PEBRUAKY 9, 1860. 163 



agreed, that during the present season, trial collections should be 

 obtained, as complete as possible, of the following kinds of flowers : 

 — ^Verbenas, Bedding Pelargoniums of all kinds, Petunias, Bedding 

 Lobelias, Heliotropes, Fuchsias, Tydseas and Achimenes, Bouvar- 

 dias, and Variegated Begonias ; and that Fellows of the Society, 

 and others, should be invited to contribute plants, &c., for this 

 purpose. 



The subjects of exhibition to which awards were made, were 



Pteris tricolor {Linden) :— from M. Linden, Brussels. This 

 beautiful new variegated Fern was awarded a First-Class Certi- 

 ficate OF Merit. It is a dwarfish plant, with the habit and 

 appearance of Pteris aspericaulis, of which it is a variegated 

 variety. The fronds are about a couple of feet in length, pedately 

 pinnate-pinnatifid, i.e., pinnate, with the lowest pinna bipartite, 

 the pinnae and branches being pinnatifidly divided ; the stipites 

 are roughish dull purplish, the rachides and costse purplish-red, 

 the latter bearing purplish-red spines on their upper side at the 

 base of the segments. The fronds are of a deep green, the 

 purplish-red rachides bordered on each side with a broad band of 

 grayish-white ; the young fronds are deep red. The colours are 

 very striking and effective, and render this a most important 

 addition to the fern family, amongst which variegated forms are 

 rare. It was stated by M. Linden to have been introduced from 

 Malacca. 



AdiantTun patens :— from Messrs. Veitch & Son, Exeter 

 and Chelsea. This is an extremely elegant stove fern, producing 

 a tuft of erect fronds, which in this instance were a foot or more 

 in height, though the plant was not fully developed. The fronds 

 are bright green, pedately branched, the branches being pinnate ; 

 the pinnules oblong, very obtusely rounded, somewhat curved 

 backwards, crenately-lobed, and bearing a few reniform-orbicular 

 sori. The plant was awarded a First-Class Certificate of 

 Merit, as being a desirable species of a highly ornamental 

 character. It had been obtained from the continental gardens, 

 as a species of Lindsma. 



Some other interesting plants were also exhibited, namely :— 



IsBlia praestans :— from R. Warner, Esq., Broomfield. A 

 weak plant bearing one small flower, of a very ornamental cha- 

 racter. The stems were short clavate ; the leaves oblong acute or 

 bluntish. The flowers were of a pale purplish rose, three and 

 a half inches in expansion ; the sepals lanceolate, the petals ovate, 



