92 



BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



DOUBLE VARIETIES OF POLYANTHUS, PRIMROSE, &c. 



To grow double polyanthuses and the numerous varieties of double primroses, 

 it is necessary to prepare a border purposely for them, as but few soils or situa- 

 tions suit their habits without some preparation. The situation should either be 

 an east or north border against a wall or hedge high enough to shade them from 

 the sun for several hours in the middle of the day. The soil must be removed to 

 the depth of eighteen inches, the bottom to be made perfectly dry if not pre- 

 viously so, by draining. Cover the bottom four inches deep with brickbats or 

 small stones, over which lay a covering of thin turf to prevent the soil getting 

 down amongst the stones ; over this lay the soil, which should be a mixture of 

 one half maiden loam from an old pasture, chopped up with the spade, one fourth 

 peat or vegetable soil from decayed leaves, and one fourth of coarse sand. Plant 

 the bed in May or September ; and if the winter is severe, some branches of 

 broom or birch may be stuck amongst them to break the severity of the frost and 

 wind. Water when necessary during dry weather. When the plants throw up 

 roots near or above the surface, case over the bed with an inch thick of fresh 

 compost. Divide the plants when too strong in spring or September. The same 

 preparation, with the addition of another fourth of rotted cow-dung, will do for 

 the florists"' varieties of polyanthus. 



BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



DICOTYLEDONES. 



RANUNCULACEiE. Juss. < 



Delphinium intermedium, var. palmatifidum. De Cand. Dark variable 

 Larkspur. Bot. Reg. N. S. t. 38. This is one of the handsomest of the peren- 

 nial Delphiniums ; its colour, externally, is rich blue, internally lilac. It is 

 distinguished from the other species by having the lower petals deeply divided 

 into two narrow lobes, the ends of which are terminated by loose shaggy hairs, 

 whilst the disc is covered by a short tuft of brown hairs. The leaves also are 

 not cordate, but have the sides of their base diverging from the petiole at a rig-lit 

 angle, so as to form a straight line from one side of the leaf to the other. 



It grows five or six feet high, flowers in June and July, and is well suited to 

 the back ground of the garden. Bot. Reg. 



PAP AVER ACEjE. D. C. 



Platystemon leiocarpum. Fisch. et Meyer. Smooth-fruited Platystemon. 

 This is so near to Platystemon Californicum in habit, size, colour of the flowers, 

 and foliage, that it would be difficult to say which was which without examining 

 the ovarium. In P. Californicum the ovarium is villous, covered with silky hairs ; 



