42 TRAXSACTIOXS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Se.ss. lviii. 



III. On Plants in the Plant Houses. By P. L. 

 Harrow*. 



The past month, as might be expected, has shown a 

 gradual decrease in the number of flowering plants, and a 

 comparison of Xovember with October in this respect 

 exhibits a falling off of rather more than a third of the 

 species which have been seen in flower in the plant houses 

 of the Eoval Botanic Garden. The usual winter-flowering 

 florists' flowers have done much to brighten up the respec- 

 tive houses ; but, apart from these, several representatives 

 of interesting tropical and temperate genera, which are not 

 generally to be seen in cultivation, have produced their 

 blooms. Specimens of some of these are exhibited. 



Xapolcona cuspidata,- ]\Iiers. This plant is a native of 

 Old Calabar, belonging to the order Myrtaceie. The genus 

 was first discovered about the close of the last century by 

 Baron Palisot de Beauvois, the species first discovered 

 being X. impcrialls, Beauv. The genus has since, says 

 Sir W. Hooker in the " Botanical Magazine," attracted the 

 attention of botanists in no ordinary degree, on account of 

 the extraordinary structure of its flowers, and scarcely two 

 of them have described it i^ the same way. The species 

 named above was verified by Dr. Masters in the 

 "Gardeners' Chronicle" of 1866, from flowers received 

 from the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. On comparing these 

 with flowers of X. imperialis at the Royal Gardens, Kew% 

 he saw at once he had a different species, and dried 

 specimens in the herbarium of Mr. Miers enabled him 

 to determine with accuracy the identity of the plant. Up 

 to 1886 the fjlant had been under cultivation as X. 

 imperialis. 



JBanksia coUina, P. Br. Under the name of B. Jittoralu 

 this proteaceous plant was figured in the " Botanical 

 Magazine" t. 306 0, from a specimen sent from the 

 Edinburgh Botanic Garden in ISoO, and the plant 

 exhibited was struck a? a cutting some fourteen years 

 ago from the original plant, now dead. Besides the above 

 synonym, it has also been grown under those of B. 

 Cunnwgharnii, Sieber, and B. ledifolia, A. Cunn. Species 

 of Banhiia which are seldom seen in cultivation outside 



