THE GENUS BURTONIA. 
hairy branches, smooth leaves of three leaflets 
as in the others, and yellow flowers. A shrub 
growing from six inches to a foot high. Intro- 
duced in 1812. 
Three purple-flowered species have at the 
present time been introduced ; and it is these 
to which we would especially direct attention ; 
they are as follows : — 
Burtonia conferta, De Candolle. — A small 
bushy, heath-like shrub, growing from one to 
Burtonia villosa. 
two feet high, with smooth branches, and 
smooth crowded simple linear-subulate leaves; 
the flowers are purple or violet coloured, very 
pretty. Introduced in 1830. 
Burtonia pulchella, Meisner. — A small 
graceful shrub, growing from one to two feet 
high, with smooth slender branches, and 
smooth sessile trifoliate leaves, the leaflets 
of which are narrow-linear and obtuse, 
with revolute margins ; the flowers are rich 
purple, produced copiously along the upper 
part of the shoots. Introduced in 1846. 
Burtonia villosa, Meisner. — A small heath- 
like shrub, about the size of the others, with 
hairy branches, and hairy trifoliate sessile 
leaves, consisting of linear obtuse leaflets, 
having revolute margins ; the flowers are rich 
purple, but paler than those of Burtonia 
pulchella, while at the base of the vexillum is 
a conspicuous yellow spot ; they are pro- 
duced copiously from the axils of the upper 
leaves. Introduced in or about 1846. 
The merit of introducing the two last 
mentioned species, lies, we believe, with 
Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, & Co., of Exeter, 
who received the seeds of them from Mr. 
Drummond. All the species are natives of 
New Holland, and all bloom in the spring 
and early summer months. 
PROPAGATION. 
These plants are propagated by means of 
cuttings of the young shoots taken when 
about two inches long, and planted in sand, 
covered by bell glasses, and set where there 
is a gentle warmth. The process is this : — 
The young cuttings are taken off by a sharp 
knife at the required length ; they are then 
trimmed, all the lower leaves for about a 
third of their length being cut clean off by a 
sharp small-bladed knife ; the base of the 
cutting is then cut across horizontally on a 
level with the point of attachment of the 
lower side of the leaf to the stem. They are 
then ready for planting, but the pots should 
have previously been prepared in readiness, 
which is done thus : — A pot of a greater dia- 
meter than the bell glass to be used is selected 
and cleaned if necessary ; a large piece of 
broken pot is laid over the hole in its bottom, 
and on this as much broken potsherds as will 
make the pot one-third full ; next follows a 
thin stratum of the fine fibre of turfy peat to 
keep the soil from falling down among the 
potsherds. The pot is next filled up to 
within an inch of the rim with sandy peat 
soil, pressed down close and equally all over ; 
a layer of about an inch of pure white sand 
pressed quite firm, completes the preparation. 
The materials should be in the intermediate 
state, between wet and dry, rather inclining 
to dryness that the particles may be pressed 
close without adhering. When the pot is 
filled up in this way, the surface being quite 
level, the bell glass should be put on and 
gently pressed, so as to leave the mark of its 
edge on the sand ; the cuttings are to be ar- 
ranged within this mark. A piece of blunt 
pointed stick is used as a dibble to plant them 
with ; this should taper very much, the point 
being about twice the thickness of the base of 
the cuttings, and cut square across. This is 
inserted in the sand, and slightly turned, so as 
to come out clean, leaving a hole open, the 
