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PAXTON'S FLOWER GARDEN. 



Echinocactus Rhodophthalmus. Hooker. A Mexican Hedgehog Cactus, Avith an 

 oblong stem, and handsome red flowers appearing in August. 



Received from Mr. Staines, who procured it from the neighbourhood of San Luis de Potosi, in Mexico. In its 

 flourishing state it is extremely handsome, the deep red of the base of the petals forming a ring, as it were, round 

 the densely-clustered stamens and bright yellow rays of the stigma, adding much to the beauty of the blossom. Mr. 

 Smith gives the following account of the manner in which such plants are managed by him at Kew : — " At Tab. 4417, 

 we have said that Cactece are almost indifferent as to the kind of soil they are grown in, provided it is not retentive 

 of moisture. The present very pretty species will thrive in a mixture of light loam and leaf -mould, containing a 

 small qiiantity of lime-rubbish nodules, the latter being for the purpose of keeping the mould from becoming close and 

 compact, a condition not suitable to the soft and tender roots of the plant. If cultivated in a pot, it must be well 

 drained ; the pot being nearly half filled with broken potsherds, and the upper layer so jdaced as to cover the 

 interstices, in order to prevent the mould from mixing with the drainage. During winter, Mexican Cactece do not 

 require much artificial heat ; several species are, indeed, known to bear with impunity a few degrees of frost. 

 Where they can be cultivated by themselves, we recommend that the plants and atmosphere of the house should be 

 kept in a dry state during winter, artificial heat being given only during a long continuance of damp cold weather 

 or in severe frost ; but at no time during winter needs the temperature of the house to exceed 50° at night. In 

 sunny days in spring the house should be kept close, in order that the plants may receive the full benefit of the heat 

 of the sun's rays. As the summer-heat increases, air should be admitted^ and occasionally the plants should be freely 

 watered, and in hot weather daily syringed over-head." — Botanical Magazine, t. 4486. 



Valoradia Plumbaginoides. Boissier. — Botanical Magazine, t. 4487. 



This is an alias of the now common Plumbago Larpentse, which is thought by Boissier not to belong to 

 Plumbago. We see very little, however, to characterise a genus in the differences pointed out, and agree with Sir W. 

 Hooker, in thinking that if a new genus is really necessary, the plant ought to bear the older name of Ceratostigma. 



Metrosideros Tomentosa. Acldlle Richard. A New Zealand greenhouse shrub of 

 much beauty, flowering in the summer months. Blossoms rich crimson. One of the 

 order of Myrtle Blooms (Myrtaeese). 



"It inhabits," says Mr. Allan Cunningham (by whom it was introduced to the Royal Gardens of Kew), "usually 

 the rocky sea-coast and shores of the Bay of Islands, where it is called by the natives Pohutu-Kawa, and is readily 

 distinguished among other plants by the brilliancy and abundance of its flowers, enlivening the shores of the northern 

 island with its blossoms in December. With us in the greenhouse it has attained the height of six feet, and attracted 

 attention by its copious, compact, but spreading ramification, and the abundance and beauty of its evergreen 

 foliage. Its blossoming for the first time was probably encouraged by planting it out, by way of experiment, in 

 the spring, in a sheltered part of the woods of the pleasure-ground, hi a soil of rich vegetable leaf-moidd. During 

 the summer, almost every branchlet was terminated by the vivid scarlet blossoms, and it became a conspicuous 

 object at a distance. In its native country it is described as making its first appearance on other trees, as an epiphyte. 

 By its strong and rapid growth it soon envelops the parent tree, its woody roots descending till they reach the 

 ground, and there spreading to a great extent, while the main roots, by their numbers and interlacing?, ultimately 

 become so combined that they form a trunk of a singular appearance and sometimes of an immense size. The original 

 tree dies, and its decaying trunk becomes food for the parasite ; the latter in this respect resembling the fig-trees of 

 the tropics or the ivy of this country. It is also said to form a tree without the aid of others. With us it grows 

 luxuriantly if planted in light loam and kept in a cool greenhouse, and forms a handsome evergreen bush. The figure 

 here represented was made from an individual that had become too large for our greenhouse accommodation. As it 

 afforded the opportunity of testing the degree of cold it would bear, a sheltered situation amongst trees was selected, 

 where it was planted in May, 1849. During the summer it flowered profusely, presenting a very striking appearance 

 for an out-door shrub, and continued to flourish till the first frosts ; but we observe with regret that this fine shrub 

 will not live in the open air where the thermometer falls a few degrees below the freezing-point. "—Botanical Magazine, 

 t. 4488. 



Dracaena Goldieana. This grand plant, distributed by Mr. Bull, of King's Road, 

 Chelsea, is no doubt one of the finest and most distinct handsome-leaved stove subjects 

 of moderate growth that has yet been introduced — totally distinct from all other Dracaenas, 

 or, in fact, everything else. When first exhibited, even in a small state, it made quite a 

 sensation amongst lovers of plants possessing beauty in form and colour of their leaves; 



