236 
NEW, RARE, AND INTERESTING PLANTS IN FLOWER IN THE PRINCIPAL 
SUBURBAN NURSERIES. 
AbOtilon striatum. In several places which we have visited this season, the 
plant above named is cultivated as a supposed species of Malvaviscus. Indeed, its 
general character so resembles that of many related plants, that, unless the flowers 
were expanded, it might even be considered a variety of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. 
Although of a rather straggling habit when grown in the stove, this is not so dis- 
pleasingly apparent if the plant be k6pt in a greenhouse ; while its charming 
orange-coloured flowers, which are beautifully striped with bright brown, depend so 
gracefully from the branches, that it cannot fail to excite admiration. It is now 
flowering abundantly in the greenhouse of Messrs. Henderson, Pine- Apple place, 
and also in the stove of Mrs. Lawrence, Ealing Park. 
Acacia kermesina. It is doubtful whether this showy plant be not assignable 
to In(/a or Anneslea rather than Acacia^ since its flowers are far more like those of 
the two former genera. It is a free-growing species, with handsomely pinnated 
foliage, the leaflets of which are narrow, and, in common with many others of the 
tribe, contract and droop in the evening of the day, resuming their natural position 
and ofiice with the return of daylight. From the extremities of the branches, 
the flowers appear in spikes, each blossom being composed of a number of long 
slender filaments, of a brilliant purple hue, in which a slight dash of crimson is 
perceptible. In Mrs. Lawrence's splendid collection, we saw it flowering about a 
fortnioht since. 
o 
Cattleya bicolor. Of all the new species that have latterly been added to 
this genus, none is more distinct than the present. It has small, slender, stem- 
like pseudo-bulbs, and ovately-oblong, acute, alternate leaves ; but the structure of 
the flowers constitutes its chief difference. These are principally formed in the 
usual manner, having pale green petals and sepals, sparingly spotted with brown ; 
while the labellum, instead of incurving and enveloping the column, as is generally 
the case, is drooping, recurved, and quite detached. The sheath of the column is 
of a delicate white, and the lip a rich purple ; the contrast in these two, between 
each other, and the outer members of the flower, being very striking. Specimens 
now blossoming at Messrs. Loddiges' were imported from Brazil. The flowers are 
rather sparsely produced at tlie summit of the younger stems. 
Epidendrum stenopetalum. With some allowance for the solitariness of 
its flowers, this is one of the prettiest of Epide^idra. The stems are of a nature 
intermediate between the more slender kinds and E. hicornutwn ; not being longer 
than the latter, but far less strong, and slightly furrrowed and articulated. The 
first leaves appear almost close to the base of the stem, but as this last advances in 
height, they continue decaying, so that when the stems are full grown, there are 
