question » what is this plant like? or to wlmt plant can it be compared? will natu¬ 
rally be asked : — imagine then f. leaf of a rich olilve velvet ground colour, traversed 
broadwise by large bars of beautiful magenta and dotted all over with millions of 
spots of the same colour, — this imagination will however give only a slight idea 
of the real beauty of this plant. 
The BERTOLONIA MIR ANDREI, though quite as solid as the foregoing variety, 
the leaves are not crossed with bars, but are uniformly dotted with millions of 
magenta spots on a blackish olive velvet carpet. 
BERTOLONIA MARCHANDI has dark velvet green leaves, striped with silver 
bars, and constitutes a somewhat relieving contrast, when the eyes have rested on 
the dazzling colouring of the first two varieties. 
THE BERTOLONIAS have been at the Dublin Exhibition last week. On this 
occasion, the Irish Times of Friday 23 April says : 
« A novel and interesting feature of the show was the exhibition by M. Louis Van 
« Houtte, of Ghent, of two exceptionally beautiful specimens of the Bertolonia tribe, 
« perfectly new. These had been shown at Antwerp, where they created much 
« curiosity and interest amongst horticulturists. One has dark brown velvet leaves, 
« with rich satin streaks running through them, and giving the plant the appearance 
« of being set off with topaz veins. The second is of the same species, only that 
« instead of the leaves being streaked, they appear to have been sprinkled over with 
« gems that emit a brilliant purple light. » 
On Wednesday 28 April, they will be shown at the Regent’s Park Exhibition. 
The 7 and 8 May, they will appear at the Royal Botanic Gardens Show, at 
Glasgow, and so on. 
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