Jardin des Plants. 243 



being five-angled ; another called E. villdsus, very pretty. 

 Russellia juncea was upwards of ten feet high, and had been 

 planted out six years ; its drooping branches reached to the 

 floor. Latania borbonica, PhcE^nix rfactylifera Pandanus 

 spiralis, and several other palms, were upwards of twenty 

 feet high, with spreading fronds occupying nearly the same 

 room. 



The other conservatory contained remarkably large and 

 splendid specimens twenty-five to thirty feet high, of Grevil- 

 le« robusta, Jcacia heterophylla, A. dealbata and Cuno/na 

 capensis. A most extensive collection of stapelias occupied 

 one of the front shelves near the walk. The plants in both 

 houses were in perfect health, and when arranged in winter, 

 the effect of such fine specimens must be particularly striking 

 and beautiful. 



In a long range near these conservatories, we found another 

 collection of Cacti, particularly of the tribe Echinocactus ; 

 we noticed the following as new and fine : — E. obvallatus, 

 spiralis, robustus, Zuccarini, erinaceus, scopa var. Candida, 

 MonvillJi and Pentl4ndia. Another compartment contained 

 all the begonias, a pretty and interesting family of plants ; 

 the finest in bloom were B. Dregii, semperflorens and veluti- 

 na. The next division was filled with the various species of 

 i^icus in fine condition ; here too we saw Stephanotus flori- 

 bundus, with its delightful clusters of fragrant white flowers ; 

 Passiflora quadrangularis, true; Clerodendron, speciosissimum 

 and squamatum, both splendid, and many other plants which 

 we had not time to enumerate. 



The nursery department is under the charge of M. Cappe, 

 who is well acquainted with all the newer varieties of pears, 

 and other fruits. The pear trees are planted out in rows 

 about five feet apart, and are trained in pyramidal or qiie- 

 nouille form, and were clothed with branches from the ground 

 to the top ; many of them were loaded with fruit, while oth- 

 ers, newer kinds, and much younger, had not yet arrived at 

 a full bearing state. We noted down the following as new 

 to us : — Doyenne boussock nouvelle, very large and of fine 

 appearance; quite different from the pear shown by the late 

 Mr. Manning under the same name ; Beurre gris d' Hiver 

 nouvelle, large, russetty, and fine ; Delices d' Hardenpont, 



