FROM THE SOCIETY'S GARDEN. 



245 



very blunt, on short stalks, slightly toothed, quite flat, and not 

 unlike those of an apple. The flowers grow in large compound 

 cymes, which, in the neuter state (that in the Garden), are as 

 much as 8 inches in diameter, not, however, globose, like those 

 of a Gueldres Rose, but rather pyramidal. Each flower is full 

 If inch in diameter, snow white. 



Mr. Fortune speaks of it thus : — This noble species was 

 also found in the gardens of the rich in the North of China, and 

 will probably prove perfectly hardy in England. There is a tree 

 of it in a garden on the Island of Chusan at least twenty feet 

 high, which, in the month of May every year, is covered with its 

 snow-white blossoms. When grafted, it blooms on small plants 

 in pots, and is not unlike a white Hydrangea, by which name it 

 is known amongst the Chinese. 



It is certainly one of the finest hardy shrubs that have been 

 introduced. Even in the Greenhouse, and in a pot, its beauty 

 is conspicuous. Hitherto it has been grown in a mixture of loam 

 and sandy peat. 



June 23, 1846. 



12. Amomum vitellinum.* 



Believed to have been received from the East India Com- 

 pany. The label having been lost, this is not certain. 



A plant about 2 feet high, with oblong leaves, a little wavy, 

 pale green, slightly stalked above a broad thin-edged petiole 

 whose upper free end is rounded. The flowers are deep yellow, 

 strongly veined with red, and grow in a short close spike, sessile 

 among the uppermost leaves. The back petals are short, with 

 sharp teeth ; the lip is oblong, coarsely and irregularly toothed, 

 and slightly 3-lobed. The crest of the anther is 3- parted and 

 jagged, the lateral divisions being about half the size of that in 

 the middle. The anther itself is spurless. About 6 ovules are 

 found in each cell of the ovary. 



A stove perennial, requiring plenty of moisture and heat 

 during its growth, but afterwards to be kept nearly dry. It 

 flourishes in a mixture of sandy loam and decayed leaf-mould, 

 and is easily increased bjr dividing the old plants when dormant. 

 It flowers freely in April and May. 



It is useful enough as a flowering plant, which will grow in 

 any shady place associated with Ferns, notwithstanding its want 

 of beauty. 



May 11, 1847. 



* A. vitellinum ; caulescens, glabrum, foliis ovalibus, spica oblonga sessili 

 laxiuscula, labello oblongo obtuso dentato, antherae appendice petaloidea 

 tripartita laciniis undulatis laceris intermedia duplo majore. — J. L. 



