Dr Graham's Descriptimi of New or Rare Plants. 175 



Hibiscus splendens. 



H. splenilens ; frutex, aculeis rectis, base tviberculatis ; corolla expansa, 

 extrorsum costis pluribiis flexuosis tomentosis ; calyce 5-fido, laciniis 

 acutis, 3-nervibus, carinatis ; involucro multipartito, laciniis lineari- 

 subulatis, interdum ramosis, calyce paulo brevioribus; pedunculo su- 

 pra medium oblique articulato ; foliis palmatis, 3-5-lobatis, lobis lan- 

 ceolatis. 

 H. splendens, Fraser, ]\f S. 



Description Slem woody (in our flowering- specimen 10 feet high), 



erect, round. Bark every where green, covered with short stellate pu- 

 bescence, inters;)ersed with short, spreading, nearly straight aculei, arising 

 from large callous bases, which are red on the young parts of the plant. 

 Branches axillary, woody, scattered, ascending, round. Leaves (6-7 

 inches long, C broad,) spreading, palmate, 3-5-lnbed, light green, reticu- 

 lated, thickly covered with rather harsh, stellate, unbranched pubes- 

 cence on both sides ; lobes lanceolate, unequally serrated ; ribs and 

 veins prominent, and aculeate below. Petioles (3-5 inches long) near- 

 ly as long as the leaves, slightly flattened above, filled with pith, which 

 is continued into the ribs of the leaves. Stipules ( 1 inch long) green, 

 subulate, linear, unconnected with the petioles, pubescent on the out- 

 side. Peduncle solitary, single-flowered, longer than the petiole from 

 the axil of which it springs, and resembling it, filled with pith, ob- 

 liquely articulated and bent about three-fourths of an inch from the ca- 

 lyx. Tnvolucrum (about 1 inch long) green, divided to its base into many 

 linear- subulate segments which are occasionally branched, smooth on 

 the inside, covered on the outside with long, harsh, simple, spreading 

 hairs, arising from glandular bases. Calyx yellow, deejily 5-cleft, rather 

 longer than the involucre, densely covered with softer shorter hairs on 

 the outside, smooth within ; segments tapering, 3-nerved, two of the 

 nerves lateral, the other forming a strong keel. Corolla (in our flowers 

 34 inches long by C inches s,cross when expanded) rose coloured ; petals 

 with many colourless flexuose nerves prominent on the outside, and 

 there especially pubescent, connected to each other and to the lower part 

 of the united filaments near their base, white towards their lower part, 

 each having two dense tufts of dark red wool on the inside of its callous 

 base, within a large obcordate, slightly orange coloured spot, having a 

 dark rose coloured margin. In the entire flower, the margin forms a 

 continuous line round the centre, inclosing a space about half an inch in 

 diameter, and 5 tufts of red wool produced by the confluence in pairs 

 of the tufts on the petals. Stamens numerous, urited filaments at the 

 lower part pale, above rose coloured ; anthers dark crimson, arranged in 

 a pyramidal form ; pollen granules very large and spherical. Style pro- 

 jecting beyond the stamens, as is usual in the genus, but much shorter 

 than the petals, supporting 5 deep red hairy round stigmas. Germen 

 covered with erect silky hairs, quinquelocular ; ovules numerous, at- 

 tached to the central receptacle, and arranged in two rows in each locu- 

 lament. Seeds ash coloured, wrinkled, warted, and angular. 

 This noble plant was raised, I believe, in various collections, from New 

 Holland seeds sent by Mr Fraser in November 1828; but I am not 

 aware that it has flowered anywhere before the present month (May 

 1 830), when it blossomed in the stove of the Royal Botanic Garden, 

 Edinburgh. Its only fault, as a cultivated plant, is its great size ; but 

 in its native situation, it must present a most brilliant appearance, 

 Mr Fraser writes of it, " This I consider the king of all the Australian 

 plants which I have seen. I have it 22J feet in height. The flowers- 

 this season measured 9 inches across, were of the most delicate pink and 

 crimson, and literally covered the plant." 



Salvia rljombifolia. 



S. rliom/ji/olin ; caule herbaceo, bifariani piloso, erecto, ranioso; foliis sub- 



