74 



PAXTON'S FLOWER GARDEN. 



Achimenes Ghiesbeeghtii of the Gardens. Origin unknown. A stove herbaceous plant 

 with handsome scarlet flowers. Belongs to the Gesnerads. Introduced by Mr. A. Henderson. 



Stems erect, deep purple brown, with a few scattered hairs. Leaves opposite, stalked, oblong-lanceolate, rugose, 

 convex, coarsely serrated, not unlike those of the larger stinging-nettle. Flowers solitary, axillary, with a slender hairy 

 peduncle, twice as long as the leafstalks. Calyx smooth, equally 5-parted. Corolla deflexed, nearly cylindrical, gibbous 

 at the base on the upper side, 1^ inch long, bright scarlet, with an oblique regular limb, and a circular throat. Disk, a 

 lobed fleshy ring. Stigma large, two-lobed, very hairy. This is a neat, distinct, and rather slender kind, requiring the 

 same treatment as the old A. coccinea, and easily increased by the small scaly rhizomes. It grows about 8 or 10 inches 

 in height, and flowers from June to August. It is very handsome.- — Journ. Hort. Soc, vol. v. With a figure. 



Onctdium nigeatum. An orchid from Guiana, with cream-coloured flowers spotted with 

 blackish-brown, arranged in a branched panicle. Introduced by Mr. Loddiges. 



0. nigratum (Basilata) panicula ramosa, sepalis linearilanceolatis undulatis acutis sequalibus, labello triangulari postice 

 rotundato apice angustato acuto, crista multituberculata, columnse alis angustis subdentatis basi productis. 



A very curious and distinct species, received from Sir Robert Schomburgk many years since, and at last flowered by 

 Mr. Loddiges. It is nearly allied to 0. phymatochilum. The blossoms grow in branched panicles, and are about as large 

 as those of 0. incurvum. The colour of the sepals and petals is pale yellow or cream colour, with a few irregular 

 brownish black blotches. The lip is brighter yellow, with a brown stain or two below the point. 



Onctdium phymatochilum. A beautiful orchid, supposed to be derived from Mexico, with 

 long green sepals and a white lip. Flowers in April. 



0. phymatochilum (Basilata) racemo subpaniculato, sepalis linearibus acuminatis apice recurvis lateralibus longissimis, 

 labelli auriculis convexis dilatatis crenatis lobo intermedio unguiculato ovato acuminato basi multituberculato, columnse 

 alis semicordatis acuminatis. 



Under this name is now not uncommon in gardens a charming orchid, supposed to have been obtained from Mexico, 

 with erect, narrow, somewhat panicled racemes of greenish flowers having a snow-white lip. Some years since we 

 received it from Messrs. Loddiges and the late Mr. Clowes. It has oblong, 2 edged, not furrowed, olive green pseudobulbs 

 slightly tinged with purple, and surrounded by scales as long as themselves, which, when young, are olive green spotted 

 with crimson. The leaves are of thin texture and vary in form from linear-lanceolate to oblong. The flowers are 

 remarkable for the great extension of the lateral sepals, on which account, and because of their green colour spotted 

 with chocolate brown, they have much the appearance of belonging to some Brassia. The lip is pure white, with yellow 

 tubercles and a few stains of the same colour near the base. 



Cuphea ignea. Alpkonse Be Candotte. {alias C. platycentra of Gardens) A Mexican 

 perennial, with long scarlet flowers. 



It is stated in the Flore des Serres that the true Broad-spurred Cuphea (platycentra, Bentham) is not the plant known 

 under that name in Gardens ; and consequently M. Alphonse De Candolle has given the latter the appropriate name of 

 the Fiery Cuphea (C. ignea). 



Cattleya Maesteesonle. A handsome hybrid Orchid, like so many others origi- 

 nating in the Chelsea establishment of Messrs. Veitch. It is a cross between Cattleya 

 labiata and C. Loddigesii. 



The pseudo-bulbs are intermediate in form between the two parents. Shorter than those of C. Loddigesii, and 

 not so thick as existent in C. labiata. Like the former, it is two-leaved ; the leaves, about six inches long, are similar 

 in shape and substance to those produced by C. Loddigesii. Flowers stout and fleshy in substance, more than 

 usually flat, showing the whole inner surface. Petals and sepals similar in colour to those of C. labiata. Lip 

 white at the base, faintly suffused with yellow across the middle, and with a large deep purple blotch covering 

 the lower extremity. It is a very pretty variety. 



Fuchsia venusta. Humboldt. A handsome greenhouse shrub, with lanceolate leaves 

 in threes, and long solitary pendent salmon-coloured flowers tipped with pink. A native of 

 Peru. Introduced by Mr. Linden. (Fig. 55.) 



This is one of the best of the Peruvian Fuchsias, for the introduction of which we are indebted to Mr. Linden, from 



