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DAVISIA LATIFOLIA. 
(broad-leaved DAVISIA. ) 
CLASS. ORDER. 
DECANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
•NATURAL ORDER. 
LEGUMINOS^. 
Generic Character. — See vol. iv., p. 29. 
Specific Character, — A neat greenhouse shrub, about three feet high. Branches erect, long, few in 
number, angles scarcely evident. Leaves alternate, entire, oval, in length twice the width, each 
with a small macro at the apex. Flowers in axillary, usually solitary, racemes, occasionally in 
pairs. Bracteas persistent, longer than the pedicles, concave, reflexed, reddish. Calyx bell- shaped, 
with short, almost equal, teeth, upper lip truncate. Veosillum emarginate. AIcb (wings) linear, 
nearly the length of the vexillum. Carina single-petaled, short. Filaments distinct. Germen 
oblong, compressed, two-seeded. Style at right angle with the germen. Stigma acute. 
Although an excellent hardy greenhouse plant, it seldom appears in a high 
state of health with the best cultivation, owing to there generally being a scarcity 
of branches, and consequently a want of foliage. It is a most profuse flowerer, as 
many as six densely-set racemes being often seen on one branch springing from the 
axils of the leaves ; the flowers have a pretty appearance, being lined with dark 
pink, while the border is a bright yellow, and the vexillum copper-coloured and 
spotted. The flowering season is from May till August. 
This species should form a part of every collection ; it is cultivated like the 
rest of the genus, without any great difficulty, thriving well in equal parts of loam, 
peat, and sand, in the greenhouse. 
We take this opportunity to remark, in respect to the treatment required for 
New Holland plants, that the proportions of soil should be well incorporated pre- 
vious to using, without sifting, in which case there is not half the danger of any 
part setting, as the loam is rather liable to do if not well blended with the peat 
and sand, which is to some extent injurious ; the peat should be rather fibrous. A 
good quantity of reduced pots should be used for drainage, and the plants, while 
growing, watered every day, or oftener if necessary ; but as this depends so much 
on the situation in which the plants are standing, we can only say that they should 
never be allowed to get dry while growing, but when the growing season is over 
