74: STOVE PLANTS. 



twelve to eighteen inches in length ; they are armed at the 

 edges with sharp spines and dark green on the upper side, 

 but paler below; the scape is erect, and is clothed about two- 

 thirds of its length with large, oblong, boat-shaped bracts of a 

 rich magenta, shaded with rose, and which remain for two 

 months in full perfection ; the upper portion is thickly studded 

 with flowers, which are tipped with dark blue, changing with 

 age to rose. It blooms during March and April. Native of 

 Costa Kica. 



^. Melinoni. — A very handsome species, producing a 

 large panicle of bright scarlet flowers, tipped with pink ; the 

 leaves are radical, about eighteen inches in length, leathery 

 in texture, and of a uniform dark green colour, armed with 

 spines at the margins. Native of South America. 



^. Wdlbachii. — A fine species, with strap-shaped leaves, 

 which are broad and sheathing at the base ; the flowers are 

 in panicles, with the lobes of the calyx deep blue, the petals 

 flesh-coloured, while the stem and bracts are of a bright 

 scarlet. Native of Brazil. 



BiLLBEEGIA. 



B. Baraquiniana. — A noble, erect-growing species, attain- 

 ing about a foot and a half in height. The leaves are 

 strap-shaped, tapering to a point, where, as well as at the 

 edges, they are armed with sharp reddish spines ; they are 

 sheathing at the base, but recurved at the apex, and the 

 colour is bright green, transversely variegated with white 

 scurfy bars. The spikes of flower are long, rising from the 

 centre, the upper portion pendulous, bearing four or five 

 large, oblong-lanceolate, bright scarlet bracts at the base of 

 the flowers, which are green, as also are the stamens and 

 pistils, which are very much elongated ; the stem above the 



