1 Ifl 
NOTES ON FLOWERS. 
Shithia purpurea, Hooker (purple- 
flowered Smithia). — Fabaceas § Papilionacea> 
Hedysareae. — A small tu-iggy annual (?) 
plant, with erect slender stems, furnished with 
elegant stalkless leaves, closely pinnated, and 
having from ten to twelve pairs of small ob- 
long leaflets : the flowers grow from two to 
five together, in short racemes at the ends of 
the shoots ; they are small, butterfly-shaped, 
and of a deep purple colour, with a spot or 
two of white near the base. A native of 
Bombay. Introduced in 1846. Flowers from 
Augustto October. Culture — Requires a stove; 
peat, loam, and sand; propagated by seed. (43) 
Cordyline Eu^iphii, Hooker (Rurnphius' 
Cordyline). — Liliaceae § Asparageas. — A 
shrubby plant, with a simple erect stem, two 
or three feet high, bearing foliage at the sum- 
mit ; the leaves are linear, lance-shaped, a 
foot and a half long, and gracefully recurved ; 
the flowers, which are very numerous, and of 
a green and white colour, grow in large ter- 
minal branching panicles. The plant has the 
habit of a Dracaena, or more remotely that of 
a Yucca. A native of Amboyna, and of Java. 
Date of introduction unrecorded. Flowers 
in July. Also called Sansieveira fruticosa 
(Blume). Culture. — Requires a cool stove ; 
peat and loam, and plenty of pot-room ; pro- 
pagated by off-shoots from the plant. (44) 
Exogoniu3I Purga, Beutkam (Purga, or 
true Jalap). — Convolvulaceae § Convolvuleae. 
— A beautiful slender twining plant, produc- 
ing roundish tubers, which become as large as 
a moderate-sized turnip, and give rise to 
numerous rootlets and stems ; the leaves are 
rather small, cordate, very much acuminated, 
so as to approach arrow-shaped ; the flowers 
grow from the axils, usually two or three 
together, rarely singly ; they are of a purplish 
red colour, between funnel and salver-shaped ; 
that is, they have a long slender tube, and an 
expanded limb about two and a half inches 
across. A native of the high mountains of 
Mexico. Introduced to England many years 
ago, and to the Edinburgh Botanic Garden 
about 1838 ; but subsequently lost, and re- 
introduced. Flowers in August and Septem- 
ber. Also called Ipomcea Jalapa (Nuttall), 
I. Purga (Wenderoth), I. Sckieduma (Zuc- 
carini), and Convolvulus Jalapa (Schiede). 
Culture. — Rpquires a frame or cool green- 
house, just free from frost ; light rich loam ; 
propagated by cuttings or seeds. (45) 
Begoxia fuchsioides, Hooker (fuchsia- 
like Elephant's Ear). — Begoniaceae. — A beau- 
tiful sub-shrubby plant, with erect, gracefully 
branching succulent stems, and furnished 
with copious small oblong -ovate serrated 
leaves ; the flowers grow in drooping panicles 
from axils at the ends of the numerous branches, 
anl are of a rich deep scarlet colour ; they 
are usually, as far as yet known (1847), 
dioecious, that is, the male and female blossoms 
are produced on separate plants. The blos- 
soms seen from a short distance much re- 
semble a bunch of fuchsia flowers, and 
indeed the whole plant bears considerable 
resemblance to a free grown fuchsia. In it3 
native country, it is eaten by the mule drivers 
to allay thirst. A native of the Ocana 
mountains of New Grenada. Introduced to 
Kew in 1846. Flowers in November and De- 
cember. Culture. — Requires a stove ; loam 
and peat, with plenty of pot room, well 
drained ; propagated freely by cuttings. (46) 
Niph^ea ale-o-lineata, Hooher (white- 
lined Niphaea). — Gesneracese § Gesnereas. — 
A small pretty perennial plant, producing 
elongated scaly tubers — of which each scale 
will produce a plant ; erect stems, growing a 
span high, with opposite leaves of rather large 
size, ovate, and coarsely serrated, and having 
the principal veins mai'ked with white lines 
on the upper surface ; the flowers grow in a 
crowded umbel-like manner from the axils of 
the upper leaves, which are somewhat near 
together ; they are about half-an-inch across, 
wheel-shaped, of a pure white colour, with 
notched edges. A native of moist banks near 
Laguneta, Ocana, in New Grenada. Intro- 
duced to Kew in 1845. Flowers in September 
and October, or at other periods according to 
the time when started, soon arriving at per- 
fection. Culture. — Requires a stove ; loam, 
peat, and leaf- mould; propagated by the scaly 
tubers, by cuttings, or by planting the leaves 
in sand. (47) 
Calaxthe curculigoides, Wallich (yellow- 
spiked Calanthe). — Orchidaceaa § Vandeaa- 
Calanthidere. — A handsome terrestrial orchid, 
growing with a tuft of oblong plaited leaves, and 
a spike-like raceme from the base of the plant, 
thickly clothed with moderate sized orange- 
buff coloured flowers, with a spot or two of 
crimson in the centre, and a singular curved 
spur behind ; in wild specimens, the flowering 
part of these racemes is a foot in length. A 
native of Malacca. Introduced by Messrs. Lod- 
diges in 1843. Flowers in November. Culture. 
— Requires a hot damp stove ; potted in turfy 
peat ; propagated slowly by division. (48) 
Raphistemma pulchella, Wallich (pretty 
Baphistemma). — Asclepiadacere § Stapelire. — 
An evergreen twining plant of the habit of 
Stephanotis, and resembling S. floribunda ; 
it has pointed heart-shaped shining leaves, 
and numerous umbels of large white sweet- 
scented salver-shaped flowers, with ovate ob- 
tuse segments. A native of various parts oc 
the East Indies. Introduced about 1845. 
Flowers in October. It is also known as 
Asclepias pidchella (Roxburgh), and Pergu- 
laria (?) campanulata (Hamilton). Culture.^ 
