NOTES ON FLOWERS. 
167 
sub-shrubby plant, growing from two to three 
feet high, with large opposite ovate acuminate 
leaves, red beneath, and which also exhibit 
the remarkable peculiarity of one of each pair 
being smaller than the other ; the flowers are 
interminal and axillary, rather loose spikes, and 
are funnel-shaped, with a curved tube, and 
spreading five-lobed limb, of a bluish lilac 
colour. A native of Nepal. Introduced in 
1826. Flowers from March to July. Also 
called JRuellia SaMniana (Lindley). Culture. 
— Requires a stove ; loamy soil ; propagated 
by cuttings placed in a hot-bed. (88) 
Paxtonia rosea, Lindley (rose-coloured 
Paxtonia). — Orchidacese § Epidendrese-Ble- 
tida?. — A pseudo-bulbous plant, with plaited 
lance-shaped leaves, a foot long, and an erect 
flower-scape springing from the base of the 
bulbs, and growing about as high as the leaves; 
these stems bear several flowers towards the 
top ; the flowers are half an inch across, and 
of a pretty rose colour. A native of Manilla, 
one of the Philippine islands. Introduced in 
1837. Flowers from May to September. 
Culture. — Requires a stove, and to be potted 
in turfy loam, leaf-mould, and sand ; propa- 
gated by division of the plant. (89) 
Hippeastkum aulicum, Herbert (crowned 
Hippeastrum) — Amaryllidacese § Amarylleae. 
— -A large bulbous plant, from the top of which 
grow a few strap-shaped leaves, two or more 
feet in length by nearly two inches broad, and 
producing a flower-stalk two feet high, bearing 
about two flowers; the flowers are slightly 
tubular at the base, divided into six segments 
of a campanulate shape, the three innermost of 
which are the largest, crimson, with a green 
star at the mouth of the tube. A native of 
Brazil. Introduced in 1816. Flowers from 
January to July. Also known as Amaryllis 
aidica (Ker). Culture. — Requires a stove ; 
rich strong alluvial loam ; good drainage ; 
propagated by offsets or seeds. (90) 
Lotus albidus, Loddiges (whitish flowered 
Lotus).— Fabacese § Papilionaceas-Trifolieae. — 
A sub- shrubby plant, growing about two feet 
high, with a loose branching habit, palmately 
trifoliate leaves, with oblong leaflets, and two 
stipules resembling the leaflets : the flowers 
grow in umbels from the axils on long stalks, 
whitish, with a few dashes of reddish purple ; 
they are fragrant. A native of Australia. In- 
troduced in 1822. Flowers in June to August. 
Culture. — Requires a greenhouse, and to be 
grown in sandy well-drained soil ; propagated 
by cuttings or by seeds. (91) 
Ctrtanthus spiraxis, Ker (spiral-leaved 
Cyrtanthus). — Amaryllidacese § Amarylleas. — 
A bulbous plant, with spiral glaucous leaves, 
about three-eighths of an inch wide, dying in 
winter ; the flower-stem bears at its summit 
about seven pendulous flowers, which are 
tubular, slightly swelled near the middle, and 
divided at the mouth into six segments ; they 
are of an orange-red colour, shading off into 
yellow below. A native of the Cape of Good 
Hope. Introduced in 1790. Flowering from 
May to August. Culture. — Requires an airy 
dry stove ; free loam ; no water after the 
leaves die; generally imported, as it is diffi- 
cult to keep any time. (92) 
Acanthophippium bicolor, Lindley (two 
coloured Acanthophippium). — Orchidaceas § 
Vandea3-Cryptochilida3. — A herbaceous pe- 
rennial plant, with oblong-ovate channelled 
pseudo-bulbs, oblong lance-shaped plaited 
leaves, a foot long, and short flower-scapes, a 
few inches high, springing from the root, and 
each bearing four or five large somewhat pouch- 
shaped flowers, which grow closely together, 
and are yellowish green, the segments tipped 
with rosy purple ; the cluster of flowers has 
been compared to gaudy plumaged young birds 
in their nest, the unexpanded blooms re- 
sembling those with the beak closed, the others 
look like the nestlings gaping for food. A 
native of Ceylon. Introduced in 1833. Flowers 
in June and July. Culture: — Requires a stove, 
and to be potted in rough peat, sand, and pot- 
sherds; propagated by division of the plant. (93) 
Dicksonia Antarctica, Labillardiere (ant- 
arctic Dicksonia). — Polypodiaeeae § Polypo- 
dese. — A noble and graceful arborescent fern, 
in its native country growing with a trunk 
thirty feet high and upwards ; from the top ot 
this springs a tuft or crown of very elegant 
fronds ; these fronds are very large, several 
feet long and proportionately wide, and consist 
of very numerous small segments or divisions, 
so that it is termed supra-decompound, that is, 
very much divided. The tree ferns are very 
slow in acquiring stems, and no very large 
plants exist in this country. A native of Van 
Diemen's Land. Introduced in 1824 to the 
royal garden at Kew. Also called Balantium 
antarcticum (Presl), and Cibotium Billar- 
dieri (Kaulfuss). Culture. — Requires a green- 
house ; rough turfy loam and peat ; must be 
very carefully watered ; propagated by seeds 
or spores, but young plants are many years 
acquiring the tree-like habit ; and those which 
exist of any size have been imported. (94) 
Phtcella ignea, var. corusca (glittering 
Phycella). — Amaryllidaceas § Narcisseas. — A 
bulbous plant, with narrow strap-shaped leaves, 
tipped with red, and a flow r er-stem bearing a 
bunch of flowers at the top ; the flowers are 
tubular, divided into six segments, about two 
and a. half inches long, yellow at the base, and 
scarlet at the apex ; the bulbs are black coated. 
A native of North Chili, in sandy soil near 
Concon. Introduced in 1825. Flowers from 
May to September. Known also as Amaryllis 
ignea (Lindley). Culture. — Nearly hardy in 
