206 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF NEW PLANTS. 
mg soil. This, as a matter of course, increases the depth of 
useful earth, and in after seasons the mounds may be increased 
in size, to meet the requirements of the trees; and, by reason of 
the roots being so kept within the influence of the sun, a state 
of fruitfulness is brought on at an earlier period than would be 
the case were they buried in the usual manner. The especial 
care advised to be taken of the roots in lifting the plants, will 
all be thrown away unless the same attention is extended to them 
in their replanting. The tap-root, and others that may have 
been injured, being cut smoothly over, the remainder should be 
regularly spread out as near the surface as may be prudent, and 
the spaces between evenly filled with the earth ; the surface may 
be moderately trodden, to give it the required solidity; and 
the fastening of the trunk to proper stakes will complete the 
operation. 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF NEW PLANTS. 
Balvisie^; (Br.) — NAPOLEONEiE (Endl .)—Monadelphia 
Decandria . 
Napoleona imperialis (Palisot de Beauvois). A more than or¬ 
dinary interest has attached to this plant, arising partly from the 
circumstances under which the species was discovered, and partly 
from its name, given in honour of one of the most remarkable 
men that ever lived, and still more perhaps, from the singular 
structure and colour of the flower, as exhibited in the figure of 
the Baron Palisot de Beauvois,—so remarkable, indeed, that 
doubts have been expressed of the very existence of the plant. 
In 1843, Mr. Whitfield returned from one of his many voyages 
of natural history research to Sierra Leone, and brought with him 
both living and dried specimens of Napoleona , the latter of which, 
after a most careful investigation. Dr. Lindley concludes to be 
identical with Beauvois’s plant, and I think with justice; for 
though, when recent, these flowers are described by Mr.Whitfield 
to be “ apricot-coloured and crimson,” yet the same traveller 
remarks, that, when decaying, they assume a bluish tint, which 
will account for their colour as described by Beauvois. At 
length, in 1848, one of the living plants, brought home by Mr. 
