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FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. 
NEW, RARE, AND INTERESTING PLANTS, IN FLOWER IN THE DIFFERENT SUBURBAN 
NURSERIES AND GARDENS. 
Abronia umbellata. A beautiful little species, either for bedding or a trellis ; as we saw it 
growing, it looked remarkably well. The plant was set in the centre of a shallow pan, twelve or 
fourteen inches across, and as it grew, was wound round on the top of the soil, thus causing the foliage 
to cover the pot pretty evenly : from the axils of the leaves the flower- stems grew erect three or 
four inches, at the top of which the globular heads of reddish-lilac flowers were produced, and 
formed a very pretty object. The habit is evergreen, and the flowers sweetly fragrant. The plant 
will only require the same treatment as given to the Verbena, and is therefore a valuable acquisition 
to the ornamental classes of plants. It flowered for the first time in the gardens of the Horti- 
cultural Society, in August, and was introduced there by the Society's collector, Mr : Hartweg, 
from California. 
Allamanda Schottii. A fine showy species, though not so rich in colour as A. cathartica, yet 
the flower is much larger, some measuring between six and eight inches across ; it differs, too, by 
having pale brownish stripes down the inside of the tube. The foliage is much handsomer and 
larger. The plant we noticed flowering in the nursery of Messrs. Henderson, Pine-apple Place, 
Edgware Road. 
Calanthe vestita. This handsome species has flowered in the nursery of Messrs. Veitch and 
Son, Exeter, and proves not only the handsomest of its species, but rivals in beauty almost any of 
the tribe. The flower-scape was thirty inches long, densely laden with large pure white blossoms, 
enlivened with a deep spot of crimson in the throat. The stem and peduncles covered with long 
hairs. The foliage is about eighteen inches long, and of a pale green colour. This species differs 
from its race by having a smooth round bulb. 
Echites Franciscea. A scarce Brazilian plant of great beauty, one of the tuberous-rooted 
species, with neat foliage of a bright green colour ; the flowers, from twenty to thirty in number, 
are fixed on a short stem growing from the axils of the leaves. The bloom is an inch-and-a-half 
in diameter, of a dark purple colour. The species is quite distinct from any of the race in culti- 
vation, though not so attractive in colour. We noticed it among a collection of plants forwarded 
to the Horticultural Rooms in September last, by Mr. Iveson, gardener to the Dowager Duchess 
of Northumberland, Sion House, Middlesex. 
Ericas, seedling var. Messrs. Veitch and Son exhibited in May last at the fete of the 
Royal Botanical Society, Regent's Park, several seedling varieties of E. aristata, possessing all 
the qualities of the parent in size and form, with the additional attraction of the colour being 
almost a scarlet. They likewise last much longer in bloom. The best was named E. Devoniana ; 
another, called E. dulcijlora, was paler in colour, both richly deserving a place in every collection. 
Gladiolus Brenchleyensis. We noticed a specimen of the above in the Horticultural Rooms, 
Regent Street ; it is a great improvement in colour to the varieties of G. Gandensis, and certainly 
the most striking and intense scarlet we could imagine. It is a hybrid variety, one of the parents 
being either G. cardinalis or coccinea, crossed with some of the larger growing kinds. The 
variety is well worthy the most extensive cultivation, and ought to be in every flower-garden. 
Hoya Cunninghamii. A beautiful creeper, with neat foliage of rich green, producing clusters 
of yellowish-white flowers, about twenty in a bunch, each flower having a deep spot of purple at 
the base of the petals. They likewise have a delicious fragrance, which compensates for the 
absence of colour. Messrs. Veitch and Son are the introducers and cultivators of it, in whose 
nursery we noticed it flowering in September last. 
Leschenaultia splendens. A fine and handsome specimen of the above we saw flowering in 
the gardens of Lady Antrobus, Cheam, Surrey. Another season will bring this admired species 
into more general cultivation. The brilliant colour of the flower entitles it deservedly to a place in 
every collection. 
Nemophila maculata. In the Gardens of the Horticultural Society, Chiswick, this very pretty 
annual developed its blossoms for the first time in August last. It was introduced by the Society's 
collector, Mr. Hartweg, from California. The habit is rather coarse, and the foliage glaucous. 
