410 
AMARYLLIDACE-E. 
after they had been plunged in a cold cistern of water, in the 
coolest part of the stove, are still (in the month of December, 
1836) thriving rapidly in that situation, where it appears 
that they might remain permanently, like v. acutifolia. A 
pot of bulbs of v. Staplesiana which had been set under 
water in a pond at SpofForth last summer has had the points 
of the leaves above water cut by the frost, but the lower part 
and the bulbs are uninjured. Four bulbs of v. acutifolia 
were turned out into a border of peaty compost at the begin- 
ning of May. They were taken up in November, without 
disturbing the ball, to be kept dry throughout the winter, 
and were found to have quadrupled their bulk, though the 
season was so unfavourable that the oat harvest was unfinished 
at the beginning of December in the neighbourhood. I am 
satisfied that the reason why the mule from rotata by adnata 
v. princeps has never yet brought to perfection its flowers, 
which have invariably perished in the bud, is that it requires 
at that period immersion in water. The mule has usually 
produced about six abortive buds. I shall be disappointed 
if I do not see its inflorescence completed next season by 
treating it as a swamp plant at the season of flowering. It 
is very probable that Hym. crassifolia may, as well as some 
oriental species of Crinum, require a like increase of wet to 
promote their blossom. 
Kew Garden. — When I spoke (p. 247) of the evil con- 
sequences which flowed from the bad system pursued there, 
tending to loosen the ties of morality, and to create a feeling 
of satisfaction when it was known that cuttings had been 
stolen from the large plants hoarded there, by which the 
public were enriched without any perceivable loss to the col- 
lection, I should perhaps have stated for fear of misconstruc- 
tion, that, far from justifying, I much lamented such a feel- 
ing ; and I observe that I have incautiously admitted a 
stronger expression concerning the unpopularity of the prin- 
ciple on which that garden has been conducted, than I should 
wish to have used. 
Lapiedra. — The generic name of this plant, which grows 
in stony situations, appears to be singularly cross-bred be- 
tween the Latin and Spanish words for a stone, lapis and 
piedra. The name sounds well, and we must overlook its 
awkward parentage, but such an amalgamation should not be 
drawn into a precedent. 
Liriope. — The name Liriope, which I gave fifteen years 
ago to a South American genus, appearing to have been long 
