FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. 
48 
habit, appearance, and beauty of a Cattleya, this charming plant has the dwarfness 
and compactness of the elegant little Sophronitis cernua. To the latter plant it is 
now connected, and while its flowers infinitely exceed those of that species in size, 
they are even superior to them in richness and intensity of hue. The pseudo-bulbs 
resemble those of the genus Cattleya, but are not more than three inches long, and 
have only one leaf at their summit. The flowers are terminal, solitary, large, and 
of a brilliant scarlet colour. It would doubtless flourish on a log of wood, or 
might be kept in a pot, with proper attention to drainage and watering. " The 
credit of introducing this plant alive to this country is due to Mr. Gardner, who 
found it in the Organ Mountains of Brazil, and sent it home in 1837." Bot. Mag. 
3709. 
Oncidium Forbesii. Mr. Forbes' Oncidium. One of the most splendid, and 
decidedly the rarest, species of Oncidium at present known in this country. Mr. 
Gardner originally discovered it in the Organ Mountains, and transmitted it to 
Woburn Abbey, the seat of His Grace the Duke of Bedford. It is stated that 
only one specimen rewarded Mr. Gardner's researches, and this has flowered under 
the care of Mr. Forbes, gardener to the distinguished nobleman above-mentioned, 
after whom it has been named. The flowers are large, and their petals and 
labellum are almost completely obscurated by a rich scarlet colour, the margins 
only, and the centre of the flower, being yellowish white. It approaches nearest 
to 0. crispum, but is altogether stronger, and has much more showy and hand- 
some flowers ; in this respect being inferior to none of its allies. Bot. Mag. 3705. 
NEW, RARE, OR INTERESTING PLANTS IN FLOWER IN THE PRINCIPAL 
SUBURBAN NURSERIES. 
CacTjE. In an extensive collection of this singular tribe, recently imported by 
Messrs. Low and Co., from the Spanish Main, South America, are several new and 
remarkable species. One of these, which evidently belongs to the genus Cereus, and 
bears a slight resemblance to C. senilis, is peculiarly interesting. Instead of the 
thickly-set, rigid, and coarse hairs which characterise the species just mentioned, 
the present plant is only partially covered with a white, woolly substance, of an 
extremely delicate texture. The plant grows erect, about a foot in height, and is 
of nearly the same dimensions (an inch and a half in diameter) throughout its entire 
length. The ribs or angles are more distant, prominent, and perceptible, than those 
of C. senilis, and the spines grow in tufts. Several striking species, of a larger 
size, and with a most formidable array of aculei, some of which are full three inches 
in length, and are arranged along the edges of the ribs precisely after the manner of 
a chevaux-de-frise, are among the collection. Many orchidaceous plants likewise 
accompany them, and all are in an admirable state of preservation. 
Comesperma gracilis. An excellent specimen of this charming plant is now 
