EXACUM ZEYLANICUM. 
319 
in fact, double the size of the ordinary red 
currant. The wood is vigorous, with a brown- 
ish-coloured bark, having small light lines on 
its surface. The leaves, which are borne on 
angular petioles, from two-and-a-half to three 
inches long, are about four inches broad when 
fully grown, five-lobed, deeply and irregularly 
dentated at the margins ; the veins, especially 
the three mid ones, being more than usually 
strong. The fruit bunches are fully four 
inches long, each bearing about twenty-five 
berries, which are nearly half an inch in 
diameter, of a fine dark vermilion colour, 
quite round, and having a slightly acid, and 
on the whole a very grateful taste. It is said 
to be a very prolific and much esteemed sort 
in Belgium, in which country it appears to 
have been raised by M. De Gondouin. It 
requires to be vigorously grown, and should 
be planted in a place partially shaded from 
the sun, and where there is plenty of air, and 
a good substantial soil; fresh plantations 
should be made every four or five years. 
EXACUM ZEYLANICUM. 
Exacum zeylanicum, Roxburgh (Ceylon 
Exacum). — Gentianacese § Gentianea?. 
This plant is closely allied to the Chironias, 
of which some pretty species are not unfre- 
quently met with in cultivation ; the present, 
which was called Chironia trinerois by Lin- 
nseus, is in every respect deserving the atten- 
tion of admirers of plants. Whether or no it 
will prove to be a cultivable plant, remains to 
be proved ; the probability is, that being an 
annual, it will some day die out for the want 
of a supply of perfectly organized seeds. 
It is, as just stated, an annual plant ; its habit 
is erect, branching only in the upper part, and 
there in a corymbose manner. The stems, as 
well as all the parts of the plant, are quite 
smooth, and they are, moreover, of an equal 
four-sided figure. On these stems are borne the 
opposite leaves, which are without foot-stalks, 
or nearly so, and are of an elliptic-oblong, or 
broadly lance-shaped figure, ending in a slen- 
der point, and marked on the surface by the 
presence of three longitudinal veins, called 
nerves or ribs. These leaves are a bright 
lively green on the upper surface, and paler 
on the under side. In the upper part of the 
stem short branches are produced, forming a 
terminal leafy corymb. The flowers are 
large and handsome, and grow three to- 
gether on the ultimate branches of the corymb; 
they are rotate or wheel-shaped, that is, having 
a very short tube answering to the nave, 
and a nearly flat, spreading limb, answering 
to the rest of a wheel ; the colour is a rich 
purplish blue, which is contrasted with the 
cluster of large deep yellow anthers. The 
limb of the flower consists of five oval or 
obovate-obtuse lobes, which are paler-coloured 
at the back than on the face. 
This species of Exacum, as its specific 
name implies, is a native of Ceylon. From 
that country seeds were introduced to the 
Glasnevin Botanic Garden, at Dublin, where, 
under the care of Mr. Moore, it was raised, and 
flowered in September, 1848. It has re- 
ceived other names besides that here adopted ; 
as Chironia trinervis (Linna?us), and Lisi- 
anthus zeylanicus (Sprengel). 
Many of the gentian-worts, to which 
natural order the Exacum belongs,- are rather 
shy of submitting to the restraints of culti- 
vation, and often attain the greatest luxuriance 
under circumstances where it would be Jeast 
expected, affording evidence that the proper 
treatment is hardly afforded them. The 
experience which has been had with the pre- 
sent plant, would lead to the supposition that 
it may belong to this set of shy growers, 
although it is to be hoped that so interesting 
a subject may prove otherwise when better 
experience of its habit has been had. An 
allied species, the Exacum tetragonum, has 
been observed to grow and flower readily when 
allowed to fix itself as a weed upon the damp 
loose mossy surfaces of pots containing other 
plants, such as orchidaceous plants. 
Though an annual in its native habitats, 
where the conditions are such as to bring it 
to a more perfect state of fructification than 
it attains in our plant-houses under artificial 
management, it does not always under the 
