66 
FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. 
NEW AND RARE PLANTS FIGURED IN THE LEADING BOTANICAL PERIODICALS FOR 
MARCH. 
Barnardia scilloides. Those who are fond of dwarf bulbous plants, have, 
undoubtedly, an attachment to the beautiful species of Scilla, and will therefore be 
equally gratified with a genus like the present, which is so closely related. This 
charming little plant is said to grow nearly a foot high, with long narrow leaves, 
and erect racemes of pretty pale purplish rose-coloured flowers. It is a native of 
China, and seems to have been first imported by Mr. J. D. Parks from the neigh- 
bourhood of Macao. We presume it is a half-hardy species, but one which will 
possibly succeed in the open ground if strict attention be paid to the avoidance of 
too much moisture. Bot. Mag. 3788. 
Cereus leucanthus. Dr. Gillies, who originally found this handsome plant 
in Chili, and sent specimens to the Horticultural Society, placed it beneath the 
genus Echinocadus ; but Dr. Lindley, following a Continental botanist, has 
ranked it with Cereus. It has evidently the usual habit of the former genus, if 
conical ribbed stems and clusters of long spines on their edges are to be esteemed 
its characteristics. It blossomed for the first time at the Horticultural Society's 
garden in 1831, but flowers produced in 1836 were much finer. The spines are 
long, of a greyish colour, and situated on a tuft of brown wool, which ultimately 
disappears. The species bears very noble flowers, these being solitary, six inches 
in length, white, tinged with pink, in the inside, and olive-green on the exterior. 
There is a considerable crest of wool on the summit of the plant. Bot. Reg. 1 3. 
Gesneria cochlearis. The principal peculiarity of this new species, is its 
concave, spoon-shaped foliage. Its blossoms are likewise solitary, and opposite, 
with a nearly regular five-lobed corolla. It grows about a foot and a half high, 
having simple herbaceous stems, large ovately cordate, crenated, and hairy leaves, 
and moderate-sized red flowers, slightly striped with yellow in the mouth. Mr. 
Gardner discovered it on the Organ Mountains, and despatched roots of it to the 
Glasgow Botanic Garden in 1837, from which flowers were obtained in June 
1839. It thrives in the stove, treated as the rest of the genus. Bot. Mag. 
3787. 
GoNOLOBUS nispiDUs. A most curious plant, " no less remarkable for its dark, 
lurid, purple-coloured flowers, of a peculiarly thick and coriaceous texture, than for 
its powerful fragrance, resembling more that of freshly- ground roasted peas, but 
highly concentrated, than anything else to which we can compare it." The stems 
are weak, with a tendency to climb ; the leaves cordately- ovate and acute ; and the 
flowers appear in large bunches from the axils of the foliage. It reaches the height 
of four feet and upwards, and having bloomed in the Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 
