433 
ACHIMENES ARGYROSTIGMA. 
(Hooker.) 
SILVER- SPOTTED ACHIMENES. 
There are some plants admired for their 
fragrance, and others for their beauty ; but, 
as far as we can yet judge, the present 
subject will rest its claims upon different 
qualities. It has no fragrance to boast of, 
neither is there any very striking beauty 
about the plant, but nevertheless it will not 
be without its admirers ; and the qualities 
that will be admired are these : — its neat and 
pretty flowers ; its dark green foliage, with 
silvery blotches ; and the ease with which it 
may be cultivated. The plant has a short 
stem, furnished with opposite, elliptical, ob- 
tuse, downy leaves, of a deep velvety green, 
marked with scattered white spots. The 
flowers are produced in upright racemes from 
the axils of the upper leaves, generally three 
together, which rise eight or ten inches high, 
and produce flowers numerously, nearly 
throughout their whole length; they are small, 
whitish, with a deep stain of red on the out- 
side of the tube, and mottled with red and 
yellow in the inside. The appearance of the 
flowers on their erect raceme, at a superficial 
glance, calls to mine' the pretty little eyebright 
(Euphrasia officinalis) of our native flora. 
The plant generally forms a little tuft, and 
produces quite a cluster of these flower spikes, 
and, as they continue in bloom for a long 
time, throughout the summer months it main- 
tains its interest; at the same time, its foliage 
alone will present the most permanent source 
of interest; for, under anything like cultivation, 
these, with their mottled surfaces, will appear 
very ornamental, and their beauty will, of 
course, continue throughout the year. This 
plant presents a striking contrast to all the 
other species of Achimenes introduced to our 
gardens : they are, with this exception, ex- 
ceedingly gay, and, in the fullest sense, orna- 
mental plants, producing flowers of large size 
or brilliant and attractive colour — and that, 
too, in the greatest profusion. Here we have 
a species of the same family, whose claims to 
attention are of a totally different character ; 
the flowers are small, but, on close inspection, 
they will be found to be exceedingly pretty ; 
and the leaves are covered with silvery spots, 
which, at all times, and under any circum- 
stances of ordinary cultivation, have an in- 
teresting character. 
We have seen plants of this novelty at 
Kew, and other places, during the summer ; 
and a plant from the former establishment 
was exhibited at a recent meeting of the 
London Horticultural Society. In the " Bo- 
tanical Magazine," where a figure is given 
from which our engraving is prepared, Sir 
1 1 
