168 
THE FLOWER GARDENS 
those of some of the slender tubed Pent- 
stemons. 
Mr. Purdie sent it from New Grenada to 
the Royal Garden of Kew. It was found by 
him in the Monte del Moro, in October 1845. 
Our sketch is from a figure published in the 
JButanical Magazine* 
The species is of erect shrubby habit, tall, 
growing from five to seven feet high in its 
native country. The branches are opposite, 
and obtusely tetragonal. The leaves are 
elliptic-lanceolate, on short stalks, growing 
opposite on the stem ; they are four or five 
inches long, and furnished with two pairs of 
ribs branching out from the costa or midrib, 
the lowest arising from near its base, find the 
others between that and the centre of the 
leaf. The flowers grow in terminal, tricho- 
tomous, scarcely leafy panicles ; they are 
drooping in a very elegant manner, the corolla 
an inch and a half or more in length, funnel- 
shaped, with the tube narrowed at the base, 
curved a little upwards, and divided in an 
oblique limb of five spreading ovate-obtuse 
lobes ; the colour is scarlet, and the mouth is 
marked with yellow. The flowers are pro- 
duced at the latter end of summer. 
Naturally, this plant grows under the fol- 
lowing conditions : — The soil is peaty, in a 
thin layer, and of a dry nature, lying on shelly 
limestone rocks. The climate is moist and 
temperate. The heat is never excessive ; the 
thermometer sometimes falls so low that ice is 
formed, when the sensation of cold is very 
intense. The elevation of the locality where 
the plant is found, is between 7,000 and 8,000 
feet. 
The inference from these facts is, that we 
should place the plant in a greenhouse, where 
it may be kept moderately close. Here, in 
summer, a moist atmosphere should be kept 
about it ; although at no time should there be 
anything like excess of moisture at the roots. 
To this end, the soil, of a peaty nature, 
should be light and turfy, and well drained. 
It has been suggested that fragments of lime- 
stone might be used for the drainage, in imi- 
tation of its native limestone rocks. There 
appears in the young plants to be a certain 
degree of delicacy, but probably not more so 
than in the case of the Lisianthus JRussel- 
lianus, which is generally found to be of 
rather difficult culture, although some few 
cultivators have succeeded well with it. This 
species is, however, generally grown, during 
its early stages, in a rather high temperature, 
such as a vinery or melon-pit ; then wintered 
rather dry in a cool part of the stove near the 
glass, and in spring again excited in an in- 
creased temperature. The soil used for them 
is of a light, rich, sandy nature. 
It is probable that this species may be best 
propagated by seeds, as in the other species 
grown in this country. Being of a suffruti- 
cose habit, however, it is probable that some- 
times cuttings may be produced, and thus 
afford another means of propagation. 
THE FLOWER GARDENS AND ORCHARDS OF ANCIENT GREECE. 
Among a people like the ancient Greeks, 
who found so much delight in painting and 
sculpture, in poetry and philosophy, in all the 
multiplied and varied graces of literature and 
art, we naturally expect to discover a strong 
predilection for the simple and delicate luxuries 
of the flower garden. The inhabitants of old 
Greece, whose minds were ever keenly alive 
to whatever of the beautiful or rich existed in 
their favoured country, enjoyed nothing more 
than the soft repose afforded by some artificial 
and secluded plantation, adorned with blos- 
soming trees, flowering shrubs, and brilliant 
ornamental plants, which pleased the sense 
with a variety of sweet perfumes, while they 
delighted the eye with their variegated hues. 
No very accurate description of any one par- 
ticular Grecian garden has been bequeathed 
to us by the writers of Hellas ; but from the 
many scattered hints and touches which we 
discover in the delineations of those authors 
whose study and occupation it was to celebrate 
