June 1894.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBUEGH. 233 



III. Ox Plants in the Plant Houses. By Pi. L. 

 Haeroav. 



During the month of May many interesting and rare 

 jilants have flowered in the houses of the Eoyal Botanic 

 Garden. The luxuriant well-ripened growth of last 

 summer has already shown very satisfactory results, in 

 copious fioriferousness. Several plants have, since the 

 last meeting of the Society, produced their flowers in 

 profusion, due, no doubt, to the greater amount of light 

 and better conditions under which they are now grown, 

 this being particularly noticeable in the Palm House. The 

 number of species flowered during the past month numbers 

 rather more than one hundred and twenty-five. Among 

 the most noteworthy are the following : — 



Odontodcnia spcciosa, Benth. This is a climbing plant, 

 a native of Trinidad, said to have been first flowered in 

 Europe by Messrs. Veitch in 1854. The strong-growing 

 stems of this plant are glabrous and terete, the large 

 opposite leaves being of leathery substance, borne upon 

 short stout petioles. Its inflorescences of terminal and 

 axillary racemes are very handsome, the individual flowers 

 measure about three inches across the corolla, and are 

 reddish-yellow in colour. A figure of this plant may be 

 seen in the " Botanical Magazine," t. 4825, under the name 

 of Dipladenia Harrisii. 



Sandersonia aurantiaca. Hook. A rare plant in cultiva- 

 tion ; discovered at Durban, South Africa, in 1854, by Mr. 

 J. Sanderson, Secretary of the Hort. Society of Xatal, after 

 whom this monotypic genus was named. The herbaceous 

 stems resemble in manner of growth those of Gloriosa, and 

 grow to about three feet in height. The lower leaves are 

 larger and more distant than those nearer the apex, from 

 the axils of wdiich the solitary flowers spring. These are 

 -drooping ; the orange-coloured perianth being inflated, the 

 throat contracted, and the limb six-toothed ; at the base of 

 the perianth are six spurs containing nectar. 



Prostranthera lasianthos. Labill. This native of Xew 

 South "Wales has long been an inmate of our gardens, 

 having been introduced in 1806, yet it is but seldom seen 

 in cultivation. It has a shrub-like habit, with lanceolate 



