170 HOT-HOUSE OP REPOTTING, ETC. 



did white and brown-spotted flowers, spathc two-flowered. 

 These plants, when growing, require a liberal supply of 

 water, and should be great'ly encouraged by frequent potting 

 to flower well. (Soil No. 12.) 



Meldstoma was once an extensive genus, on which the 

 natural order Melastomacece is founded; but is now much 

 divided into other genera contained in the natural tribe 

 Micomcw. There are about thirteen species remaining in 

 the genus. They now display great unity of character, and 

 many of them may be considered very ornamental. The 

 finest are M. heteromdtta, bluish purple, and an abundant 

 bloomer; M. malabbdthrica, rose-coloured; M. sanguined, 

 lilac ; M. sptendens, large violet ; and M. aspera, rose. 

 There is a plant in several of our collections known as M. 

 purpurea and M. tetragbna, which is Osscea purpurascens ; 

 leaves ovate, lanceolate, acuminate, five-nerved, pilose; the 

 footstalk and nerves underside of the leaf covered with 

 brown hairs ; stem four-sided ; flowers purple. All the 

 species are easy of culture. M. nepalensis is a green-house 

 plant. (Soil No. 1.) 



Mandcvilla Suaveblens, or Chili Jasmine: this beautiful 

 climber is a native of South America; the flowers are in 

 clusters and nearly bell-shaped, white, and of exquisite fra- 

 grance; the bloom is produced on the extremity of the 

 shoots. After the flowering season, the plants should be 

 pruned back to within a few eyes of the preceding year's 

 wood. (Soil No. 13.) 



Medinilla, a new family of tropical plants, magnificent for 

 the grandeur of their foliage and the profusion of pink 

 flowers, which they produce at nearly all seasons of the year. 

 M. eryihrophylla, M. radicau*, M. Speciosa and M. /Siebol- 

 diana, are all easily cultivated. (Soil No. 12.) 



Mitsa (Plantain tree), contains eight species, and is greatly 

 esteemed in the East and West Indies for the luscious sweet 

 flavour of its fruit, which can be converted into every delicacy 

 in the domestic cookery of the country. M. paradisiaca is the 

 true plantain tree, has a soft herbaceous stalk, fifteen or 

 twenty feet high, with leaves from five to seven feet long, and 

 about two feet wide. M. saptintum is the true banana tree ; 

 habit and character same as the former, except it has a spotted 

 etem, and the male flowers are deciduous. The pulp of the 

 fruit is softer, and the taste more luscious. M, roSdcea, Af 



