232 New or interesting Plants 



CCXIV. Acanthdcece. 



1725. BARLE'R.M. 



hip&lina Lindl. ilop.keaded * □ or 2 au Y Mauritius' 1824. C p.l Bot. leg. 1483 

 Dicliptera spinbsa, Lod. Bot.. Cab. 1244. ; Hort Brit. No. 27987., p. 468. 



A compact leafy shrub, very handsome, almost always in flower, and 

 particularly remarkable for its rich deep green leaves, marked with a bright 

 red midrib. The imbricate bracteas of the ovate spike form a head like 

 that of the hop. Flowers fugitive, but produced in long succession. At 

 the axil of each leaf (the leaves are all opposite) are two stiff" prickly spines 

 near an inch in length. These, Professor Lindley states, are nothing but 

 transformations of the first leaves of an abortive bud : there are, he 

 remarks, two buds in the axil of every leaf, of which one produces foliage, 

 and the other is abortive of them ; and from this latter the spines arise. Is 

 easily cultivated and multiplied. (Bot. Reg., Feb.) 



Aphelandra cristata, a magnificent specimen of, figured in the Bot. 

 Reg. for March, t. 1477. In the plant at Alton Towers, from which the 

 figure was taken, the branches of the inflorescence were at one time 

 densely covered with blossoms, so that the inflorescence was a compact 

 mass of crimson, forming a tuft which measured 8 or 9 in. every way. In 

 this state it was a most splendid object for several days; between 800 and 

 900 flowers contributing to its brilliancy. The plant should be grown in 

 peat [heath mould], loam, and sand, in a high temperature, with an atmo- 

 sphere well filled with moisture. (Lindley.') In the above place, Aphelandra 

 cristata is stated to be comparatively scarce out of botanical collections : 

 this should not be the case with a plant so beautiful, and increasable with- 

 out much difficulty by cuttings. A plant of A. cristata was blooming in a 

 stove at Knight's Exotic Nursery, October, 1830 j and, on ceasing to flower, 

 was succeeded in November by the plentifully produced blossoms of the 

 equally beautifully and closely allied Geissomeria longifiora. The latter 

 seems free of growth and blossom too j and the season at which both plants 

 flower, added to their beauty, renders both exceedingly desirable. 



CCXXI. Labiatce, Westrfngia longifolia is figured in the Bot. Reg. 

 for March, t. 1481. It has narrower leaves, which are obliquely directed, 

 and somewhat twisted occasionally, imparting to this species perfect dis- 

 tinctness of aspect from the old W. rosmariniformis. The latter, I think, 

 blossoms not while small • but W. longifolia, at 2 ft. high, was, from No- 

 vember, 1831, to the end of January, 1832, quite pretty, with its rather 

 numerous grey blossoms, in a green-house at Knight's Exotic Nursery. 



76. SA'LVIA. 

 657a strictiflbra Hook, erect-flwd. « □ or 3 d Bt.R Peru 1831. C It Bot. mag. 3135 



Assimilates closely to S. biflora R. and P., but that is described as being 

 superlatively villous ; S. strictiflora is glabrous every where except the 

 corolla. It is a pretty species, with rather bright red tubular blossoms 

 [and apparently something of the habit of S. splendens, but its leaves are 

 broad and cordate] : its connectivum is remarkably long. The whole plant, 

 on being touched, yields a strong but not agreeable scent. (Bot. Mag., 

 Feb.) 



MoNOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



CCXXVIII. Amaryllidese. 



975. HABRA'NTHUS. 



pumilusA C' M dwarf J iAI or | au R Chile 1831. O s.lJJBot. cab. 1771 



Lately introduced. The flowers seem large in proportion to the stature 

 of the plant, and are often followed by seeds which ripen in this country. 

 The plant is readily multiplied by these, and also occasionally by offsets. 

 (Bot. Cab., Feb.) 



933. A^ARCI'SSUS. 

 7537« stellaris Haw. staxry-Jlwd. { A or 1 my W.c ... 1629. O co Sw.fl.gar2. s.132 



We have Vol. VII. p. 479. noticed the narcissinean genera of Mr. Ha- 



