1876. ] 
EPAORIS ONOSM^FLOEA FLOEE-PLENO. 
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EPACKIS ONOSMiEFLORA FLORE-PLENO. 
^^EOBABLT, as indicated by Mr. Bentbam in tlie Flora Australieiisis^ the 
Epacris onosmopjlora of Cunningham is specifically identical with E. pur- 
purascens of Brown, and E. pungens of Sims ; but in that case the latter 
is the best name for general use, inasmuch as the name p)urpurascens^' for 
a white-flowered plant, carries with it an 
apparent contradiction. The preference 
which has been given in gardens to that 
of E. onosmcejiora fiore-pleno^ for the plant 
here represented by a woodcut (from the 
Gardeners’ Chronicle)^ appears to be based 
on its having been originally received 
under that name. It is an erect rigid 
evergreen greenhouse shrub, the elon¬ 
gated branches of which are covered by 
the ovate - acuminate pungent leaves, 
which are concave and embracing the 
stem at the base, and spreading or re¬ 
curved in the upper part. In the axil of 
every leaf appears a flower, so that the 
branches become converted into long 
spikes of pretty double white flowers, the 
peculiar feature of which is their double¬ 
ness—a condition which, though known 
to exist in another species of the genus, 
E. impressa^ has not been known hitherto 
amongst the plants cultivated in our 
greenhouses. It is a very beautiful plant, 
one which will be welcomed amongst de¬ 
corative subjects, and which may perhaps 
be the means of bringing back into 
more general esteem the many pretty 
species of its family (Ep'-a-cris, not 
E-pac'-ris, as it is commonly called) 
which have been pushed aside by 
the garden varieties of E. impressa 
and its close allies, which have 
originated during the past few years. 
This welcome novelty was imported from Australia by Mr. Bull, by whom it 
was shown in a blooming state at South Kensington, about a month since, when 
it received a First-class award. The woodcuts show the upper part of one of 
the flowering sprays, and the detached figures represent a side-view, a top-view, 
and a section, all twice the natural size, of one of the flowers.—T. Moore. ^ 
Epacris onosm.®flora flore-pleno. 
