MISCELLANEOUS. 
61 
Ivory-nut Palm (Phyteleplias macrocarpa). The 
singular palm which produces the nuts so long 
known in our turnery shops, and which have con- 
stituted an important article of commerce, to be 
used as ivory for heads of canes, parasols, umbrellas, 
and ornamental boxes, has lately been introduced 
to the Kew Botanical Gardens, through M. Purdie, 
who discovered it growing abundantly in Columbia, 
amongst the mountains near the great river Mag- 
dalena, where it is called by the natives “ Tagua,” 
and the district in which it grows “ Taguage,” 
from the name of the tree. 
The plant chiefly inhabits dense shady woods, at 
an elevation of from 1000 to 3000 feet, where the 
thermometer ranges from 65 to 75 degrees, and 
where the common European apple tree thrives 
well and bears abundance of fruit. At the season 
when the ivory-nut is ripe, the country is scented 
with its fragrance, and hogs, turkeys, and other 
wild animals, flock to the place and feast upon it, 
and of which they appear extremely fond. It is never 
found growing in the hot plains or level country. 
It is a dioecious plant, graceful in aspect, forming 
a very short stem, and producing fifteen or twenty 
pinnate leaves, which, when full grown, measure 
twenty feet long, and are of a light and delicate 
green. The aspect of both the sexes is much the 
same, except that the male plant produces a dis- 
tinct spatha, the female none ; or if it does, it is 
only perfect in an early stage, afterwards torn into 
shreds. The female flowers and the spatha are 
produced from the axils of the inner leaves and 
are recurved outwards. 
The extraordinary heads of fruits are seen 
around the base of the plant (one plant frequently 
bearing six at a time) ; the heads resting on the 
ground, or lodged between the leaves, or on a foot- 
stalk so short as to be buried among the bases 
of the leaves, of which the fibre is extremely 
tough. Each is composed of three to five, but 
generally four large nuts, wedged in and firmly 
knit together, of a roundish, but more or less 
angled, form, depressed at the top, and then co- 
vered with conical or pyramidal woody-fibrous pro- 
tuberances, from half an inch to an inch or more 
long ; the whole forming a compact mass or dark- 
coloured head, the form representing the head of 
a negro, and the fibrous protuberances the coarser 
hair. The leaves are employed to thatch houses, 
and the whole of the village of the Paroquia del 
Carmina, and the houses generally in this district, 
are covered with it. 
Enclosing the fresh mature seeds is a yellow, 
sweet, and oily pulp, which is collected in the 
proper season (October), and is called “ Pepa del 
Tagua,” which is sold by the Indians in Ocana at 
one real per pound. A spoonful of this with a 
little sugar and water, makes the celebrated “ Cliiche 
de Tagua” said to be the most delicious drink in 
the country, but it is slightly drastic in its effect. 
The male flowers are singular and beautiful. 
The plant differs from most other palms by having 
a double spatha. The central column is thickly 
set with clusters of male flowers, and forms a mass 
three feet long, and four inches thick. The fra- 
grance is powerful and delicious, beyond that of 
any other plant. 
Macleania punctata, Dotted-leaved Macleania. 
This beautiful species has distinctly dotted foliage, 
and in this respect differs from the other members 
of the genus. It was sent from the Andes of El 
Equador by Mr. William Lobb, and flowered in 
the greenhouse of Messrs. Veitch and Son, of 
Exeter, in November 1848. One or two species 
of Macleania have been known to us for several 
years ; they have thick fleshy roots, and with their 
stiff habit of growth, do not appear to be well 
adapted for cultivation in a pot, but planted out in 
a warm greenhouse, they would form handsome 
plants. The soil should consist of loam and peat 
well mixed, but must not be deep, for it has been 
observed that the fibres keep near the surface. It 
should be well drained, so as to permit abundance 
of water to be given during the season of growth, 
without the risk of the soil becoming saturated. 
It may be propagated freely by cuttings placed 
under a bell-glass with a little bottom heat. — Bot. 
Mag. 4426. 
The CultivxVtion of Eoses in Pots. The first 
thing that should be attended to, is to provide a good 
heap of soil for the plants to grow in. All like a 
rich soil, which should be made light for the deli- 
cate rooting varieties, and more tenacious for the 
robust hardy kinds. 
To form a light soil, procure one barrowful of 
seasoned turfy loam, half a barrow of well decom- 
posed stable manure, half a barrow of leaf-mould, 
and silver sand in proportion to the texture of the 
loam, which will in no case require more than one- 
fourth of its own bulk. 
The heavy soil may be composed of one barrow 
of stiff turfy loam, one barrow of night soil that 
has been mixed with loam and laid by for a year, 
half a barrow of leaf-mould, or well pulverised 
manure, and sand as before recommended. The 
addition of about one-sixth of a barrow of burnt 
earth will be found to improve both composts. 
The materials should be thrown together at least 
three months before required for use, and turned 
frequently that the integrant parts may become 
well incorporated, and ripened by exposure to the 
sun and air. The sieve is unnecessary, for as large 
pots are principally used, the coarser, in modera- 
tion, the soil is, the better will the plants thrive. 
Eoses intended for growing in pots, may be either 
on their own roots or on short stems ; the tea- 
scented and Chinese kinds are undoubtedly better 
in the former way. Eoses cultivated to bloom in 
their natural period cannot be placed in too airy a 
situation, therefore keep them either plunged or 
placed on the surface with moss or cinder ashes 
about the pots, in an open spot in the garden. 
Whichever way is adopted, two things are to be 
guarded against — the ingress of worms from the 
ground, and the egress of roots from the hole at 
the bottom of the pot. If the roots find their way 
into the ground, there will be few formed in the 
pot ; and the result will be, a more vigorous, but 
less perfect, growth ; and if the plants are required 
to be removed at the time of flowering, they will 
receive a severe check. Both of these occurrences 
must therefore be prevented, by placing the pots 
on inverted seed-pans. 
The aim throughout the growing season should 
