THE RANUNCULUS BED. 53 
Messrs. Lucombe and Pince at Exeter. It is a tall shrub, and Mr- 
Purdie states, in its native country grows from five to seven feet high. 
The flowers are produced in terminal panicles, each having from twelve 
to twenty; the blossoms are drooping. A single flower is an inch and 
a half long, tubular-funnel shaped, with a five-parted limb, of a very 
rich scarlet colour, having the inside of the mouth streaked with yellow. 
At is a valuable acquisition, and ought to be in every close warm green- 
house. It thrives in an open peat soil well drained. Pieces of lime- 
stone mixed with the soil has proved beneficial in promoting its growth. 
In its native situation it grew at an elevation of seven or eight thousand 
feet, therefore requires a light atmosphere. 
LoasA PICTA—THE PAINTED-FLOWERED. 
This pretty species was discovered by Mr. Lobb in the Andes 
mountains of South America. It is an annual, and very probably 
hardy. ‘The stems rise about a foot high, branching. The flowers are 
borne in leafy racemes, drooping. Petals reflexed; the lower half 
is of a bright yellow, and the rest white. The centre nectaries are 
white, beautifully mottled with red. A single blossom is an inch and 
a half across. The plant flowers profusely. It is a very handsome 
and highly interesting species. It has bloomed at Messrs. Veitchs’, of 
Exeter. (Figured in Bot. Mag., 4428.) 
MAcLEANiA PUNCTATA—DOTTED-LEAVED. 
Vaccinee. Decandria Monogynia. 
Sent from the Andes of El Equador by Mr. Lobb to Messrs. Veitch, 
in whose greenhouse it bloomed last summer. It is a low shrub, pro- 
ducing its showy flowers in long terminal clusters. Each flower is an 
inch long, cylindrical tube formed, bellying, swollen at the lower half. 
They are of a rich rosy-red, with five-parted limb (mouth) white 
tinged with yellow. It flourishes in loam and peat, and the pot well 
drained. (Figured in Bot. Mag., 4426.) 
MILToniIa SPECTABILIS, var. PURPUREA-VIOLACEA, 
This beautiful variety has bloomed in the orchideous stove at the 
Royal Gardens of Kew. Sepals and petals are of a deep rich purple 
colour. Lip a pale lilac-purple. Each flower is nearly five inches 
across. The Miltonias do best in shallow pots, well drained, and fixing 
the plant in rough peat soil, mixed with chopped sphagnum, moss, and 
broken potsherds. ‘They require a high temperature, but shade in 
summer. 
THE RANUNCULUS BED. 
HAvine previously treated on the cultivation of the Ranunculus, 
I now propose to communicate some new and important facts, the 
result of experiment, on the formation of the bed. If this be properly 
done, success is certain; provided the plants be let alone, and not de- 
stroyed or injured by watering, which, nine times out of ten, is the 
root of all mischief. The beds should have been made in September 
