ECUEVERI.V RETUSA. 



53 



however, produced more speedily from offsets, and as these are formed in some 

 abundance, the leaves need only be employed when a considerable number of young 

 plants is required; in eitber case, they are best taken in spring, or early summer, 

 so that the whole of the warmest months of the year may be available for the 

 rooting process. 



In addition to those features common to all the plants of the House-leek 

 tribe, the Echeverias are remarkable for some peculiarities too curious to be 

 overlooked. 



The most striking of these is seen in the mode of attachment of the stem leaves ; 

 in all the species they are so slightly adherent as to be easily removed, but in the 

 E. retusa this peculiarity is carried to a climax, the leaves being hinged only by the 

 skin of the upper surface, the base at the under side being quite free ; this is very 

 evident while the stem is incurved in its early stage, the base of the leaf situated 

 at the bend, projecting in a heel-like form. 



The inequality of the sepals, or divisions of the calyx, is another noticeable 

 point in the E. retusa; but we believe this anomaly exists in most of the 

 Echeverias. The other characteristics of this genus, besides a five-parted spreading 

 calyx, are a corolla composed of five petals, cohering at the base, so as to form a 

 monopetalous flower ; ten stamens, the five which are opposite the petals having 

 their filaments dilated at the base ; and five distinct cai-pels, each of which termi- 

 nates in a short tapering style.* At the base of each of these carpels, a fleshy 

 protuberance or gland occurs, which communicates a swollen appearance to the 

 exterior of the base of the flower ; these glands are seen in nearly all the plants of 

 the Order; they probably contain some starch-like matter, which becomes soluble at 

 the time of the maturity of the flower, and serves to nourish the carpels and young 

 ovules, and perhaps the stamens also. 



The species of Echeveria are not very numerous, and but few are kept by pro- 

 fessional Florists, though several of them are highly ornamental when in flower. 



One of the most remarkable is the E. grandifolia, a species of a far more robust 

 character than retusa, the flower-stem often reaching the height of four or five feet, 

 with radical leaves a foot in length ; the whole plant except the flowers, which are 

 reddish yellow, is of a pale glaucous blue tint. The E. gibbiflora, not unfrcquent 

 in private collections, resembles in its habit and aspect the preceding, and grows 

 fully as large ; its foliage is, however, much broader and more blunt, and is covered 

 with a white pulverulent substance. The E. coccinea is a handsome plant, with 

 flowers of a brighter red than either of the species just named, and like them, 



* This correspondence in the number of sepals, petals, and carpels, is a distinguishing mark of the House 

 leek tribe, and, with their distinct carpels and fleshy leaves, makes their recognition an easy matter. The 

 stamens are usually twice the number of the other parts of the flower. 



