Plate 119 . 
CYPRIPEDIUM ROEZLII. 
We are indebted to Mr. B. S. Williams, of the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Hol- 
loway, for the opportunity of presenting a figure of this fine new Cypripedium to our readers. It 
was originally exhibited, we believe, by Messrs. Veitcli and Sons, of Chelsea, on January 21st 
last, at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, when it received a first-class certificate, 
since which time we have noticed it in several collections both public and private. It was 
discovered by M. Roezl on the banks of the river Dagua, in Columbia, between the western 
and central ranges of the Rocky Mountains, and is the largest and most vigorous growing of 
all known species of Cypripedium. The leaves are upwards of three feet in length ; and the 
stem, which is sometimes three feet high, bears from fifteen to twenty flowers. It is a species 
well deserving the attention of all Orchid-growers, on account of its almost perpetual blooming 
properties; and like the majority of “ Ladies’ slippers,” when once established, its culture is 
very simple. The pots, in the first place, says Mr. Williams, must be well drained, or success 
must not be hoped for ; and the soil should be rough fibrous peat and chopped sphagnum in 
about equal parts. These plants thrive best when potted in the ordinary way, and not elevated 
above the rim of the pot. The subject of our illustration does well in moderate heat, with 
a 2 'ood supply of water ; it is a plant of robust growth, and when it has attained sufficient 
strength is rarely out of flower. 
Plate 120 . 
PHYLLANTHUS NIVOSUS. 
Hr. Seemann, in his “ Flora Vitiensis,” says that one-third of all the Euphorbiacea hitherto 
discovered in Tropical PoUnesia belong to the genus Phyllanthus. Few species present any 
special interest, and none have flowers sufficiently showy for cultivation for ornament. The 
plant we now figure, however, from the collection of Mr. William Bull, of Chelsea, is an 
exception to the general rule so far as the foliage is concerned; for both in leaf, variegation, 
and habit Phyllanthus nivosus is highly ornamental. Like the plants before mentioned 
Mr. Bull’s Phyllanthus comes from Tropical Polynesia, being a deciduous stove shrub from 
the New Hebrides. It is of free branching habit ; the branches, which ramify alternately, 
are furnished with alternate obtusely oval leaves, from one to two inches long, which are 
somewhat oblique in form, entire, frequently almost entirely covered with a mottling of 
white, but in some cases more or less spotted with green. As in many other E'uphorbiacece 
the flowers are inconspicuous, and borne in the axils of the leaves. The great value of 
Phyllanthus nivosus rests on the extreme beauty of the leaf variegation, which, when seen in 
masses, has been aptly compared with a “ sheet of snow,” whence the specific name “ nivosus.” 
The native women of one of the islands of the New Hebrides group (Tanna) are said to be 
in the habit of using the spray of the snow-white foliage for the adornment of their dark 
tresses. Our plant has received first-class certificates from the Royal Horticultural and Royal 
Botanic Societies ; and is, says Mr. Bull, free growing, and of very easy culture, succeeding 
best in a rather shady position in a moist atmosphere. There is no acrid corrosive juice in 
this plant, so common in many of the Euphorbiacece ; the leaves are almost juiceless, and 
the taste is pleasant, being not unlike that of apples. 
