228 green-house — repotting. [March. 
E. grandiflbra has been celebrated ever since it was 
known; the foliage is small, flat, and acuminate; flowers 
tubular and pendulous ; bright crimson, with a tinge of 
white, and very abundant; in flower from January to June. 
E. pidchella is likewise a most beautiful plant ; foliage very 
small and closely set, flowers pure white, and in long spikes, 
sweet-scented. E. impressa, foliage impressed, and flowers 
of a rose colour. E. jmluddsa, flowers white, grows aud 
flowers very handsomely, and is very fragrant. E. purpu- 
rdscens rubra is a variety, with good bright red flowers. E. 
pallida, rose-coloured, long tubular flowers. E. nivalis, rosy 
white. E. Toicnii, beautiful rosy blush colour. These, with 
several others, are very desirable. They are mostly erect- 
growing plants ; flower from January till August, and a rough, 
turfy, sandy soil is found most congenial. They are natives 
of the mountainous districts of New South Wales. The pots 
must be well drained ; the roots will run with avidity among 
the potshreds. (Soil No. 6.) * 
Ericas, heath. There are in cultivation in Europe above 
five hundred and fifty species and varieties of this magnificent 
genus. About sixty years ago it consisted only of a few 
humble British plants, with the heath of Spain, E. Mediter- 
ranea, which is at present most common in our collections, 
though in a few years we may expect to see it supplanted by 
others more splendid. 
In their native countries they are adapted to a great many 
useful purposes. In the north of Britain the poorer inhabit- 
ants cover their cabins or huts with heath, and build the walls 
with alternate layers of it and a kind of cement made with 
straw and clay. They likewise brew ale and distil spirits from 
the tender shoots ; and it has been known to be used in dyeing, 
tanning, and many other useful domestic purposes. Enco- 
7nium on their beauty is not requisite ; they are almost as 
diversified in colour as colour itself. Many are graceful and 
elegant ; hundreds are pretty ; a few noble and splendid ; 
others grotesque, curious, and odoriferous. To cultivate and 
propagate them is considered one of the most delicate branches 
of floriculture. Nevertheless, it has been said by a scientific 
writer, that "those who complain of the difficulty of grow- 
ing the heath, are ignorant people, who have never had a 
heath to grow/' The most splendid collection in Europe is 
under the care of Mr. M'Nab, of the Boyal Botanic Garden, 
