134 
NEPTUNIA PLENA. 
regularity of the two-ranked arrangement of 
its leaves, distinguishes it, at first sight, from 
Podocarpus Totara, a plant considerably re- 
sembling Torreya, and with which it might 
be easily confounded in a small state. The 
entire fructification is about the size of a nut- 
meg, consisting of a berry, deeply perforated 
by its investing membrane, something after 
the manner of that fruit ; while the external 
covering is of a leathery texture, almost • en- 
tirely enveloping the other, having only a 
small perforation at the summit, instead of 
forming an open fleshy cup, as in the Yew. 
The plant is yet rare in Europe, and, although 
from the north of Florida, doubts may be well 
entertained of its standing the open air in 
Britain, except in the most favoured situations. 
Of'its treatment little can be said at pre- 
sent ; but, from its thick roots, and general 
appearance, a free loam, and a good supply of 
moisture, during the growing season, would 
appear to be requisite. From its scarceness, 
the plants are, at present, cultivated chiefly in 
pots, and the greatest care taken to forward 
their growth by all possible appliances ; but, 
in the soil previously recommended, with a 
liberal supply of water, good drainage, and not 
too glaring an exposure to the sun, there can 
be little doubt of the Torreya succeeding well, 
either in a house, or in a good situation out- 
side : at present, however, a winter berth in an 
airy greenhouse, or pit, will be desirable. In 
its natural habitat, it is said to be a rapid 
growing tree, and there can be little doubt that a 
treatment similar to that recommended above, 
would soon produce some good specimens here. 
Whenever it may be tried out of doors, as a 
hardy tree, (and it would make a handsome 
addition to the arboretum,) it would be well to 
try some plants, in prepared spots, among 
chalk or calcareous stones, so as to approach 
its natural habitat as nearly as possible. At 
any rate, in very sandy soils, it would be neces- 
sary to increase the retentive powers of the 
soil, in order to give the plant a fair trial. 
From its natural place of growth, reasonable 
hopes may be entertained of its succeeding 
in many spots in the southern counties of 
England. 
NEPTUNIA PLENA. 
(Bentham.) 
THE DOUBLE-YELLOW WATER-SENSITIVE. 
Besides the name here adopted — Neptunia 
plena — this plant has at different times, and 
from different persons, received no less than 
seven others, which we here repeat : — Nep- 
tunia polyphylla, Desmanthus polyphyllus, 
D. punctatus, D. plenus, Mimosa adenanthera, 
M. punctata, and, finally, Mimosa plena, the 
original name given to it by Linnreus. Most 
of these changes, it will be perceived, have 
reference to the name of the genus, and have 
been rendered necessary, as the plants, which 
had been formerly referred to Mimosa, became 
more and more fully known. The name of 
Neptunia, which this plant and one or two 
others now bear, was applied by Loureiro, a 
Portuguese botanist, " who ventured to enlist 
the god of the ocean in the service of botanical 
nomenclature." 
The plant is an herbaceous stove aquatic, 
with long spongy floating stems, which throw 
out innumerable thread-like roots; these stems, 
at the base, are prostrate, or floating in the 
water, but quickly assume an ascending or 
somewhat erect position, producing moderately 
large bi-pinnated leaves ; from the axils of the 
upper of these leaves the flower-heads are pro- 
duced, singly, on long stalks. The leaves are 
composed of from three to five pairs of pinnae, 
(the branches or divisions of this kind of leaf,) 
each of which consists of many — from twelve 
to forty pairs — of smallish oval lance-shaped 
leaflets, which possess the property of being 
irritable, though in a far less degree than the 
common sensitive Mimosa, or the sensitive 
Wood-sorrel, noticed at p. 24. At the nodes, or 
joints, are a pair of membranaceous obliquely 
heart-shaped stipules ; the peduncles, which 
are axillary and solitary, are furnished with 
one or two bracteas, of similar form and sub- 
stance to the stipules. The flowers are of a 
palish yellow colour, and grow in ovate-globose 
heads, looking like little bunches of golden 
threads ; they are succeeded by oblong seed- 
pods, or legumes, containing from five to 
twenty seeds. The stem of the plant, which 
grows rather tall, is compressed into a some- 
what three-angled figure. 
The Duke of Northumberland's gardener at 
Sion House bloomed this plant during the 
summer of 1845, from seeds recently sent from 
Jamaica by Mr. Purdie, the collector for the 
Kew Botanic Garden ; and cut specimens 
were produced at the meeting of the Horti- 
cultural Society, held in October last. Plants, 
apparently of the same species, bloomed about 
the same time in the garden of the Royal 
Botanic Society in the Regent's Park. It 
appears to be common in all parts of tropical 
America, having been received from Guiana, 
Brazil, Mexico, and various West India Is- 
lands. It seems probable that it is somewhat, 
variable in appearance, and perhaps this may 
have partly given rise to its different names. 
Linnasus called it Mimosa plena, or the doubie- 
flowcred Mimosa, in allusion to the broad 
petal-like stamens which occur in the lower 
flowers of each head. ' 
A material, resembling the beautiful and 
delicate rice-paper of the Chinese, is obtained 
from a species of Neptunia, called oleracea, 
