1869.] THE NEW PLANTS OF THE PAST SEASON. 27 



and rosulate habit of E. glauca. We ought here to mention incidentally the 

 beautiful new forms of golden-leaved Coleus, which, while probably adapted for 

 outdoor summer use, are certainly grand conservatory decorative plants. 



The Brazilian Passiflora cincinnata, with its curious ringletted purple flowers, 

 is a showy, evergreen greenhouse climber, well worth growing. The varie- 

 gated Cordyline Guilfoylei, and both the green and variegated forms of the narrow- 

 leaved New Zealand Phormium Colensoi, will also be useful ornamental plants 

 for the greenhouse ; as will the new hybrid Solanums, S. Pseudo-Capsicum rigidum 

 and S. Pseudo-Capsicum Weatherillii, to which we have previously referred. 



Turning to Ferns, the Maidenhairs alone furnish novelties enough to render 

 the year memorable. Thus, Adiantum amabile and A. decorum, both much 

 divided in their fronds, are amongst the most elegant and graceful of their race ; 

 while A. Veitchianum, another charming Fern of a distinct type of beauty, is 

 remarkable rather for its well-proportioned and beautifully-chiselled outline. These 

 are all Peruvian. Cyathea Hookeri, a most interesting miniature Ceylon stove 

 Tree Fern, is an acquisition of no mean order of merit. We have also to add 

 two grand suffruticose Mexican Cibotiums, named C. regale and C. spectabile. 

 Among hardy Ferns occurs the handsomest of all British forms, Polystichum 

 angulare Pateyi, a Dorsetshire variety, best described as the analogue amongst 

 Polystichums of Polypodium cambricum, only that from the larger size of the 

 fronds and the multiplicity of their parts it possesses a degree of beauty which 

 that handsome Fern fails to typify ; the whole frond is a densely crowded mass 

 of the most finely cut divisions ; unfortunately it is sterile. 



Orchids have yielded a few choice gems. First comes Dendrobium crystallinuru, 

 a Burmese species, bright and beautiful as D. Wardianum. Then come — each a 

 precious acquisition in its way — Saccolabium Huttoni, with rosy-purple flowers 

 from Java ; Ccelogyne Reichenbachiana, a new and very handsome Pleione, from 

 Moulinein, with rosy-lilac flowers, having the white fringed lip marked with 

 bold magenta-coloured lines ; Thunia Bensonise, a terrestrial species, from Eangoon, 

 with large bright rosy-purple flowers ; the true Vanda insignis, from Java, a lovely 

 species, which may be known by its pinkish-lilac lip being rounded and hollowed 

 like a scollop shell ; the Peruvian Oncidium macranthum, remarkable for its large 

 and nearly equal, leathery, tawny-yellow or clear yellow flowers ; the Brazilian 

 Oncidium Eogersii, with its immense flat yellow lip, the largest and the brightest- 

 coloured yet known ; together with Cattleya speciosissima Lowii, Lgelia purpurata 

 Nelisii, and Lselia anceps Dawsoni, all exquisite varieties of their respective 

 species. Anaectochilus Dawsonianus, introduced from the Malay Archipelago, 

 deserves mention as being one of the most vigorous-growing of that interesting 

 group, and as having very handsomely marked leaves. 



Stove plants are generally numerous. Almost coming within the gains of the 

 year is the Allamanda nobilis, which we figure, a species which, if admitted, might 

 have contended for the first place with the noble Lasiandra macrantha, from Brazil, 



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