422 TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Sess. Lix. 



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

 Harrow. 



During the past month of March a large number of 

 plants in the houses of the Eoyal Botanic Garden have 

 come into flower; the houses in consequence have assumed 

 a much brighter appearance. Ehododendrons, both species 

 and hybrid varieties, and azaleas have flowered freely. 

 Among ferns and foliage plants, the many colours of the 

 young leaves are a very pleasing character. Since the last 

 meeting of the Society, about 120 species have flowered, 

 this being 80 more than was recorded for the preceding 

 month. A few of the most interesting are as follows : — 



Crotalaria longirostrata, Hook, and Arn. This free- 

 flowering leguminous plant is a native of Mexico, and has 

 of recent years been introduced to cultivation in this 

 country. The slender stems growing to a height of 4 feet 

 or more, with numerous short shoots with alternate trif oliolate 

 leaves, bear inflorescences at the ends of the side shoots, 

 composed of bright yellow flowers. A figure prepared from 

 a plant flowered at Kew may be seen in " Botanical 

 Magazine," t. 7306. 



Bitdgca macrophylla, Benth. This plant, which belongs 

 to the order Eubiacete, is a native of Brazil, and was intro- 

 duced through the late Mr. Arthur Henderson of the Pine 

 Apple Nursery. It is a stiff growing plant, usually with a 

 crown of large, sessile, obovate, oblong leaves, and the 

 terminal inflorescence is a dense head of many pure white 

 flowers. 



Cystacanthus turgida, Nicholson. This plant is an ever- 

 green perennial, of a shrub-like habit, with glabrous stems 

 and foliage. The panicled inflorescences are terminal, the 

 flowers arising in the axils of purplish coloured bracts. 

 The white flowers are inflated at the mouth, and covered 

 with reddish coloured lines. The throat is yellow, and 

 bears numerous erect white hairs upon the lower surface. 

 It belongs to the order Acanthaceffi, and was introduced 

 from Cochin China in 1869. A figure may be seen in the 

 " Botanical Magazine," t. 6043, under the name of Meninia 

 Uirgida. 



