Jan-. 1894.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 95 



IV. On Plants in the Plant Houses, with Ex- 

 hibition OF Specimens. By R. L. Harrow. 



Since the last meeting of the Botanical Society in 

 December up to the present date, very few plants have 

 produced their flowers in the houses of the Ptoyal Botanic 

 Garden, and, indeed, this period is probably the least 

 fioriferous of the whole year, alike amongst the occupants 

 of tropical and sub-tropical houses. 



In the Palm House, Broiunea coccinea, Jacq., an old 

 inhabitant of these gardens, has produced its lovely 

 inflorescences of scarlet flowers. These are both 

 terminal, and also produced upon the older parts of 

 its stem and branches. "When first visible they appear 

 like leaf buds, gradually swelling into a large globular 

 inflorescence, covered by lightish-coloured scales. The 

 flowers are short-lived, lasting for not more than two 

 days in perfection. The leaves, which are abruptly 

 pinnate, bear from three to six pairs of leaflets. The 

 figure in the " Botanical Magazine," t. 3964, was drawn 

 from a specimen received from these gardens iii 1842 ; 

 and although it had been introduced some years previously, 

 this was the first record of its flowering. The plant 

 was said at the time to be 1 feet in height ; our plant 

 in the Palm House is now about 20 feet high. It is a 

 native of Venezuela. 



Angrcecum sesquipedale, Thouars. This, now a fairly 

 common plant in our orchid houses, is a native of 

 Madagascar, and was first discovered by Du Petit 

 Thouars about the end of the last century, but it was 

 not until 1822, when his history of the plants of Mada- 

 gascar was published, that it became generally known. 

 For the introduction of living specimens credit is due to 

 the Ptev. W. Ellis, who on his return from a visit to that 

 country in 1855 brought, amongst other species of 

 AngrcBCura, three plants of this, the largest of the genus, 

 one of which flowered in the spring of 1857. Owing to 

 the difficulties encountered in transmission to Europe, 

 subsequent attempts to reintroduce it for some time failed ; 

 but with increased facilities in this respect, large importa- 

 tions have been made by several orchid dealers. The 

 waxy appearance of its sepals and petals, combined with 



