MISCELLANEOUS. 
187 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
New and Rare Plants in Flower. Plum- 
bago Larpentce. A specimen of this beautiful 
uew Leadwort, exhibited at the Botanical Society’s 
exhibition on the 16th of last May, created a mo- 
mentary feeling of disappointment, in consequence 
of the tender, debilitated aspect it presented, in 
conjunction with a correspondingly meagre display 
of inflorescence, which (considering the size of the 
plant exhibited) was inferior, both in quantity 
and quality; the specimen, as a whole, being far 
from a realisation of the expectations that had been 
formed of it from the time of its first introduction 
to public notice by Mr. Eyles (then Sir George 
Larpent’s Gardener at Roehampton), at one of the 
Horticultural Society’s Meetings at Chiswick, in 
1847, to its subsequent diffusion through the 
medium of Messrs. Knight and Perry, of the Exotic 
Nursery, Chelsea. The delicate-looking plant above 
alluded to, had apparently been grown in a higher 
temperature, or, (which will prove just as detri- 
mental to the successful culture of this charming 
Plumbago) had experienced, probably, a greater 
amount of moisture, and consequent excitement in 
winter, than is consonant with its well-doing : but 
whatever kind of treatment had been adopted to 
induce so tender and succulent an appearance in a 
plant generally considered to be half-hardy and 
robust, it must, obviously, have been very dissimilar 
to the management which, in the case of a gigantic 
specimen we recently noticed in the nursery of 
Messrs. Knight and Perry, had resulted so advan- 
tageously. This fine specimen, we were informed, 
had been altogether managed as a deciduous, cold- 
greenhouse plant, receiving, when defoliation 
occurred towards winter, a similar amount of 
drought and dormancy to that usually accorded 
to the Fuchsia. In spring, when indication of 
excitement appears, the Plumbago Larpentse should 
immediately be shifted into, or renewed with, a free 
compost of loam and peat with a little coarse sand, 
and abundance of potsherds, lumps of charcoal, &c., 
to secure an effective bottom drainage; and further 
to promote porosity in the mass, crushed bones, 
small pebbles or potsherds, should be freely com- 
mingled with the rooting medium. A warm green- 
house might not be an objectionable place to 
induce it to start more freely into growth, although 
the plant already mentioned, in Messrs. Knight 
and Perry’s collection, has made abundance of 
shoots for forming a good specimen, and which are 
all the sturdier for being exclusively cultivated in 
the temperature of a cool, airy, greenhouse. Water 
must be sparingly given until the shoots are an 
inch or two in length, when moisture must hence- 
forth be liberally supplied ; the shoots themselves 
being timely thinned if over numerous, and duly 
stopped if non-abundant, and, as they advance in 
growth, rendered prostrate or directed horizontally 
by means of pegging and tying, that the specimen 
may be filled out over the pot-rims, and well- 
balanced in other respects. When about to expand 
its beautifully tinted, intensely azure blossoms, an 
occasional draught of mild, highly-clarified, and 
diluted liquid manure beverage, will greatly invi- 
gorate the energies of the plant, and induce the 
development of finer flowers, which, even under a 
condition of mediocrity, form a rich contrast with 
the refreshing verdure of the foliage. We soon 
hope to learn something of the adaptation of this 
valuable addition to our greenhouses, for the 
summer and autumn decoration of the flower- 
garden ; a purpose for which, from its semi-frutes- 
cent half-hardy character, it may be considered admi- 
rably adapted. A good specimen of this Plumbago 
we also noticed recently at Messrs. Henderson’s 
Nursery, Pineapple Place, under similar circum- 
stances of cultivation to those above referred to 
at the Exotic Nursery, Chelsea. 
Gloxinia leuconerva. This Gloxinia is chiefly 
remarkable for its large, conspicuously white-veined 
leaves, and the propensity it has to flower abun- 
dantly with a remarkable succession of blossoms. 
The flowers possess but little claim to intrinsic 
beauty, compared with the many brilliant coloured 
varieties now in cultivation, although the general 
appearance of the plant renders it an interesting 
desideratum to every collection. The habit is rather 
peculiar ; the somewhat curious, luxuriant foliage, 
depending over the sides of the pot more than is 
generally the case in Gloxinias, whilst the flowers 
are produced in a compact central group, on nearly 
erect peduncles, and in such profusion that we 
were enabled to enumerate upwards of fifty 
blossoms, some of which, however, were past their 
prime, and around the base of these, to succeed 
them, were a multitude of young flowers protruding. 
A good plant of this Gloxinia we noticed in the 
collection of S. Rucker, Esq., Wandsworth; but 
our present observations refer more particularly to 
a specimen we recently saw in the stove of Messrs. 
Knight and Perry, Chelsea. 
In the nursery of the above-mentioned gentle- 
men, although we were too late to enjoy the superb 
display of “rich and rare” American Rhododendrons 
and Azaleas that had been in full beauty a short 
time previous, we were, nevertheless, much gratified 
by the inspection of several very distinct and 
beautiful late-flowering kinds, which, independent 
of the merit of intrinsic beauty (which they 
possessed in a high degree), we deem invaluable 
on late-blooming grounds alone ; and fully concur 
in the views expressed to us by Messrs. Knight 
and Perry, that in the disposition of these gorgeous 
ornaments, either as isolated groups, single spe- 
cimens, or in broad rich masses in the shrubbery 
or on the lawn, greater attention should be paid, in 
the generality of cases, to the classification and 
blending of their colours, and especially to the 
more effectual arrangement of the late blooming 
sorts. Amongst a great many novelties, we select 
for especial notice the following few which 
remained in bloom when we visited the Exotic 
Nursery late in June. 
Rhododendron Azaleoides fragrans and fragrans 
