226 New or interesting Plants. 



2 ft. high, forming a neat, bright green, very erect, herbaceous bush, which 



puts forth from its summit beautiful white blossoms of an unusually large 



size, that expand at the close of day, and fill the evening air with their mild 



fragrance." 



L1V. Melastomacecc. 



1181. OSBE'CKW 9978 nepalensis Boole' 



2 albiflora Lindl. white-flwd. «L □ or 1J au W Nepal 1829. C p.l Bet. reg. 1475 



This white-flowered variety is a very pretty plant, and was raised by 



Messrs. Whitley and Co., with whom it flowered for the first time in August 



last. It grows freely in a mixture of peat, loam, and sand, and may be 



increased, without difficulty, by cuttings. (Hot. Reg., Feb.) 



* ARTHROSTE'MMA. (Art/iron, a joint, stmmza, a crown ; anthers jointed upon filaments.) 

 nitida Giah. glossy-/yrf. Ml i_J or 2 jl Pa. Li Buen.Ay. 1830. S p.l Bot. mag. 3412 



From seeds sent to Mr. Neill, Canonmills, in 1829, by Mr. John Tweedie, 

 now of the Retiro, Buenos Ayres. The packet was marked in Mr. 

 Tweedie's handwriting, " Herbaceous Melastoma, from damp woods of 

 the Banda Oriental." The plants came up freely in 1830, but did not 

 blossom till July, 1831, when several flowered equally well in the cold frame 

 and in the green-house (Graham). Flowers collected at the extremities of 

 the shoots ; corolla pale lilac, petals distant, somewhat oval, and faintly 

 nerved. 



LX. Protekceod. 



S16 GREVI'LLE/f. 

 £610a Caleyi R. Br. Caley's *fe |_| or 5 jn.s Brsh.R. N.S.W 1830. C Bot. mag. 3133 



ilechnifblia Cun. MSS. 



Leaves pinnated, with many alternate, linear-oblong, obtuse segments. 

 The young foliage and young branches are beautifully tinged with red, 

 giving the whole plant a great richness of colour. The flowers are of 

 a brownish red, and are semilateral or secund on axillary racemes that 

 are somewhat shorter than the leaves. Styles very long and bright red. 

 This lovely plant is published from Kew, whither it was sent by Mr. Cun- 

 ningham, in 1824, under the appropriate name of G. £lechnifolia ; but 

 Brown, in his First Supplement (p. 22.), has applied to the species the 

 name Caleyi, adding Mr. Cunningham's name as a synonyme, because, in 

 Caley's herbarium, Mr. Brown had discovered a specimen of the same 

 species gathered by Mr. Caley as early as 1805. (Bot. Mag., Feb.) 



LXXIII. Hosacecz. § 1. Potentillece. Potentilla laciniosa W. and K. is 

 figured in the Bot. Reg. for March, t. 1478. A species with blossoms 

 yellow, and sufficiently large and showy to render the plant somewhat or- 

 namental : it is in affinity rather near P. stipularis L. 



Cerasus sphaerocarpa. This kind of cherry inhabits Jamaica, St. Do- 

 mingo, and the Antilles generally. The drawing published was made in the 

 Island of St. Vincent, and received from Mr. Guilding. It is not so beau- 

 tiful in its blossoms, which are produced in axillary racemes, as our 

 English bird-cherry ; but Dr. Hooker publishes the figure because no good 

 one has yet been published, and because of the economical merits of the 

 species. Mr. Guilding observes, "that the bark, leaves, and kernel [the 

 round drupe, or cherry, is blackish purple in colour, and about as large as 

 that of the common bird-cherry] have the smell and taste of those of the 

 peach, and are employed by the French colonists in the manufacture of 

 noyau." In the same article, these additional remarks on plants used for 

 flavouring noyau are also presented: — " In the preparation of noyau, pro- 

 bably several different vegetables are employed which contain prussic 

 acid. A species of bindweed, Ipomoe v a dissecta, abounds in prussic acid ; 

 and to that degree, as Dr. Nicholson of Antigua informs Dr. Hooker, that 

 '. if this medicine shall be found deserving of the high character which some 

 physicians have bestowed on it, the Ipomce v a dissecta may become valuable 

 in a country where the prussic acid cannot be preserved many days in a 

 pure state. Hence this plant is a frequent ingredient in the preparation 



