Plate 153. 



AMARYLLIS O'BRIENIL 



Under this name Messrs. E. Gr. Henderson and Son, of St. John's Wood, desire this 

 new and striking novelty in Amaryllids to be published. It is intermediate between 

 Amaryllis— -a name borrowed from the pastorals of Theocritus and Virgil — or Hippeastrum 

 pardinum and A. reiiculata-si 'rial if ot 'ia, the Ivory-veined Amaryllis, partaking of the leaf 

 features and free flowering winter blooming character of the former, with the very elegant 

 coloured veining of the petals common to the latter. Its stately habit and union of colours, 

 on white or faintest blush ground, so scarce in the group, will be certain to secure it a place 

 wherever the higher class of winter-flowering plants are desired, either for the warm conser- 

 vatory, or for drawing-room decoration. Although in previous volumes we have figured 

 many varieties of Amaryllis, no other plant has the same characters with the one we now 

 publish. The flowers in Amaryllis CBrienii are unusually large and regular, and beauti- 

 fully marbled with reticulated patterns. The blooms are profuse, no less than five being- 

 borne on the scape of the plant illustrated, and the foliage is unusually bold, broad, and 

 strap-like. As is well known, hybrids are very freely produced in Hippeastrum, and Messrs. 

 Henderson and Son, of St. John's "Wood (to whom we are indebted for the opportunity of 

 figuring this plant), may fairly be congratulated on their acquisition of such an elegant new 

 variety. In Amaryllis and Hippeastrum the plants are increased by offsets from the bulbs, 

 and the soil in which they are to be planted should be composed of equal portions of peat 

 and turfy loam, with a sufficiency of sand, and good drainage. 



Plate 154. 



CROTON VOLUTUM. 



The plant here figured, together with Croton majesticum and C. spirale, both of which 

 we have illustrated in former volumes, may well be considered as three of the most remark- 

 able and distinct Crotons at present introduced to the public. Croton vohitum is a very 

 distinct and beautiful plant, possessing the singular character of having its leaves rolled no 

 from the end in a volute inwards, after the manner of the volute seen in the Ionic capital, 

 or in the incurving of a ram's horn. These leaves are six inches long, and an inch and a 

 half or more in breadth, and beautifully coloured. The ground is a deep green, with a 

 golden bar, a quarter of an inch wide, running down the centre, from which centre yellow 

 veins diverge at about half-inch intervals, and meet near to, and so as to coalesce with, the 

 golden margin, in which occur irregularly scattered green spots. The markings are very 

 regular, a little pink often appearing on the midrib ; the curving of the leaf-blade is also 

 perfectly constant, even in the smallest plants, and this causes the edges to be elevated so as 

 to form a kind of channel. The bark of the young shoots is also beautifully variegated with 

 yellow. Croton volution will probably prove to be one of the most beautiful and effective 

 among the many fine varieties which have come to us from the South Sea Islands. In 

 colouring it possesses the bright green and golden hues of C. maximum, Veitchii, and Weis- 

 manni, with a habit more curious than any other variety. Mr. Bull, of Chelsea, who intro- 

 duced this plant, together with C majesticum and C. spirale, and to whom our thanks are due 

 for supplying us with materials for the coloured plate, was most deservedly awarded a first- 

 class certificate for it, under the provisional name of C. comiyerum, by the Eoj^al Horticultural 

 Society. 



