FUGOSIA HAKE^FOLIA, 
157 
FUGOSIA HAKE^FOLIA. 
(Hooker.) 
HAKEA-LEAVED FUGOSIA. 
The genus Fugosia embraces certain species . 
formerly called Hibiscus, the former name 
being given in honour of Bernard Cienfuegos, 
a Spanish botanist of the sixteenth century. 
Fugosia hakecefolia is a very ornamental plant, 
closely allied to Hibiscus lilacinus, both 
natives of Australia. 
The plant under notice forms a shrub of 
four or five feet high, growing erect, and but 
sparingly branched, the branches twiggy, dark 
green, and quite smooth, as also is every part 
of the plant. The leaves are rather few and 
a good deal scattered, varying much in their 
form ; some, the lower ones, are twice pinna- 
tifid (bipinnatifid), the uppermost ones are 
entire, that is, without any lobes, and the in- 
termediate ones are usually three-lobed (trifid); 
the upper entire leaves, and the segments of 
the others, are narrow linear, somewhat fleshy 
and slightly grooved above. The flowers 
grow singly out of the axils of the leaves, and 
are large and handsome ; they are of the 
malvaceous or mallow-like form, the ,petals of 
a soft purplish lilac colour, paler below, and 
each marked at the base with a dark red- 
purple radiating spot, which adds greatly to 
the rich appearance of the flowers. When 
fully expanded the flowers are between three 
and four inches across, but the petals soon 
become reflected backwards ; they, however, 
remain many days expanded, which is some- 
what unusual among this family of plants ; 
they are produced profusely during the sum- 
mer months, and flower at this period, even 
when newly raised from seeds in the spring. 
It was raised by Messrs, Lucombe, Pince, 
and Co., of Exeter, in the spring of 1846, from 
seeds received from the Swan River colony 
in Australia. Native specimens have also 
been received from King George's Sound, and 
Flinder's Bay. 
It is a green-house shrubby plant, and 
should be potted in a compost of sandy loam 
and leaf mould, intermixed with a sufficient 
quantity of sharp gritty sand, to render the 
mass quite porous. Being a free gi-owing 
plant it requires plenty of pot room when 
growing; the pots must, however, be well 
drained, and there is no better material fcr 
this purpose than lumps of charcoal broken 
to about the size of walnuts, a large piece of 
potsherd being laid in the bottom of the pot ; 
some portions of the charcoal may also be 
thrown in among the compost when the potting 
is going on. For a full-sized plant a pot not less 
than eighteen inches, and from that to two 
feet in diameter, should be allowed ; they 
will, however, flower in smaller pots, but then 
the plants must be frequently topped while 
young to keep them dwarf; this topping 
must be discontinued two months before 
blossoms are expected. The plants require a 
liberal supply of water when growing, and 
are benefited by occasional applications, say 
once a week, of weak manure water. In the 
autumn they may be partially cut down, re- 
potted into smaller pots, and kept during 
winter in a warm part of the greenhouse, and 
very slightly watered. 
Cuttings may be struck early in spring, the 
plants being previously placed in a warm pit, 
to induce them to throw out the necessary 
