Star of Bethlehem." 



When marshalled on the mighty plain, 



The glittering hosts bestud the sky; 

 One star alone, of all the train, 



Can fix the sinner's wandering eye. 



Hark I hark ! to God the chorus breaks 

 , From every host from every gem; 



But one alone the Saviour speaks, 

 It is the Star of Bethlehem. 



Once on the raging seas I rode. 



The storm was loud — the night was dark ; 

 The ocean yawn'd, and rudely blowed 



The wind that tossed my foundering bark. 



Deep horror then my vitals froze, 



Death-struck, I ceased the tide to stem; 



When suddenly a star arose, 

 It was the Star of Bethlehem. 



It was my guide, my light, my all, 

 It bade my dark forebodings cease ; 



And through the storm, and danger's thrall. 

 It led me to the port of peace. 



Now safely moor'd — my perils o'er, 



I'll sing, first in night's diadem, 

 For ever, and for evermore. 



The Star ! the Star of Bethlehem ! 



Another most pretty and much diffused species is 

 0. narhonense^ which is quite hardy in the northern 

 parts of Europe, though chiefly in Italy and the 

 south of France. The following are also well worth 

 garden culture: — 0. arahicum, white, 18 inches; 

 0. arahicum nigrum^ white and black ; 0. lacteiim, 

 purple and white, 1 foot ; 0. longibracteatum, 

 white, 3 inches, a rare and lovely gem ; 0. monta- 

 num, another gem of diminutive stature ; 0. pyra- 

 midale^ white flowers, 18 inches high ; 0. revolu- 

 tum, — this has a fleshy root and white flowers 1 foot 

 high ; it is rare and exquisite. Amongst the tender 

 kinds are 0. aureuin, with gold-yellow, and 0. thijr- 

 soides, with pure white flowers ; both from South 

 Africa, and need only the cold pit or greenhouse to 

 keep them safe, though able to enjoy a warm house 

 when pushing into flower. 



There are many more, and they are all beautiful, 

 but I must name only one more, and that is 0. al- 

 Uaceum, which is the "Onion plant," so much 

 prized for windows, staircases, and other parts of 

 the house where the true domestic flowers have the 

 care of loving hands. 0. narhonensehas a place in 

 the English Flora. All the species require sandy 

 loam and leaf-mould for growth. It is necessary 

 that the border is somewhat dry, especially if any 

 of the tender ones are planted in it. I have named 

 some that are hardy enough to bear more rigorous 

 climes than Britain, but I shall add that the tender 

 kinds could be grown in dry sand^ borders if pro- 

 tected in winter as I have advised for the tender 

 kinds of Irids. — Gardeners^ Weeldy. 



The Journal of Botany for December, 1865, -con- 

 tains an interesting paper by Dr. G. Bennet, F.L.S., 

 on the Tulip tree of New South Wales, which, as 

 conveying information of value to plant cultivators, 

 we have extracted in full : — 



"The Waratah, or Native Tulip-tree op 

 New South Wales, (Telopea speciosissima. ) 

 — The flower called by the aborigines 'Waratah,' 

 and 'Native Tulip' by the colonists of New South 

 Wales, is considered the most beautiful vegetable 

 production indigenous to this colony, and is pro- 

 duced from a stiff, erect and rigid shrub, having the 

 leaves ot a hard woody texture, marking the Pro- 

 teadt^, to which order the Waratah ( lelopea specios- 

 sissima, R. Br.) belongs. The leaves are oblong, 

 more or less unequally toothed, and from 4 to 6 or 8 

 inches in length; dark green, but when just expand- 

 ing of a dark red color. The fruit is a pod contain - 

 ing many winged seeds. The Waratah is indigo- 

 nous to, and grows luxuriantly and in abundance in 

 the vicinity of Sydney, and other parts of New 

 South Wales, and when first described by botanists 

 was classed with a genus now known as Grevillea, 

 named Emhothrium specwsissimum, and figured 

 under that name in Smith's 'New Holland Plants,' 

 and in Curtis's 'Botanical Magazine' (edited by Dr. 

 Sims.) It afterwards formed a new genus, called 

 Telopea, derived from telopas, (seen at a distance,) 

 from its bright crimson blossoms being discernible 

 far off ; and those who have had an opportunity of 

 seeing this plant in flower, either wild or cultivated, 

 will readily admit the correctness of this name. 

 There are some peculiarities of its natural habits 

 and reproduction worthy of notice. The first year 

 the Waratah blossoms it throws out from two to 

 four shoots from each flower-head ; in the second 

 year only two, and in subsequent years only one, or 

 more rarely two. To ascertain the way these shoots 

 are produced, it is necessary to procure a flower- 

 head, full-blown or just fading, and on looking 

 closely among the flowers, from one to two, or four 

 young shoots will be observed just developing them- 

 selves ; and these will form the branches of the fol- 

 lowing year, from each of which a flower-head will 

 most likely be produced. A knowledge ot this fact 

 will explain why the plucking of the flowers destroys 

 the new branches, injuring its natural development, 

 and keeping the shrub stunted in growth, and pre- 

 vents its flowering in the ensuing year. The Wara- 

 tah produces seeds every second year. A tree grow- 

 ing in a garden at Hunter's Hill, in the vicinity of 

 Sydney, five years old, and 10 feet high, produced, 

 last year, as many as twenty fine heads of flowers at 

 one time, forming a gorgeous sight ; and in a tree 

 growing in the Botanic Gardens at Sydney, I ob- 

 served, this Spring, from one flowering branch pro- 

 duced last year, three stems that had grown, each 



