80 MEDINILLA ERYTHROPHYLLA. 
i 
leaves obtuse at the base. One of the principal features in the genus Medinilla, 
namely, the spur at the back of the anther, is so nearly wanting here, that it only 
appears in the form of a very small lobe, quite at the base of the anther, opposite 
the anterior auricles. The species is quite a Medinilla in habit." 
It is a plant of easy culture, growing freely in a mixture of turfy loam and 
heath-mould, with some pieces of broken freestone or potsherds interspersed 
throughout the soil. A large pot seems to be unnecessary for it, as it does not 
throw out many fibrous roots ; drawing a great part of its nourishment from the 
larger tuber-like callosities which form at the base of the stem. These, in its wild 
state, become nearly drained of moisture and shrivel up in the dry season ; recruit- 
ing themselves again during the rains. Cuttings of almost any size will root easily 
in loam and sand, if covered with a glass. 
Although we have remarked that it succeeds in either a greenhouse or a stove 
heat, it flourishes best when treated as a greenhouse plant throughout the summer, 
and kept, during winter, in a house with a temperature intermediate between that 
of the stove and the greenhouse. It should be watered rather profusely in the 
warmer months. 
The woodcut below exhibits the growth of the plant. 
