OPERATIONS FOR NOVEMBER, 
239 
period of four months. I scarcely know a more interesting plant that has for many years been 
introduced to our collections, even in this age of novelties, than the present. Schiede appears to 
be the first to discover it at Papantla, in Mexico. But it had long been known to Mr. Skinner 
as an iuhabitant of Guatemala, and to him I am indebted for the plants which were reared from 
his seeds in the Royal Gardens of Kew, in 1842." It promises to produce seed. Bot. Mag. 4043. 
Tetrane'ma Mexica^rum. Dr. Lindley has not " succeeded in ascertaining where the name 
Pentstemon mexicanus, under which this species is known in gardens, has been published. It 
has possibly originated in Belgium, whence the plant seems to have been introduced, as it is said, 
from Mexico. Mr. Bentham, who has given particular attention to this order of plants, is of 
opinion that this is certainly a new genus, very near Pentstemon, with the same calyx and 
corolla, but without any trace (or very little) of the sterile stamen so conspicuous in Pentstemon. 
It also differs, he says, from Capraria and Russelia, in its decidedly two-lipped corolla, and is 
further removed from other genera in many points. It was figured from a plant in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Mountjoy, nurseryman, Ealing, and is a very pretty greenhouse plant, quite peculiar 
in its appearance, in consequence of its almost stemless habit, and the profusion of little corymbs 
of showy purple and white flowers which rise up from among the leaves, or long purple scapes. 
It should be top-dressed in autumn, and kept rather dry, in an intermediate house, between a 
stove and a green-house, during winter. In spring, it should be re-potted in light free soil, 
chiefly leaf-mould and sandy loam, and placed in a greenhouse, where it will remain in bloom the 
greater part of the summer. It may be propagated from seeds or cuttings in the usual way." 
Bot. Reg. 52. 
VisCA^RiA ocuLA^TA. *^ This plant is so like the old hardy annual, called Agrostemma Cceli- 
rosea, that for some time we regarded it as a mere variety. But upon a more minute examination, 
we find marks of difference that seem to belong to a species. In the first place, it has a dark 
eye, which the old kind has not. Then its petals have a short and slightly emarginate appendage, 
and not a long bifid one. In the form of the calyx there is this difference, that in the plant before 
us it contracts suddenly about the middle, while in Cceli-rosea it narrows very gradually. Fur- 
thermore, the sui'face of the seed-vessel here is rough, with fine granulations, but in Cceli-rosea is 
smooth. This, like the Cceli-rosea, is a hardy annual ; it was gathered by Mr. Giles Manby on 
dry hills, thirty miles from Algiers, and given by him to Messrs. Backhouse, nurserymen, York, 
to whom our specimens are owing. It may be sown in any good rich garden soil, in the open 
border, about the end of March, in the usual way. Afterwards, the plants should be thinned so 
as to stand singly, in which state they flower longer, and produce much larger and finer blossoms. 
It may also be sown in the autumn, remain in pots in a cold frame through the winter, and be 
planted out about April. It flowers a great part of the summer and autumn." The plant has 
opposite, smooth lanceolate leaves, uniting at the base, and showy rosy lilac blossoms, with a 
dark centre, elevated on long slender upright stalks. Bot. Reg. 53. 
Gesne'ra di'scolor. By some mistake, the G. polyantha introduced and flowered by 
Messrs. Veitch, of Exeter, has been considered by Sir W. J. Hooker identical with the G. discolor. 
The latter is an essentially different species, of decidedly shrubby habits, with immense and 
beautiful foliage, and producing panicles of flowers of considerable size, nearly the whole of the 
summer. At Messrs. Young's, Epsom, where it was first made known, it has been splendidly in 
flower for the last four months ; and young plants, with not more than three inches of stem, are 
blooming profusely at this time in a cool stove. It is a highly ornamental stove plant ; and, of 
its many good characteristics, that of blooming while in such a small state is unquestionably not 
the least meritorious. 
OPERATIONS FOE, NOVEMBER. 
Frosts having commenced so early this season, it behoves every cultivator to look well to all 
his tender plants immediately, and to see that they are prepared for withstanding any kind of 
weather which may now occur. The principles which we have inculcated in a previous part of 
