170 Floricultural and Botanical Notices, 



and a communication, dated Feb. 3. 1834, from which we transcribe the fol- 

 lowing information : — "I now have the pleasure to send you some seeds for 

 one of your friends, if you do not make use of them yourself. It would be very 

 agreeable to me to have some additional correspondents, through whose ser- 

 vices, reciprocated by mine to them, our garden might be benefited. I send 

 two copies of our Index Seminum [or catalogue of seeds offered in exchange], 

 from which any friend can choose out the species he desires. Seeds, whe- 

 ther imported or ripened in Britain, of any new or interesting plants, will be 

 welcome; as likewise any thing new of an agricultural description. Our 

 botanic garden has been extended by the addition of ten acres, and part of 

 this space will be appropriated to the plants of agriculture ; so, you see, that 

 any thing new will be of great importance Send all letters to the Ha- 

 noverian Office, Duke Street, Piccadilly." 



The seeds received we have sent to our friend Mr. George Penny, (late 

 botanical cultivator in the Epsom Nursery, now) nurseryman, Milford, near 

 Godalming, Surrey; who, we doubt not, will prove a correspondent of great 

 value to our friend M. Fischer. Some of the seeds in the packet bear names 

 additional to those published in the Hort. Brit, and in this Magazine ; and, as 

 it is probable that plants will be raised from most of them by Mr. Penny, and 

 that the species will thus be added to the British national collection, we take 

 this timely opportunity of registering the names of the species seemingly not 

 before in cultivation in it. Before we do this, however, we may just express 

 our admiration of a plan which is adopted in the Index Seminum : that of 

 giving, in footnotes, at the bottom of the columns of names, the characteristics 

 of those species, mingled amongst the rest, which Schrader, the botanical pro- 

 fessor at Gottingen, has described and denominated : — 



Achyranthes uncinulkta Schrad. H. or it C. G. H., Syn. Paronychia capeiisis 'Eckl. [This is 

 described in the Index} ; Achyropappus schkahrioldes H. Ber. XI) ; v/conltum ochrantbum Led. 

 A ; ^pArgia v<5rna Salzm. Q ; -4'rabis declinata Schrad. ; A'xabis lildcina Schrad. ; Archangelica 

 decurrens Led. A ; Arenaria stenophy^la Led. A > Artemisia aprlca Led. A ; .^'triplex crassi- 

 fblia Led. O ; ^-Ivena pulchella Link, Q ; Berberis mltis Schrad. $£ [described in the Index as a 

 dwarf much-branched shrub from North America ; with simple oblong oval leaves, serrulate 

 towards the apex ; and with dark purple berries] ; 2?<5tula grandis Schrad. ^f [described in the 

 Index as assimilating closely to 13. papyracea : it is from North America] ; .Supteurum multinerve 

 Dec. A j Calandrinia discolor Schrad. ; Cardamine nasturtiana Bert. ; Carduus myriacanthus 

 S<rfzm. O ; Ceratochloa pendula Schrad, Q ; Chardima xeranthemoides Desf. O ; Chenopbdium 

 chilense Schrad. O ; Chenopodium hirclnum Schrad. O [in the Index it is stated to be a species 

 from Brazil, with a leaf like that of opulifblium, but larger ; that it is from 4 ft. to 6 ft. high ; and 

 has the odour of C. olidum] ; Cineraria gibbbsa Guss. A) ; Clematis Zathyrifulia Bess. A j -Ferula 

 sulcata Desf. (3 campestris A 5 Goldbachin torulbsa Dec. O ; Gymnustyles pterosperma J. _QJ ; Gyp- 

 suphila stricta Bung. A ; Leonurus glaucescens Bung. A ; Xepidium Gussonz Schrad. Q), Syn. 

 Thlaspi pubescens Guss. ; /-ychnis pusilla Lie. j\j ; J/elilblus hamosa Bess. O ; Monulepis trifida 

 Schrad. O ; Nasturtium erectum Trcv. SHI ; NicottJma micrantha H. Par. O ; Ononis brevifblia 

 Dec. O mQ) ; Polemonium dissectum Bchb. A j Silene Cserfeii Baumg. A ; Silene juvenilis Delil. 

 O; Silene neglecta Ten. O; Sisymbrium incanum Bernh. O; Solidago grandiflura Desf. A. Of 

 the three following, Cineraria auriculata Led. A ar >d Prigeron ciliatus Led. Q are published in IX. 

 112., but without authorities; and iJanunculus angulatus Presl A in IX. 241., but with a different 

 authority. — J. D. 



POLYPETALOUS DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



IV. VapaverdcecB. 



3369x. ~PLATYSTE y MOtf Benth. {Platys, broad, stemon, stamen ; filament obcordate.) 13.6. Sp. 1.— 



calif6rnicus Benth. Californian O or 1 au Y California 1833. S s.l Hort. trans. 2. s. 1. 405 



Synonyme : Genus BoothM Douglas MSS. Mr. Bentham has felt himself obliged to supersede this 



name, as he conceives that it would not be distinguished by foreigners from the genus Bootia 



Wallich. Mr. Bentham has written Platystemon calif6rnicum : but is not stemon masculine ? 



A low, branching, erect, pale green, annual plant, partially pubescent. Leaves 

 alternate, oblong, lanceolate, obtuse, entire. Peduncles axillary, solitary, 

 6 in. long, tipped by an erect, fragrant, pale yellow flower, rather larger than 

 that of Helianthemum vulgare. The plants last year raised from the seeds 

 sent home by Mr. Douglas flowered very sparingly ; but fine dried specimens 

 received with the seeds evidence it a plant of considerable beauty. It is one 

 of high interest to the botanist, "from forming the connecting link between 

 the jRanunculacese and Papaveraceas. It has close affinity with Eschscholtzk 

 through the genera Platystigma and Dendromecon." {Bentham, in Hort. 

 Trans., 2d series, i. 405, 406.) 



