Botanical Magazine. 275 



Art. II. Catalogue of Works on Gardening, Agriculture, Botany, 

 Rural Architecture, fyc, published since January last, with some 

 Account of those considered the most interesting. 



Britain. 



Curtis' s Botanical Magazine, or Floiuer-Garden displayed; New Series. 

 Edited by Dr. Hooker. In 8vo Numbers, monthly. 3s. 6d. col. ; 3s. plain. 



No. XXXVII. for January, contains 

 2956 to 2962. — Neottia? (neoitia, a bird's nest; roots of some of the 

 species) grandiflora ; Orchideae. " The orchideous plants, formerly scarcely 

 known in a state of cultivation, may now rank with the most numerous, 

 and certainly the most curious and beautiful, of any tribes which adorn our 

 stoves ; and among those not parasitic, whose roots are embedded in the 

 ground, may assuredly be reckoned the kind now before us, which was sent 

 to our Glasgow garden, by the Rev. Lansdown Guilding, and blossomed in 

 the stove in the spring of 1829." — Habenaria longicauda; Orchidese. 

 From specimens sent from Demerara; the specific name, long-tailed, refers 

 to a filiform process, which proceeds from the petals, and is more than a 

 span long. Living plants are not yet introduced. — Monarda menthsefolia. 

 Raised in the Edinbugh botanic garden, and in the garden of Mr. Neill of 

 Cannonmills, from seeds collected by Mr. Drummond in Canada. Lilac 

 flowers in August. — ^axifraga feucanthemifolia. — Desmodium (desmos, a 

 chain ; articulated seed-vessels) dubium ; Leguminosae. A pretty green- 

 house suffruticose plant, with lilac flowers in June, from the Himalaya 

 mountains. — Anthocercis viscosa ; *Sblaneae. A low shrub from New 

 Holland, with white campanulate flowers in May. Green-house. — Begonz'a 

 picta. — The present number seems to conclude a volume ; for, though there 

 is neither a Finis, nor any explanation on the cover, there is a leaf on which 

 is printed the following dedication : — " To Joseph Sabine, Esq. F.H.S. L.S., 

 &c. &c, the able and disinterested secretary of the Horticultural Society of 

 London, who has laboured with the most unwearied zeal, both there, and 

 in his private capacity, for the advancement of botany and horticulture, the 

 present volume is inscribed, in testimony of his unfeigned regard and esteem, 

 by the author." 



No. XXXVIII. for February, contains 



2963 to 2969 Cycas revoluta. Flowered last summer at "Went- 



worth House. Thrives at Madeira, in a spot 300 ft. above the level of the 

 sea. " The Japanese, of whose country the plant is a native, eat the fruits ; 

 and from the trunk extract a kind of sago, which is highly esteemed, espe- 

 cially by the people of rank. On this account, the plant is much cultivated 

 about their houses, and is forbidden to be exported. A very small quantity 

 of the medulla or pith suffices to satisfy the hunger of a soldier in the time 

 of war." — Sisyrinchium pedunculatum. From Chile ; raised in Mr. NeilPs 

 garden at Canonmills, where it flowered in June, 1828. — Begonia diversi- 

 folia. — Passiflora ligularis. From Peru, and flowered in the Glasgow 

 botanic garden in September and October, 1829. The leaves are large, 

 ovate, and acuminate ; flower not very showy. — Cerbem Tdngkin ; Jpo- 

 cyneae. A Madagascar tree, which produces a hard veined wood, fit for 

 cabinet-work and inlaying, and a fruit, the kernel of which is rather larger 

 than an almond, and so powerful a poison that one kernel would destroy 

 above twenty persons. In Madagascar this poison is used as an ordeal ; 

 and the priests, who at the same time are the physicians, administer it to the 

 victims, not doubting its power of revealing guilt or clearing innocence. — 

 Hedychium acuminatum. 



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