labio inferiore 

 denticulate 



Raised by Messrs. Lowe and Co. from Mexican seeds, 

 along with the beautiful Salvia patens. It is an erect sweet- 

 scented herbaceous plant, with the upper part of the stem 

 producing from every axil its cymes of bright purple 

 flowers, which give it the appearance of a Betonica. It 

 approaches G. multiflora, from which it differs in having 

 much more serrated leaves, smaller flowers, and a different 

 habit. It is a pretty addition to the collections of green- 

 house plants, flowering in October. 



160. TRADESCANTIA iridescens. 



T. iridescens ; acaulis, foliis oblongis acutis concavis glabris ciliatis subtus pube- 

 scentibus, umbellis laxis terminalibus sessilibus, petalis obovatis staminibus 

 3-plo longioribus. 



For my acquaintance with this very pretty plant I am 

 indebted to Mr. Booth, who sent me a figure and the follow- 

 ing description some months since. 



" This lovely species of Tradescantia is a native of the 

 neighbourhood of the Real del Monte mines in Mexico, from 

 whence roots of it were forwarded in the spring of 1838 by 

 Mr. John Rule to Sir Charles Lemon, Bart. M.P. in whose 

 collection it flowered in June. 



" Plant stemless. Leaves at first hollowed in the middle 

 and curved, afterwards spreading nearly flat, ovate-lanceo- 

 late, acute ; three inches and a half long, and one inch and a 

 half broad, thick and fleshy, having a semitransparent, or 



