OCTOBER. 231 



all the greenhouse-plants at this season of the year. It is growing 

 in a light compost of sand, leaf-mould, and peat, and is not kept at 

 all wet ; for it is planted on an artificial rock-work, raised four or five 

 feet above the level of the floor, and where the water can drain freely 

 away. On the front shelf in this house is a magnificent specimen of 

 Odontoglossum grande, with nearly thirty expanded flowers on it, 

 many of them measuring fully seven inches across. 



In a small stove here is Amaryllis reticulata, one of the prettiest 

 of the tribe. The leaves are about a foot Ions;, of a good substance, 

 dark velvety green on the upper surface, with a strip of clear white 

 in the centre, which runs the whole length of the leaf; the flower- 

 scape is fifteen inches high, with six flowers on the apex, each from 

 three to four inches across. The veins and upper half of the flowers 

 are strongly marked with a rich rose-colour, shading off to a whitish 

 ground. 



In the out-door department is a new Gladiolus, which was received 

 this last season from France, and which promises fair to eclipse all 

 the others that we had previously in cultivation. At all events, it is 

 by far the largest both wdtfi regard to foliage and flowers. It is ex- 

 ceedingly showy, and is one that no doubt will soon be in every col- 

 lection. Whether a species or an hybrid, I am unable to decide. It 

 is named M. Blouet. The stem is five feet high, with two or three 

 branches each, with nearly a dozen expanded flowers, and others pro- 

 gressing, each flower measuring from three to four inches across, and 

 of a rich red outside, but paler within. It grows freely in a light dry 

 soil, with the same treatment as other Gladioli. 



Cedronella cana is a new plant in gardens, allied to a Monarda. 

 It is perfectly hardy, and is a good border-plant. It grows about 

 two feet high, and is of an erect bushy habit, with flow T er-spikes eight 

 to ten inches long on the apex of the stems. The flowers are abun- 

 dant, and of a purplish-red colour, and they are in perfection in Sep- 

 tember and October. 



Lobelia siphilitica is now in full bloom, and is a very handsome 

 border-plant. It grows two feet high, and has very showy flowers of 

 a bright blue. Backhousia myrtifolia, a hard-wooded shrub from 

 New South Wales, with the habit of the common Myrtle, has stood 

 out here against a north wall during last winter. It is now in flower ; 

 the blooms very much resemble those of the Myrtle, and are creamy- 

 white. 



Escallonia macrantha, E. Montivedense, and one or two other 

 kinds, are now flowering here against a south wall. The former is 

 a robust-growing kind, with dark-green foliage and red flowers. 



Anemone vitifolia and A. hybrida are valuable at this season. They 

 form large tufts when planted in a light dry soil, the former having 

 large white flowers ; in the latter, they are light, tinged with purple, 

 and are three inches across. These two, with A. japonica, are beau- 

 tiful objects for the flower-garden ; but they should be planted in a 

 rather sheltered situation, on light dry soil. They are all at present 

 flowering here in great perfection. 



Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. J. Houlston. 



