382 Calls at Gardens and J^urseries. 



next the root being- perfectly entire." A beautiful and desi- 

 rable species, according to the representation of the plate. 

 The flowers are nearly sessile, in cymes or whorls of about 

 twelve each. It is yet " extremely rare." The drawing 

 was made in the garden of the Horticultural Society, in 

 June, 1834. Discovered in California by the late Mr. 

 Douglas. (Bot. Res;.^ June.) 



Appended to this is a revision of the whole of the genera 

 of the natural order Scrophularinece. It is from the pen of 

 the learned author of the Species Labatiaruni, George Ben- 

 tham, Esq. 



ccxx. 



VERBENA 



miiltifitla I'or. contracta Lindl. Dwarf purple Vervain. A hardy perennial plant; of very 

 low rambling growth; flowers purple, appearing all summer. Bot. Reg., t. 1766. 



V. multifida, which has flowered in the gardens in this 

 vicinity, is " one of the commonest of all plants on the Alps 

 of Chili and Mendoza, growing, according to Dr. Gillies, to 

 the elevation of 8000 feet above the level of the sea." It is 

 the V. erinoides of WiUdenow. V. multifida var. contracta 

 now figured, " is a dwarfer and more short-jointed kind, and 

 grows into a very dense patch which has but little disposi- 

 tion to extend itself." It is an exceedingly interesting little 

 plant. Drawn from the Horticultural Society's garden. 

 {Bot. Reg., June.) 



Art. VII. Calls at Gardens and Nurseries. 



Residence of S. Downer, Esq., Dorchester. — Sept. 4th. We here found 

 a large variety of new and choice kinds of fruit trees, particularly pears, 

 in full bearing. Mr. Downer is already well known to the public as one 

 of the most zealous cultivators of new sorts of pears, and more especially 

 so, as being the first person to introduce to the notice of amateurs and 

 nurserymen, many native kinds which have since become generally and 

 extensively grown in gardens throughout this vicinity. To our readers 

 we have no doubt his labors are fully appreciated in his excellent com- 

 munication in the commencement of our Magazine (81). Ever since 

 the first establishment of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Mr. 

 Downer has been much interested in its future prosperity and useful- 

 ness ; and has been among the first to promote its advancement in re- 

 gard to a knowledge of the different varieties of fruits in cultivation. 



In the garden are upwards of twenty varieties of pears, native and 

 foreign, which will perfect fine ripe specimens of fruit this season, and 

 some of which have never yet been known here, except by the descriptions 

 and figures given in the Pomological Magazine and other works. We 

 may therefore anticipate, that the oppoi'tunity is at hand when the cor- 



