Scotch Fir begins ; and in the Alps the Birch is said to 
fail even helow the Spruce Fii\ But in Lapland, the 
Birch extends far ahoTe the Scotch Fir, and, in fact, as- 
cends higher on the mountains than any other tree. 
AssrauLQg the correctness of these ohserTations (which 
for Lapland and the Alps cannot he questioned) ire are 
hound to conclude that there are peculiarities of con- 
stitution in certain species, which enable them to ascend 
proportionally higher in one latitude than another. In 
other words, an Alpine flora is not necessarily an 
Arctic flora in its character. Hence the saying of Lin- 
naeus, " Plantae diversae indicant altitudinem perpen- 
dicularem terrse," must be regarded, not as an axiom, 
but as a problem, the complete solution of which stiU 
remains to be effected. It is well known that some 
plants will h&ax forcing, that is, will survive and flourish 
under constant excitement and irritation, much better 
than others ; hence, we could hardly expect any plant 
which will not bear some degree of forcing, to thiive in 
the rapid simimer with its long days, and proportionally 
meridional heat of countiies bordering on the Ai'ctic 
circle, should it even subsist through the rigorous win- 
ter of that region. — Spruce, in Trans. Bot. Soc. Hdin., 
iii. 118. 
NEW AND RARE PLANTS. 
Grlffinia LiBONiAifA, Bc Jonfflw. Libon's GrilE- 
nia {Joiirn. Sort. Soc, v. 137). — Nat. Ord., Amaryllida- 
cese § Amarylleae. — A distinct-looking bulbous stove 
plant, with narrow oblong flaccid leaves, mottled with 
palUd blotches on a dark green ground. The flowers 
are small, ifltramarine, with very narrow segments, 
whitish on the lower half, and having short decUnate 
stamens ; they grow on a scape six inches high, — From 
Brazil: introduced in 1848 by M. Do Jonghe, of Brus- 
sels. Flowers in spring. Horticultural Society. 
LiNTJSi GRANDLFLORUM, Bcsfontaines. Large flower- 
ed Flax (JRevue Horticole ii., 404). — Nat. Ord., Lina- 
cea3. — A veiy pretty dwarf glaucous annual plant, of 
erect branching habit ; the lower leaves are small, 
closely placed, narrow obtuse; the upper ones ovate, 
acute, or acuminate, delicately fringed. The flowers 
are numerous, more than an inch across, crimson, with 
five whitish spaces in the eye. It is said to flower in 
succession, and to be showy for flower borders. — From 
Algiers ; introduced to the French gardens in 1847. 
Flowers from July to October. 
^scHYNAUTHUs jAVAKicus, Soolcer. Java Blush - 
wort (^Bot. Mag. t., 4503). — Nat. Ord., Gesueracese § 
Cyrtandreaa. ■ — A very beautiful and compact gi'ow- 
iug, soft-stemmed, stove shrub ; the round succulent 
stems throwing out roots from beneath the petioles. 
The leaves are opposite, ovate, somewhat fleshy, with a 
few obscure angular teeth. The flowers are numerous, 
in terminal corymbs, the calyx ample, downy, with a 
eylindiical tube, and spreading limb, the coroUa large, 
with a slender funnel-shaped, downy tube, compressed 
sideways, bright red, the mouth oblique, the limb of 
four nearly equal spreading ovate lobes streaked and 
blotched with yellow. — From Java ; introduced in 1848, 
Flowers in summer. Messrs. EoUissou, of Tooting. 
■Waeeea CANDIDA, Litidlcy. 'White-flowered War- 
rea {¥axt. Fl. Gard.i., 32).— Nat. Ord., Orchidacea; § 
Vandeaj-MaxiUaridje. — Syn : Huntleya Candida, of gar- 
dens. — A rather pretty stove epiphyte, dwar-f, with the 
habit of Huntleya. The leaves are broadly ligiflate, 
recurved at the point. The flowers grow three together, 
as in the Himtleyas ; they are pure white, the centre of 
the lip purple, towards the edge blue-violet, at the 
base white streaked with red ; the sepals and petals 
oval acute, the lip somewhat four cornered, the apex 
retuse, the base saccate and angular. — From Bahia ; 
introduced to Paris in 1S48. Flowers in February. 
AcANTHOPHiPPiuM JAVANicmi, Blitme. Javanese 
Acanthophippirmi {Bot. Mag. t., 4492). — Nat. Ord., 
Orchidaceae § Vandeffi-Cryptochflidse. — A handsome and 
very curious terrestrial stove perennial of the Orchida- 
ceous race, having elongated, cylindrical, jointed pseudo- 
bulbs, which, when young, are surmounted by two or 
three ovate-lanceolate, thin plaited leaves. The scape 
issues from the base of the pseudo-bulbs, and is six or 
eight inches high, thick, and bearing many bracts. The 
showy flowers, six or eight in number, gi-ow singly 
from within as many of the uppermost bracts ; their 
colour is yellow, tinged and sb-eaked with purpUsh 
rose ; the sepals and petals are ti-iangular-ovate, and 
by their arrangement form a pitcher-shaped flower, 
which is exti-cmely gibbous at the base, on the under 
side and qmte encloses the lip. — From Java ; woods on 
the moimtaiu Salak; introduced in 1844. Flowers 
in summer. 
^ 
