GLEANINGS AND ORIGINAL 

 MEMORANDA. 



Fuchsia Nigricans. Linden. A greenhouse 

 shrub, with purple and rose-coloured flowers, from the 

 mountains of Central America. Introduced by Mr. 

 Linden. (Fig. 23.) 



"Nearly allied to F. triphylla. Leaves placed in whorls of three, 

 or occasionally opposite, pendulous flowers in leafy tranches at the end 

 of the branches, and petals not rolled up when in bud, associate this 

 with F. loxensis and others inhabiting the chain of the Andes from 

 N. Granada to Peru. The present species was collected in the cold 

 region of the province of Merida, at the heights of 2,270 to 2,600 

 yards, growing in damp shady ravines, and flowering from May to 

 November. Covered all over with slight grey down. Leaves in threes, 

 short-stalked, and acuminate, somewhat glandular at the edge. 

 Flowers solitary in the axils of the leaves. Calyx rose-coloured, 

 downy inside. Petals flat, deep violet, with a few scattered hairs at 

 the back, lanceolate, acute, as long as the lobes of the calyx." — Van 

 Houtte's Flore, t. 481. 



A pretty sj)ecies, although inferior to some now in cultivation. 



Lagetta Linteaeia. Lamarck [alias Daphne 

 Lagetto, Swartz) . A curious stove tree, of little beauty, 

 with oblong grey leaves, and erect racemes of naked 

 pitcher-shaped pale yellow flowers. Belongs to the Daphnads. Received 

 from Jamaica at Kew, where it flowers in the summer and autumn. 

 (Fig. 24.; 



" The liber, or inner bark, of this tree consists of layers of reticulated fibre, exactly resembling 

 well-prepared lace ; and its nature is best exhibited by taking a truncheon from a branch, tearing 

 down the bark, and separating it by the hand into as many layers as that portion of the tree is 

 years old. * The ladies of Jamaica,' Dr. Lunan observes, ' are extremely dextrous in making 

 caps, ruffles, and complete suits of lace with it. In order to bleach it, after being drawn out as 

 much as it will bear, they expose it (stretched) to the sunshine, and sprinkle it frequently with 

 water. It bears washing extremely well with common soap, or the " curatoe " soap, and acquires a 

 degree of whiteness equal to the best artificial lace. The wild negroes have made apparel with it 

 of a' very durable nature, but the common use to which it is applied is rope-making.' A tree from 

 twenty to thirty feet high, with branches too straggling and foliage too thin to form a striking object, 

 though really of a good size, glossy and handsome when in flower. Leaves alternate, on rather 



