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BOUVARDIA LEIANTHA. 
BOUVARDIA LEIANTHA. 
Nat. Order. — Ces-choxace-E. 
97 
Generic Character. — Bouvardia, Salisbury. — Calyx with a 
subglobose tube, adherent to the ovary, limb superior, four- 
parted, the lobes — linear-awl-shaped, sometimes with inter- 
mediate teeth. Corolla superior, tubular - funnel - shaped, 
elongated, velvety-papillose outside, glabrous or bearded within, 
throat naked, limb four-parted, spreading, short. Stamens 
four ; Jilanients very short or almost wanting; anthers linear, 
included. Ovary inferior, somewhat exserted at the apex, two- 
celled ; ovules amphitropous, numerous, inserted on an orbicular 
placenta on each side of the dissepiment ; style filiform ; stiyma 
bi-lamellar, exserted. Capsule membranous, compressed- 
globular, two-celled, septifragously two-valved at the summit. 
Seeds numerous, compressed, peltate, imbricated, surrounded by 
a membranous wing. — Mexican shrubs; leaves opposite or in 
whorls, stipules narrow, acute, adnate to the petioles on each 
side ; peduncles terminal, three-flowered or three-forked, corym- 
bose.— (Endlicher Gen. Plant. 3265). 
Bouvabdia lei.antfia, Bcntham. — Smooth-flowered Bouvar- 
dia. — Leaves ternate, ovate, acuminate, rounded or sub-cordate 
at the base, slightly hairy above, pubescent-villous beneath, as 
are also the branchlcts ; corymbs sub-triehotonious ; teeth of 
the calyx one fifth the length of the glabrous tube of the corolla. 
BESCRTPTION. — Robust ; the stem erect, downy, with a somewhat decurved pubescence, 
two and a half to three feet high, branched above, the divisions terminating in the inflor- 
escence. Leaves ternate, dull green, ovate acuminate, nearly four inches long, rugose, clothed on 
both sides with soft short white hairs, most conspicuous on the raised nerves of the lower face. 
Stipules subulate, acute. Inflorescence in veiy compound trichotomous cymes, from the axils of 
smaller lanceolate bract-like leaves ; bracts of the pedimeles linear. Calyx with five short acute 
linear teeth. Tube of the corolla obovately four-comered, nearly one inch long ; limb of four 
triangularly-ovate acuminate spreading lobes, of a rich deep vermilion colour ; stamens included, 
the filaments adherent to the tube of the corolla, and equal to it in length ; style half the length 
of the tube, with a two-forked stigma. 
Histort, &c. — A distinct and freely-blooming species from Guatemala. It was grown last 
summer in Mr. Salter's Nursery, at Hammersmith ; where the plant from which our drawing 
was taken continued to blossom from July to November. — A. H. 
Culture. — It is singular that a family of plants so rich in colour as this is should not be 
more generally cultivated than it is, for certainly a more gorgeous bed for the flower-garden, 
than one produced by a few dozens of Bouvardias planted side by side, it would be difficult to 
imagine. Years back, in some old gardens in the north of England, Bouvardias used to be seen 
in great abundance, and presented splendid masses of colour in the old mixed borders, and also 
as pot specimens for the greenhouse stage. They are propagated with great facility, both by 
cuttings of the young wood and by pieces of the roots cut into lengths of one inch each. In 
both cases the cuttings should bo placed in a gentle bottom heat, and those formed of the young 
shoots must be kept tolerably close. When they have grown to the length of one inch, pot them 
singly into small pots in a light rich compost, and nurse them with care until they are estab- 
lished. Old plants, while in a dormant state, may also be increased by division of the plant, as 
each shoot with a root to it will make a plant. Plants so obtained, or from cuttings of the 
previous year, are the best for planting out in the flower-garden, as if they are not strong they 
rarely flower satisfactorily. The proper time to divide the old plants is in March ; each part 
should be potted in rich light compost, such as loam, leaf-mould, and rotten dung, and they 
must then be placed in a forcing-house or hotbed to induce them to start vigorously, and until 
they are thoroughly established. Afterwards move them to the air, so as to get them thoroughly 
hardened by the time they are planted in the garden in May. The soil in which they are 
planted should be rich, deep, and well drained, and the situation must be rather sheltered. 
During the winter the plants may be kept dry under the greenhouse stage, or in a shed or cellar. 
The subject under notice is a very pretty addition to this useful tribe of plants, and, flowering 
late in the autumn, is very suitable for pot cultivation for the greenhouse. — A. 
THE CHEMISTRY OE SOILS AXD MANURES. 
By Du. A. Yor.i.c kf.r, Professor, of Chemistry in the Royal Agricultural College, CmsxcBSTBR. 
INORGANIC MATTERS- U.IMINA. [RON. 
M T.UMINA. — Like Totash, Soda, Lime, and Magnesia, constituents of fertile soils, considered in a 
XX former paper (p. 14), Alumina is a compound of a metal— -Aluminum— -with Oxygen, which 
occurs very abundantly in the mineral kingdom, both free, or uncombined, and in combination with 
P 
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