THE ILLUSTRATION HORTICOLE. 



PL. CLXYII. 



DIEFFENBACHIA LANCIFOLIA, unden , a , D rk. 



nat. obd. AROIDEAE. 



ETYMOLOGY : A dedicatory name in honour of Dieffenbach, a German botanic 



GENERIC CHARACTER. _ Spatka vegeto-persiste.s. S 

 tubus, basi connatis, circumdata, plurilocularia, (abortu unilocularia) , stigrnate sessili. convexo 1-3- 

 baccas sphaeroideas rubras monstrans. Semen exalbuminosum. Embryo macropod™ gemination* 

 decumbens. Petioli fol. inferiorum longiores, proportion brnius 1„U„r. .s,;,,,/;,, »„■,„,; ' h rn l,r<\ \d\ 

 fol. infer, major, spadiciferorum minor, into cuneato, sempor „/,/„„.,„ ,.'>„,, , ,, ,„ rr])M '__ [ 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER : affinis D.pictae; caulis enetv, <ylmto*m-nod mg/^mosus. nh 

 lucentes albidae ; petioli breves late amplexicaules maculis viridibus albidisque dopictis. in cost a a I 

 auriculis 2 erectis obtusis membranaceis translucentibus muniti; Umbus lanceolatus oblique subni 

 mueronato-decurvatus, textura pergamenea, costa paulo promniente, marginibus undulatis. Buperfi 

 multia luteolia sparsis alterisque paatis niveis minutis conspersus; flons.... — In Columbia legit 

 desc. in hort. Lind. — E. A. 



ZDieffenbachia lancifolia, Linden and Andre, in Lind. Catal. 1874. 



The horticultural public is indebted to M. Roezl for the 

 introduction of this pretty plant. He discovered it in Colum- 

 bia in 1871 and sent it to M. Linden. It has long been 

 described , but we were compelled to wait until its propa- 

 gation was ensured, before we could speak of it as a novelty 

 within the reach of all who might desire to possess it. We 

 are fully persuaded that it will be extremely welcome to all 

 lovers of plants with ornamental foliage. It is readily disting- 

 uished , at the first glance , by its narrow lanceolate leaves, 

 which find no counterpart amongst the species of Dieffen- 

 bachia introduced into England and Belgium during the last 

 few years. In habit it comes near our D.picta, but it differs 

 considerably in its foliage, and greatly exceeds the latter in 

 beauty. 



The stout cylindrical stems are fleshy and tumid between 

 the petioles , and the delicate transparent sheathes of the 

 latter are nearly white , encircling the stem for a considerable 



length. The petioles are spotted 



extend along the under side of 



The blade itself, the chief orhan 



gate-lanceolate, obliquely corda 



ing in a recurved mucro. In 1 



pergamentaceous and less decided 



cies. The beautiful polished gree 



above the upper surface, .and f'n 



rous pale yellow blotches arc t:i\en (iff,, here an 



mixed with others of a pare white. 



With this, as with many (.{her species of tl 

 enormously increased within the LM few years 

 had an opportunity of examining the llmvers. 



It will succeed admirably in an ordinary stov< 

 be frequently renewed from suckers, which 

 abundantly. Indeed this is the only way to secur 



than in most spe- 

 is scarcely raised 

 re or less nume- 

 e and there inter* 



and should 

 it gives off 

 fine foliage. 



THE KITCHEN GARDEN AND ORCHARD. 

 THE POTATO BEETLE OF COLORADO. 



Our gardens and fields, already ravaged by so many 

 scourges, are threatened by another, in the shape of an 

 American beetle, which has given rise to a great deal of 

 talk. We hold it our duty to make our readers acquainted 

 with the nature of this new enemy , at least so far as our 

 information goes ; for though it has not yet appeared on 

 our shores, it is greatly to be feared that it will do so. The 

 British Government, in reply to an urgent request from the 

 Central Chamber of Agriculture, has refused to interfere 

 with the importation of American Potatoes , for, " according 

 to American Official Reports, it does not appear that the 

 eggs or larva? of the Colorado Beetle have been or are de- 

 posited or conveyed in the tubers of the Potato. „ 



For some years past two very destructive coleopterous j 

 insects, Lytta atrata and Cantharis viniaria, have been j 

 causing great damage to the Potato crops in North America, j 



However, the exercise of a little care is sufficient to hin- j 

 der the spread of these insects; but a third has appeared I 



in the United States , which threatens to prevent the culti- 

 vation of the Potato and utterly annihilate this valuable 



This insect is the Doryphora decemlineata, or more cor- 

 rectly, Chrysomela decemlineata, Dejean. Its specific name 

 refers to the ten black lines which traverse the yellow 

 ground of the elytra. It was originally found on the Rocky 

 Mountains, feeding upon Solanum rostratum — not, as 

 has been erroneously stated, on S. Carolinense, L. From 

 thence it spread over the first Potato-plantations made on 

 the slopes of the mountains, rapidly advancing eastward 

 and devastating the crops. In 1859 it was observed in Ne- 

 braska, 100 miles west of Omaha; in 1861 it reached Iowa; 

 in 1865 it had crossed the Missouri and the Mississipi , and 

 invaded Illinois; in 1868 it appeared in Indiana, and in 

 1870 in Ohio and the borders of Canada , in Pennsylvania , 

 not far distant from New York, and finally in Massachussetss. 

 In 1871 the district around Lake Michigan was overrun, a 



