2 CURCUMA ROSCOEANA. 
Messrs. Loddiges received plants of this superb species from Dr. Wallicli, 
siiperintendant of the Honourable East India Company's botanic garden, at 
Calcutta, in the year 1837- It inhabits different parts of Nepal, and was dedicated 
by Dr. Wallich, who has the honour of its discovery, to Mr. Roscoe, an able 
English botanist, and author of a work on the Natural Order of which it is a 
member. It bloomed most beautifully in the Hackney Nursery during the autumn 
of 1838, an account of which was recorded in our pages at that period. Since 
then, Messrs. Eollison, Tooting, have imported it from the same quarter, and our 
drawing delineates a specimen which blossomed with these gentlemen in August, 
1839. From the date just stated till the end of December, the envelopes in which 
the flowers are encased, and which are the most conspicuous portions of them, 
retained tlieir colour and texture in undiminished beauty. 
Simple as is the management of this truly excellent plant, there is one circum- 
stance which, if disregarded, is calculated materially to lessen its repute. This 
relates to the degree of solar light necessary to create or elicit its natural colours. 
Plants kept in a dull or thickly-shaded situation, whatever may be the materials 
which occasion this shade, flower feebly, and their flower-sheaths assume a pale, 
dingy, almost colourless appearance, which is so totally distinct from the fine deep 
scarlet with which Nature paints them, that the species would scarcely be 
recognised in this condition by an Indian traveller. For soil, a rather rich 
compost, composed almost entirely of maiden loam and sand, suits it best. It 
should be potted towards the end of March, with a strict regard to efficient 
drainage, placed in a moist atmosphere, and copiously supplied with water at the 
roots till the flower-spike appears. A dry position is indispensable while the 
flowers and their appendages are unfolded, as they are apt to become mouldy in a 
very humid air, owing to the lateness of the season during which they are produced. 
This last feature may here be supplementally mentioned as adding to the plant's 
value. 
No difficulty is experienced in increasing this species, as young suckers are 
every season thrown up from the roots, and these, if taken off at the time of 
potting, and planted separately in a smaller pot, soon attain equal strength to the 
specimen from which they sprung. Caution must be exercised in detaching them, 
so as to secure a due quantity of roots without damaging the other stems, or those 
rootlets which may happen to be contiguous. 
Curcuma is derived from kurkum^ the Arabic name, and some of its species 
yield a pleasant aromatic substance. 
