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NAT. ORDER. BROMELIACE^E. 
distant, solitary, sessile, and half invested by the rich, red, in- 
flated bracteas ; the divisions of the calyx are ovate-oblong, mem- 
branaceous, of a yellowish gi-een tipped with blue, and scarcely 
half as long as the corolla ; the petals are linear, of a yellowish 
green, with a blue, obtuse, revolute apex, having at the base two 
fimbricated, nectariferous scales ; the anthers are versatile ; the 
ovary is inferior, smooth, three-cornered, and three-celled. 
This plant, which is no less singular than beautiful in its ap- 
pearance, was introduced to this country several years ago, and is 
now raised in some of our principal hot-houses, as a rare ornament, 
but is by no means common in collections. It is a native of Rio 
Janeiro, where, like other epiphytic plants, it may be seen growing 
upon the trunks and branches of trees, which, in tropical climates, 
are thus frequently adorned with hues and odors not their own. 
The genus Billhergia was originally founded by Thunberg, and 
has been adopted by Dr. Lindley, as embracing some species for- 
merly included in Bromelia, but which appears to differ from that 
genus in certain peculiarities of structure. 
The natural order Bromeliacece, to which Billhergia belongs, 
contains altogether about twenty genera, one of which, Ananassa, 
(the Pine-apple,) is remarkable for its well-known rich, fleshy 
fruit. No other species can boast of the same interest. The 
plants of this order are all very peculiar in their habit ; many of 
the species have the power of existing without water, and even 
without soil ; hence, it is not unusual for the inhabitants of South 
America to suspend in their apartments such of the species as are 
remarkable, either for the brilliancy of their colors, or the delicacy 
of their fragrance ; they are not only suspended in their dwellings 
and chambers, but attached to the balustrades of the balconies, in 
which situation they flower abundantly, filling the air with their 
sweet-scented odor. The genus iridifolia is a stove-plant peren- 
nial ; it requires a strong heat to grow it fine, and should have 
a rather limited supply of water during the winter months. The 
