DIPTERACANTHTJS SPECTABILIS.— THE HANDSOME 



FLOWERED. 



THIS very showy flowering plant has been introduced by Messrs. 

 Veitch ; their collector discovered it on the Andes mountains of 

 Peru. It has bloomed in their establishment at Exeter. 



It is what is termed a soft-wooded plant (similar to the Ruellias), 

 grows two feet, or more, high, much branched, and blooms very pro- 

 fusely. We find it flourishes in a warm greenhouse, growing very 

 freely, and blooming all the summer ; and, by having a few of them, re- 

 potting at various seasons, it can be had in bloom nearly all the year, 

 and will be found a very ornamental plant. To bloom it well in 

 winter, it requires to have an intermediate stove temperature. It is 

 readily increased by cuttings, and merits a place in every establishment 

 of exotic plants. 



NOTES ON NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



Aster Sikkimenses. Sikkim Michaelmas Daisy. — Dr. Hooker 

 collected seeds on the Alpine mountains of Sikkim. It is a half- 

 shrubby plant, erect, growing three or four feet high. It is a free 

 bloomer, and the flowers are produced in large corymbose heads, of a 

 pretty purple colour. It has bloomed in the open ground the last 

 autumn, in the Royal Gardens of Kew. In this situation the plant ap- 

 pears to assume the character of a hardy perennial ; but if grown in 

 the greenhouse, or under similar protection, it retains its half-shrubby 

 habit. It is a pretty addition to a valuable tribe of autumnal flowers. 

 (Figured in Bot. Mug., 4o57.) 



Calceolaria ccneiformis. — It is a pretty greenhouse summer 

 species, producing its pale lemon-coloured flowers throughout autumn 

 Vol.. xix. No. r,o.—N.S. i> 



