98 



PAXTON'S FLOWER GARDEN. 



Franciscea Calycina. Bentham {alias Besleria inodora, Vellozij alias Franciscea 

 confertiflora^ Henfrey). A beautiful stove shrub, with, large violet flowers. Native o£ Brazil. 

 Belongs to Linariads. 



"We continue the genus Franciscea, as sanctioned by Mr. Miers, in the fifth volume, new series, of 'Annals of 

 Natural History,' for the blue-flowered species of Brunsfelsia, though we fear Mr. Bentham's views of the unsoundness 

 of the generic distinction are too true. We find the present plant figured and described by Mr. Henfrey in the 'Maga- 

 zine of Botany,' under the name of F. conferti 'flora, and the only synonym given is the BrunsfeUia confertifiora of Mr. 

 Bentham, a species with which we are familiar, and of which there exists a splendid figure in Pohl's ' Plantarum 

 Brasiliarum Icones : ' but the figure_and description are totally at variance with our plant. It is unquestionably the 

 F. (BrunsfeUia) calycina of Bentham, figured, characteristically enough, in the 'Flora Fluminensis, ' and well 

 distinguished by the large inflated calyx and other characters. As we are indebted for our plant to Messrs. Lucombe, 

 Prince, and Co., Exeter Nursery, who received it from Belgium, we presume that the Belgian horticulturists are 

 answerable for anything wrong in the name, though that is not implied in the ' Magazine of Botany.' It is a most 

 lovely species, a great favourite with cultivators. Our garden is further indebted for a flowering plant to Messrs. Hen- 

 derson, of the Pine Apple Nurseries. It forms a compact bush, blossoming readily when eighteen inches high ; and, like 

 other real Francisceas, the flowers are at first violet-blue, then white, or nearly so. A maderate sized shrub, with terete, 

 glabrous branches and copious evergreen foliage. Leaves alternate, on very short footstalks, nearly elliptical, entire, 

 obtuse at the base, acute, or shortly acuminated at the point, glabrous, or with a slight degree of hairiness on the 

 midrib beneath. Cymes few-flowered, generally terminal. Pedicels thickened, as long as the calyx. Calyx large, 

 elongated, tubular and inflated, glabrous, five-toothed at the apex. Corolla large, rich purple, with a white ring round 

 the mouth of the tube, soon changing to a pale purple, and then almost to white. Tube curved downwards, not much 

 longer than the calyx : limb oblique with regard to the tube, more than two inches across, of five, broadly obovato-rotun- 

 date, horizontally spreading and Avaved segments. Stamens and style quite included." — -Botcmical Magazine, t. 4583. 



V anda insignis. Blame. A fine stove epiphyte from Java. Flowers yellow and brown, 

 with a whitish lip streaked at the base. Introduced by John Knowles, Esq. 



We owe to the kindness of John Knowles, Esq , of Manchester, a living specimen, which entirely confirms the 

 accuracy of Dr. Blume's figure, and description. It is in the way of V. tricolor and suavis ; and the flowers are of the 

 same size, with long white angular stalks. — Linden. 



The sepals and petals are dull yellow blotched with brown. The lip is white with a faint shade of violet in the 

 middle, and rich deep crimson streaks at the base. The flowers have a slight and agreeable fragrance, even when cut 

 and kept in a sitting-room. 



Ixoua Javanica. De Canclolle [alias Pavetta Javanica, Blame). A beautiful orange- 

 flowered stove-plant belonging to Cinchonads. Native of Java. 



" From the collection of Messrs. Rollisson, Tooting, who imported this very charming species of Txora from Java, 

 and with whom it blossomed in March, 1851. It is handsome in the rich coral colour of the branches, in the full green 

 of its copious foliage, and in the large corymbs of orange-scarlet flowers. The I. J avanica of Paxton, ' Mag. of Bot , ' v. 14, 

 p. 265, is very different from this, and not Blume's plant. A shrub, glabrous in every part, with compact branches 

 which are rounded, and the younger ones at least of a rich coral colour. Leaves four to five, or even six inches long, 

 between coriaceous and membranaceous, ovate-oblong, acute or acuminate, entire, penninerved, and acute or more or 

 less attenuated at the base, where it gradually passes into a short petiole, not a quarter of an inch long. Stipules from 

 a broad connate and therefore amplexicaul base, terminating suddenly in a long cuspidate spine-like point. Corymb 

 terminal, large, on a long peduncle, which, as well as the ti'ichotomous branches, are deep coral-coloured. Calyx almost 

 turbinate, with two small braoteoles at the base : the limb of four, erect, rounded, obtuse lobes. Tube of the corolla an 

 inch and a half long, slender filiform, red : limb an inch across, deep orange red, the lobes horizontally patent, obovato- 

 rotundate. Anthers linear, when perfect lying at the mouth of the corolla, but very deciduous. Style as long as the 

 tube of the corolla ; its thickened bifid stigma a little exserted." 



' ' This, like the majority of the genus, is a showy species. Being a native of Java, it requires to be cultivated in a 

 warm and moist stove ; and this is not only necessary in order to produce a luxuriant growth, but also to prevent the 

 plants from becoming infested with insects, to which the species of this and other allied genera are very commonly 

 subject, and which often cannot be got rid of without making the plants look very unsightly and producing an unhealthy 

 condition. Pits heated with fermenting stable litter or leaves are well suited to the growth of such plants as Ixora ; 

 the confined and moist atmosphere encourages a vigorous growth, and this, with the vapour arising from the fermenting 

 matter, are great preventatives of the breeding of insects. The soil may consist of about one-half light loam and peat, 

 or leaf -mould, with a small quantity of sharp sand, and care must be taken to drain it well, and, in shifting, not to over- 

 pot it. This, like the rest of the genus, is readily increased by cuttings treated in the manner generally recommended 

 for the propagation of hard -wooded stove plants."— Botanical Magazine, t. 4586. 



