GARDENIA NITIDA. 
29 
mened Agalmyla). — Gesneraceae § Cyrtandrea?- 
Didymocarpidre. — The generic name of this 
plant is derived from two Greek words, which 
signify " wood ornament " in allusion to its!de- 
corating the woods where it abounds with its 
showy blossoms. It is one of the best plants 
of this class of stove plants which has been 
introduced for some time past. The habit of 
the plant is robust, the creeping perennial 
stems rambling about the trunks of trees, 
rooting as they go ; both the stem and petioles 
are densely hairy. The leaves are large, al- 
ternate, oblong acuminate, denticulate and 
downy on the edges as well as beneath. The 
flowers are disposed in dense axillary fascicles, 
and are both large and very numerous ; they 
are tubular, and curved with a spreading limb, 
of a rich crimson colour, and velvety surface ; 
the limb is marked with dark blotches ; each 
flower has two stamens, which project consi- 
derably. Native of Java, growing in the 
mountain woods. Introduced in 1846. Flowers 
in autumn, probably at other periods. It is 
the Justicia parasitica (Lamarck) ; and the 
Cyrtandra staminea (Vahl). Culture. — Re- 
quires a stove, but probably not extreme stove 
heat ; light rich turfy soil ; propagated freely 
by cuttings in a hotbed. 
GARDENIA NITIDA. 
Gardenia nitida, Hooker (glossy-leaved 
Gardenia). — Cinchonaceae § Gardenidse. 
Several new and very striking kinds of 
Gardenias have been, within a brief period, 
introduced to our gardens; and the older kinds, 
known by the name of Cape Jasmines, are held 
in especial esteem from their powerful and 
delightful odour. The present species is a 
nevy and very distinct plant from any other 
which is known. 
It forms a dense compact sturdy evergreen 
shrub ; a flowering plant sent to Sir W. J. 
Hooker, for the purpose of being figured, was 
but two feet high and three feet across, so 
that in the mere leafy state, without flowers, 
it is an interesting plant. The leaves are 
large, oblong lanceolate, tapering to both ex- 
tremities, the base being extended into a short 
petiole ; they are wavy, very glossy, and dark 
green above, and paler beneath. The flowers 
are axillary, solitary, and stalkless ; they are, 
moreover, large, white, and deliciously fra- 
grant ; the calyx tube is an inch long, slender, 
and cylindrical, with a limb of seven spreading 
obovate or spathulate leafy segments ; the 
corolla tube is slender, cylindrical, slightly 
wider upwards, projecting much beyond the 
calyx, the limb consisting of seven very long 
oblong obtuse segments, which soon become 
reflexed, their margins being also reflexed ; 
these give the blossoms a very distinct cha- 
racter. 
Our only knowledge of the plant is derived 
from the account published in the Botanical 
Magazine, where Sir W. Hooker states that 
the plant had been received by him " from the 
stove of Messrs. Lucombe, Pince & Co. [of 
Exeter], who raised it from seeds taken from 
a dried specimen, gathered by Mr. Whitfield 
[natural history collector for the Earl of 
