73 
TELOPEA SPECIOSISSIMA. 
(the warratah.) 
CLASS. ORDER. 
TETRANDRIA. MONCGYNIA. 
natural order, 
PROTEACEjE. 
Gkneric Character, — Calyx irregular; on one side irregularly divided, on the other four-toothed. 
Stamens immersed in the concave ends of the calyx. Gland none. Ovary stalked, many-seeded. 
Stigma oblique, orbicular. — Loudon'' s Encyclopcedia of Plants. ' 
Specific Character. — Leaves obovate, obtuse, unequally serrated. Spike (corymb) subcapitate. Invo- 
lucre many-leaved. 
Synonym, Embothrium speciosissimum. — Bot. Mag. 1128. 
The great scarcity in the collections of this country of so ^magnificent a plant 
as the one here figured, is doubtless solely attributable to the inj adicious treatment 
to which it is subjected by many cultivators, and the want of sufficient attention 
to its constitution and habits ; and, that our collections may no longer be deprived 
of so attractive an ornament, we shall here briefly state those particulars relative 
to its cultivation which experience has shown must be promptly and judiciousl}'' 
attended to, otherwise nothing but failure and disappointment will be experienced. 
One of the most obvious causes of the frequent failures which attend the cultiva- 
tion of this plant, is the injurious system, so very generally practised, of watering 
greenhouse plants indiscriminately and periodically, whether they require it or 
not. We ourselves have witnessed plants of this species in the collections of 
difi*erent individuals, which have, during the winter season, suddenly perished, 
leaving the persons who possessed them in utter ignorance as to the cause of so 
lamentable an occurrence, and inducing them to renounce all further attempts at 
cultivating it ; but we have not the slightest doubt, that if the plants thus lost 
had been carefully and attentively examined, the cause of their death might have 
been traced to their having been supplied with an undue quantity of moisture, 
in pots which had not been properly or sufiiciently drained. But, independently 
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