figured in the Lond. Flor. and Bot. JMagazines. 185 



WITSEVV/^ 

 corymhosa Smith Corymbose Witsenia. An evercreen preen-lioiise plant ; growing a foot 

 or more in lieislit ; witli small blue Howera ; appetirinsi in August and bepleniber ; culti- 

 vated in sandy [leat ; a native of the Cape of Oiiiiid Hope. Pax. Mag. But. 



An old inhabitant of <(reen-house collections in Englanil, "by no 

 means a despicable plant:" the flowers are small, bright blue, and are 

 produced in dense corymbs at the extremity of the principal shoots. 

 The plant has green lance-shaped leaves, that contrast jiretiily with the 

 blue flowers. Mr. Paxton informs us that it is " one of the many that 

 retiuire particularly steady attention in cultivation: the i)laiit should be 

 allowed pleuty of ))ot room; and, when well establislicd, sandy peat 

 may be made use of: they should not stand where the air is freely ad- 

 mitted to them. (Pax. Mag. Bot. .Jan.,) 



In this order we have now in bloom Sparaxis versicolor, and two 

 other species or varieties; they are all charming at this season. Tricho- 

 nenia puparascens is just beginning to open its slender spikes of jjale 

 purple or lilac colored blossoms. A species of /'xia, received for /. 

 maculata, but which appears to be /. capitata, is also exceedingly ele- 

 gant; the bulbs have thrown up stems about two feet hi^h, which are 

 terminated by a capitate head of delicate white flowers, the l)ase of each 

 petal marked with deep blue. /. viridiflora and several otliers will be- 

 in flower soon. 



Oi'cJiiddcecE. 



The great length to which the present article has extended has ren- 

 dered it necessary for us to defer giving the notice of the plants of this 

 order until our next: a very short description of each will then appear. 



Besides the plants in flower as enumerated in the above orders, the fol- 

 lowing may be named: — In J?anunculacea^, Adonis vernalis is now 

 adorning the border with its lovely golden blossoms ; a jjatch, or 

 patches, of it, is indispensable to the flower garden at this season, 

 when Flora's cheerful smiles are ever more than doubly welcome. 

 At Mr. Sweetser's, ranunculuses, in pots, are now blooming; and in 

 our garden, some ten or twelve pots of i)lants will be in their <rreatest 

 beauty in the course of a week or two. At Mr. Lathe's, a bed of sev- 

 eral hundred is gorgeous with various colored flowers. Clematis flori- 

 da flore ])leno is blooming, at Belmont Place, in the conservatory: in 

 Papaveracese, at the same ])lace, Eschsch61tzi« crocea is surpassingly 

 splendid, where, from ten till two o'clock of every sun-shiiiy day, a 

 number of pots of plants of it are displaying their elegant orange yel- 

 low flowers; in Cactaces, Epiphylluin Ackermanu" is opening its mag- 

 nificent blossoms; Mr. Haggerston informed us that a late flower 

 measured eight inches in diameter; C. Vandesi« is also finely budded: 

 in Melastoniaceje, Melastoma atromelia is making aline show; and in 

 Scrophulariacefe, Schizanthus diff'usus and pinnatus are the showiest 

 ornaments of the conservatory; some of the plants are six feet liigh, 

 and covered with blossoms the whole distance up. At Mr. Ciishing's, 

 also, in I'Ssphodeliaccfe, Lachenah'« versicolor yet remains in beauty. 

 In JWyrsiniacese, Ardisia crenulata, in the stove, is tnost splendid, with 

 its numerous umbels of shining scarlet berries; in J^ubiacea', Exostem- 

 ma longiflora, singular for its pancratium-like flowers, is ornamental; 

 in JVJalvace;e, as usual, throughout the season here, //iliiscus i^osa si- 

 nensis, the double varieties of, are full of their superb blossoms. lu 

 . JViyrtacea?, Callistemon speciosus and lanceoltitus, (formerly belonging 

 to Metrosideros, and so called now in iiKUiy gardens,) have each, in 

 our collection, oj)ened several of their showy flowers; and in i^utacea', 

 Diosina capitata is charming, with its abundant heads of purple flowers. 



VOL. III. NO. V. 24 



