ILLUSTaATIOXS. 27 



placed in a warm |)if, or stove, near the glass, and not to have much 

 water given till tlje plant has made some progress in growth. They 

 are readily increased, some by cuttings, and others, which do not supply 

 cuttings, by seeds, sown as soon as gathered in light sandy soil, and the 

 pot being placed in nioist heat they speedily vegetate, and by potting off 

 the young plants, and keeping them for a period somewhat shaded, they 

 grow quickly. AH the tribe is well worth growing, and many of them 

 are very interesting ornaments during the entire winter season. 



TABERN^MONTANA CORONARTA FLORA PLENA— 



DOUBLE-FLOWEUED GaBLAND TABERNiEMONTANA. 



Tills fine old plant has long been known in our stove collections as 

 Nerium coronarium. It differs from the original species in having 

 larger flowers, wavy edges of the petals, and by having a peculiar 

 delicious fragrance when fully expanded. It blooms during several 

 successive months. A rich loam and turfy-peat suits it best, having a 

 free drainage. It deserves a place in every collection. (Figured in 

 Pax. Mug. Bot.) 



VALORADIA PLUMBAGINOIDES. 



Under the name of Plumbago Larpentse, this really lovely plant has 

 been for the last two years a subject of much controversy. It inha- 

 bits the neighbourhood of Pekin, the capital of China, from whence, 

 no doubt, it had been taken to Shanghae, and planted on the city walls, 

 where it had been subsequently discovered by Mr. Fortune. Sir 

 William Jackson Hooker states that Bunge gathered it near Pekin, 

 and sent a specimen in 1831, which Sir William possesses, and that 

 Bunge named it Ceratostigma plumhaginoides. Its generic name was 

 founded on the minute ramifications of the stigmas, resembling horns, 

 which Dr. Hooker considers the most appropriate, and it ought now 

 to be so called. Since Bunge named it, Boissier referred it to Valoradia, 

 in which tlie glands are enlirelg sessile. Rather than sacrifice a multi- 

 tude of existing names, Dr. Hooker retains Valoradia, rather than 

 its recent one of Plumbago, and dispenses with its specific title of 

 Larpentae also, retaining plumbaginoides. 



A great deal of discussion by cultivators has occurred relative to its 

 merits as a border flower — nmcli praised by some, and counted worth- 

 less by otiiers; and these results are derived, we suppose, from the 

 different conditions and local influences under which the plants have 

 been placed by the cultivators. The petals of the flower are of very 

 delicate texture, and soon affected by a current of wind, and immedi- 

 ately become shrivelled, and its beauty gone. It should be grown in a 

 sheltered, sunny situation, when out of doors. In such places we have 

 seen it bloom beautifully, without injury, from day to day; whilst, on 

 the other hand, in exposed places, we have seen tlie flowers fade away 

 almost as soon as they expanded. Properly grown in-doors, it blooms 

 beautifully at all times, as it can be kept in any desired place. In its 

 native country it grows in dry rocky situations, subject to great 

 summer heat ; but in winter it statuls a considerable degree of cold, 

 e'jiial to that of most of our winters in England. It is readily increased 



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