198 
NEW FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 
the petals, and quite straight ; the anthers are 
golden yellow, forming a beautiful contrast 
with their filaments. Native of Australia 
(north coast). Introduced in 1813. Flowers 
from July to October. Culture. — Requires a 
greenhouse ; sandy loam and peat ; propa- 
gated by cuttings of the young shoots. 
Limnanthes alba, Ilartwetj (white- 
flowered Limnanthes). — Tropoeqlacese § Lim- 
nanthese. — An annual with the habit of L. 
Douglasii, that is to say, spreading in a 
straggling manner close to the ground. The 
leaves of this are elongate pinnate, with sessile 
ovate, acute, entire, or three-lobed segments. 
The flowers are on very long stalks, and they 
are white. Native of California. Introduced 
in 1848. Flowers in the summer months. 
The species of Limnanthes are " of interest 
in gardens chiefly for the decoration of heavy 
damp places, where better flowers will not 
grow. In such situations they all thrive and 
become ornamental, retaining their freshness 
and flowering incessantly through the whole 
summer. It may be a question whether they 
would not be useful salads, as they all possess 
the agreeable warmth of Tropaaolums without 
being quite so pungent." (.Town. ILort. Soc.) 
Culture. — Hardy ; common soil, in cool situa- 
tion; propagated by seeds. 
Eriopsis rutidobulbon, Hooker (rough- 
stalked Eriopsis. — Orchidaceas § Vandete- 
MaxillaridaB. • — -A showy epiphytal species, 
with ovate-oblong pseudo-bulbs, of a dark 
purplish colour, singularly wrinkled on the 
surface ; these bear at their extremities two, 
or sometimes three broadly lanceolate leaves. 
From the base of the pseudo- bulbs proceed 
the drooping racemes of flowers a foot and a 
half long ; the sepals and petals are nearly 
alike, oblong obtuse, spreading horizontally, 
dull orange yellow, reddish purple at the mar- 
gin ; the lip is broadly ovate, three-lobed, the 
lateral lobes involute, the terminal one orbi- 
cular, white with dark purple spots, the rest 
of the lip dull orange red, dotted with dark 
purple. Native of New Grenada, where it 
was found by Mr. Purdie growing on the 
smooth stem of a palm tree fully exposed to 
the sun, in the temperate region of Antioquin, 
at an elevation of between 4,000 and 5.000 
feet. Introduced in 1847. Flowers in August. 
Culture. — Requires a stove ; turfy peat soil ; 
propagated by division. 
Muss^enda Afzelii, G. Don (Afzelius's 
Mussasnda). — Cinchonaceas § Cinchonea3-Gar- 
denidoc. — A very ornamental shrub, of an 
upright habit, profusely studded with pale red 
hairs. The leaves are opposite, ovate-lance- 
olate, with short petioles, which as well as the 
veins beneath are covered with ferrugineous 
hairs. The flowers are produced in terminal 
corymbs ; they are an inch long, tubular, and 
of a fine red-orange colour ; the calyces on 
the outer side of the corymb, which are also 
as much as an inch long, have one of their 
sepals terminated by a large oval white veiny 
leaf-like bract, measuring four inches in length 
by two and a half in breadth. These bracts 
give the plant a very singular appearance, 
looking like some of the ordinary leaves 
changed to a white colour. Native of Sierra 
Leone. Introduced to continental gardens in 
1844. Flowers ? Culture. — Requires 
a stove ; loam and peat ; propagated freely 
by cuttings. 
Maxillaria leptosepala, Hooker (nar- 
row-sepalled Maxillaria). — Orchidaceoe § Van- 
dea>Maxillaricla3. — A handsome epiphytal 
plant, having clustered pseudo-bulbs, ovate- 
rotundate, two inches long, and bearing each 
one oblong-lanceolate obtuse leathery leaf, a 
foot long and tapering at the base, where it is 
articulated with the pseudo-bulb. The flower 
stalks, each bearing one blossom, rise from the 
base of the pseudo-bulbs ; they are large, the 
sepals yellowish white, two and a half inches 
long, narrow-lanceolate, and spreading ; the 
petals are rather smaller, but of the same form 
and colour ; the lip is three-lobed, oblong- 
obovate, the side lobes involute, white veined 
with purple, the middle lobe long, blunt, waved 
as well as fringed, and crisped at the margin, 
white, with a yellow villous disk. Native of 
New Grenada. Introduced in 1846. Flowers 
in July. Culture. — Requires a stove ; turfy 
peat soil ; propagated by division of the root. 
CUPHEA PURPUREA, Paxtoil (purple- 
flowered Cuphea) — Lythracese § Lythrete. — ■ 
A pretty perennial herbaceous plant, perhaps 
a variety of C. miniata. It grows from a 
foot and a half to two feet in height, with 
slender erect leafy stems, bearing opposite, 
ovate-acuminate leaves, covered with bristly 
hairs and attached by short petioles. The 
flowers are solitary from the axils of the leaves, 
forming a terminal leafy spike ; the calyx is 
tubular, gibbous at the base, bright yellow- 
green below, tinged with bright rosy-purple 
above ; the petals are six in number, of a deep 
carmine purple, the two upper ones broad, the 
others small. History unknown. Introduced 
before 1848. Flowers through the summer. 
Cultivated in some gardens as C. Injbrida, and 
hence perhaps of hybrid origin. Culture. — 
Half-hardy ; light sandy loam ; propagated 
by cuttings. 
Lobelia densiflora, Paxton (dense- 
flowered Lobelia). — Lobeliaceaa § Lobeleas. — 
A very handsome herbaceous perennial, of 
dwarf habit, seldom exceeding eight inches in 
height, half of which height forms a dense 
pyramidal spike of intense blue flowers. The 
stem is smooth and obtusely angular ; the 
leaves ovate-oblong, acute, Avavy at the mar- 
