14 



BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



DICOTYLEDONES. 



ZYGOPHYLLACEiE. 



Guaicum Officinale. Lin. Common Lignum Vitae. Bot. Reg. N. S. t. 9. This is a 

 stove plant, and worthy of cultivation, and but seldom to be seen in collections. Its leaves are 

 of a light bright green, and its flowers, which are abundant, are of a brilliant blue colour. 



Whether this is the species which produces the Lignum Vitae, as is asserted, may admit of 

 some doubt, for it is of extremely slow growth, so as scarcely to be believed that it will form a 

 tree from 40 to 50 feet high, as that of Lignum Vitse is reported to be. Dr. Macfadyen expressly 

 states that it does not grow more than 12 feet high. The wood is hard and heavy, so as to 

 sink in water : its taste is slightly bitter, and inodorous, but when ignited, gives out a slight 

 fragrant smell. The centre of the wood is an obscure green, and is the part which contains the 

 larger proportion of resin ; the outer layer or sap is more yellow, lighter, and contains very little 

 of the resin. 



The gum resin, known by the name of Gum Guaicum, is produced from this tree. This 

 gum dissolves entirely in alcohol, and partially in water. Oxalic acid is obtained by treating 

 it with nitric acid. It is obtained either by spontaneous flow, or by incisions ; the latter operation 

 is performed in May, and the juice which flows out is concreted by the sun. 



Lignum Vitae is the hardest and heaviest wood that is known, its specific gravity being 

 1.333. It breaks like a mineral, and can never be split. The latter property is owing to the 

 singular manner in which the woody tubes cross each other diagonally, forming a mass so 

 compact as to have no cleavage, 



Guaicum Officinale requires to be grown in a high temperature, with plenty of water to 

 its roots, and showers over its leaves. It succeeds well if potted in a mixture of rich loam and 

 peat, but like most other stove and greenhouse plants, prefers being planted out. 



The best time to take cuttings for propagation is early in the spring, when the plant begins 

 to grow. In selecting them, a little of the ripened of the previous year should be left upon 

 them, which prevents them damping off. They may be plunged in bottom heat under a bell- 

 glass, and they will strike root in a few weeks. Bot. Reg. 



GERANIACEiE. Lindl. 



Gebanium tuberosum, var. bamosum. Tuberous Geranium, branched variety. Bot. Reg. 

 N. S. t. 10. This is a curious, hardy, herbaceous Geranium, with fleshy roots, about the size of 

 a walnut. It is met with in the kingdom of Naples, which seems to be its most western limits, 

 and it occurs as far to the eastward as the Euphrates, where it was met with in abundance by 

 Col. Chesney. In the fields of Greece, and some of the islands of the Archipelago, it is 

 common ; a,nd it occurs to the north as far as the Crimea. The plant now figured was collected 

 by the Hon. W. F. Strangways, near Potenza. It differs from G. Tuberosum, by being 

 branched down to the very base, on which account Dr. Lindley has given it the name of 

 Ramosum, to distinguish it as a peculiar branched variety. It is a hardy perennial, and will 

 grow well in any good garden soil. It bears an abundance of pink flowers, which continue the 

 greater part of the summer. It may either be increased by seeds, or by the division of the 

 roots. Bot. Reg. 



HYDROPHYLLE^I. 



Eutoca div abic ata. Benth. Straggling Eutoca. Bot. Mag. t. 3766. This is a pretty 



