PAXTON'S FLOWER GAEDEN. 



63 



tusks. It is difficult to imagine a flower with a more uninviting appearance. As to the fragrance attributed to it, we 

 perceived nothing more than a sickly or at least by no means agreeable odour. When compared with a Stephanote, or a 

 Beaumontia, it shrinks into insignificance, notwithstanding the large size of the flowers. The following account of its 

 habits is given in the Botanical Magazine, t. 4466 :— " This handsome, climbing, shrubby plant requires to be grown in 

 a warm and moist hothouse. It is of free growth, and being a smooth clean-leaved plant, not subject to insects, is well 

 adapted for a trellis, or to train up a pillar or rafter ; and it will also form a bushy plant grown in a pot, if supported 

 by a wire trellis or by neat stakes. Good fresh loam with a little leaf mould will suit it. As it is a fast grower, it 

 requires water freely during summer ; but care must be taken that the soil does not become stagnant. It is propagated 

 by cuttings, which strike root readily when placed under a bell-glass, and the pot plunged in bottom-heat. It appears to 

 be a shy flowerer ; for although we have known it in cultivation for several years, we have not heard of its producing 

 flowers except in the collection above mentioned. " 



Cymbidium Parishii. A stove Epiphytal Orchid, of which a good deal has been 

 heard previous to its blooming' in this country, where it seems to have been flowered 

 by several growers near the same time; first of all, we believe, in the fine collection of 

 W. Leech, Esq., Oakley, Eallowfield, Manchester, where, under the care of Mr. Swan, 

 it has grown remarkably well. 



Professor Keichenbach's description, given in the Gardener's Chronicle, N.S., vol. x., p. 74, is as follows :—" The 

 plant quite fulfils what Mrs. E. Parish's accomplished figure had promised. The flowers, indeed, are smaller than 

 those of 0. eburneum, but they are far more gay in colour. The petals and sepals are of the same ivory-white. 

 The lip has an orange middle zone, and an orange disc to the anterior lobe, both painted with purplish-brown 

 spots. The side lobes of the lip have numerous spots of a most lively purplish-violet, which give the chief charm 

 to the flower. The back side of the column is white, the edges are yellow, and the front side yellow, with some 

 brownish-purplish spots on the foot." It is a native of Burmah. We may add that we have not had an oppor- 

 tunity of seeing the flower, but Mr. Swan says it is a most beautiful thing, and succeeds with him in the Cattleya 

 house, giving it in the growing season a copious supply of water. 



Dieffenbachia Shuttleworthii. This fine species is another of Mr. BulPs importa- 

 tions from the United States of Colombia. It possesses a stout, robust habit of growth, with 

 massive broad foliage; the broad silvery band in the centre of each leaf is not regularly 

 defined in the outline, but runs feathered irregularly into the margin of bright green, giving 

 the whole a very handsome appearance. These Dieffenbachias are easily-grown plants, 

 requiring stove-heat. They are readily propagated by cuttings made of sectional pieces cut 

 from the thick fleshy stems, or when the tops have been removed the lower buds break into 

 growth, and these, if severed with a heel of the old stem, will root quickly in sand, shaded, 

 kept moderately moist and warm. They will succeed in either peaty soil or loam, to which 

 is added a liberal sprinkling of sand. They need shading from the sun in bright weather. 



Plant erect in habit. Leaf -blades spreading, a foot or more in length, four inches broad, lanceolate, bright green ; 

 the costa ivory-white ; the leaf-surface for about half an inch on each side marked with a silvery band, the outer margin 

 of which is fringed, breaking out into feathered lines and freckles.— B ulVs Catalogue, 1878. 



Alocasia Thibautiana. This is one of the importations of Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea, 

 from Borneo. It is not unlike the well-known A. Lowii, but appears to be altogether a finer 

 plant, which is saying quite enough to give it a character, as of the very many fine-leaved 

 subjects that have been imported within the last quarter of a century, few have become more 

 general favourites than A. Lowii. We have no doubt but that similar treatment to that under 

 which A. Lowii, A. Veitchii, and others of a like character succeed will suit this newer 

 kind — that is, a brisk stove-heat, with a moist atmosphere, plenty of light, a thin shade from 

 the direct rays of the sun, and for the roots a compost of turfy peat, sphagnum, pot-shreds, 

 and sand, the pots one-third filled with drainage. 



Larger leaves than A. Lowii, ovate-acute, deeply cordate, the basal lobes rounded, not sharply pointed. The veins 

 are thick, brilliant white on a black-green ground, thus forming a most effective contrast. - Gardener's Chronicle N S 

 vol. ix., p. 527. ' 



