198 ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE PLANTS. 



trasted with some of the Iiigli coloured kinds, It is very 

 ornamental in the conservatoty, forms a splendid window 

 plant, and is equally beautiM in the open air during 

 summer. Native of New Caledonia. 



I). Bumphii. — In habit of growth this plant is somewhat 

 Twcca-like. Its leaves are from one to two feet long, and 

 four or five inches broad, recurved, and sheathing at the 

 base, fleshy, and dark green in colour ; a beautiful orna- 

 mental species, forms a splendid object in a vase. Native 

 of the Indian Islands. 



D, ShepJierdi. — This is a very large and bold-growing 

 plant, which in some collections is to be found under the 

 name of B. gloHosa ; the leaves are broadly oblong in 

 shape, upwards of two feet in length, and from four to five 

 inches in breadth ; in a young state they are dark green,, 

 longitudinally striped with bands of paler green, these 

 pale green stripes as the leaves attain age gradually 

 change to a dull orange red. It is a very noble plant. 

 Native of the South Sea Islands. 



D. splendens. — This is at once a very handsome and most 

 desirable kind ; it is of a robust constitution, yet dwarf 

 and compact in habit. The arrangement of the leaves is 

 somewhat spiral ; the leaves are recurved, about nine or 

 ten inches long and four inches broad ; the ground colour 

 is deep bronzy-green, through which the bright rosy- 

 carmine breaks, giving it a delightfiil appearance — indeed 

 this beautiful colour oftentimes covers the whole leaf. 



D. iei-minalis. — An old inhabitant of our stoves. The 

 leaves are from ten to twenty inches long, oblong-lanceo- 

 late in shape ; the ground colour is bronzy green, with 

 broad oblique streaks of crimson running from the mid- 

 rib to the margin, when fully exposed to the light the 

 green is entirely replaced by the brighter colour. This 



