NEW AND RARE PLANTS. 65 



PART II. 

 LIST OF NEW AND RARE PLANTS. 



in periodicals. (Botanical Register, Feb. 1841.) 



Bracjiycome iberidifolia. — The large Swan Daisy. Composite. Synge- 

 nesia Polygamia Superflua. — A very handsome animal herbaceous plant 

 from New Holland, introduced by Mrs. Wray of Cheltenham. " Evidently 

 one of the handsomest hardy annuals in cultivation. Its large violet-co- 

 loured flower heads, varying in the depth of colour according to their age, the 

 youngest being palest, have no rival among annuals of the same dwarf habit; 

 and it is not too much to say the large Swau Daisy deserves to be placed in the 

 same class as Nemophila insignis and Collinsia grandiflora. It flowers freely 

 in the open border, but is impatient of wet ; at the latter end of the season it 

 may, however, be lifted and transferred to the greenhouse, where it will go on 

 blooming beautifully. Each flower is about an inch and a half across. It is, 

 however, to be observed that there are many varieties, differing much in colour 

 and size, and more particularly a lilac and a white sort. Mrs. Wray informs 

 us that she had numbers of plants of ' every shade of blue and lustrous lilac, 

 with considerable diversity in the size and shape of the flower-heads.' " 



Critopouium Andersonh. — Orchidaceae. Gynandria Monandria. A native 

 of the tropical parts of America, and though it has been in this countiy since 

 1804, this is the first time that a good figure of it has been published : " those 

 in Andrews's Repo>itory, and the Botanical Magazine, representing the 

 sepals and petals as being wavy, which is the case only after the plant begins 

 to wither. The figure in the Prussian Horticultural Transactions, under the 

 name of Tylochilus flavus, is dingy, and the flowers arc too small. The culti- 

 vator of orchidaceous plants finds no difficulty in keeping this in a healthy con- 

 dition by putting it in well-drained turf, and treating it like any of the common 

 Catasetums. The flowers are of a pale yellow, each about an inch and a half 

 across." 



GEnotiiera fruticosa vab. indica. — Onagracese. Octandria Monogynia. 

 Among, the numerous seeds obtained from India by the East India Company 

 have been received occasionally collections of old Eutopean and American an- 

 nuals and perennials, originally sent out to India fiom this country. If it 

 seldom happens that such collections produce anything of interest, we never- 

 theless occasionally find varieties of well-known plants, whose novelty and 

 beauty claim attention. In this manner was secured the great blue large-flowered 

 Greek Valerian, whose blossoms are twice as large as those of the old shop 

 variety ; and the plant now figured has been procured in a similar way. This 

 variety is not identical with, nor indeed very similar to, either (E. serotina, am- 

 bigua, or canadensis, or incana, nor even to the common form of CE. fruticosa ; 

 still less does it resemble those glaucous species called CE. glauca and Prazeri. 

 On the contrary, it would seem to be a peculiar variety, whose distinctive marks 

 have been stamped upon it in consequence of long cultivation in the climate of 

 India. It is very pretty, and well worth a place among a collection of choice 

 herbaceous plants. It is hardy, and grows about 18 inches high, requiring the 

 same treatment as Oenothera Frazerior glauca. It flowers from June to August. 

 The flowers are of a bright yellow. 



Ibmp.ne virescens. — Stalk-flowered. 'Amaryllidaceac. Hexandria Monogynia. 

 A native of Cusco, nearly related to ]\Jr. Herbert's Ismene peduncnlata. A 

 greenhouse bulb, growing wed in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand, and flower- 

 ing from June to August. The flowers arc of a greenish-white, and have a 

 lemon-like fragrance. The leaves wither EOOn alter flowering, when the bulb 

 should be no longer watered, but kept dry till the following spring. It pro- 

 duces offsets in abundance. 



S01.ANUM m.u:u vNiiiKRUM. — Large anthered Solanaceic. Pentandria Monogynia. 

 A tine half shrubby greenhouse plant, with large clusters of deep purple 



Vol. IX. No. <J7. a 



