Plate 318. 
ALTEENANTHEEA 
SESSILIS, var. AMCENA. 
The changes that have taken place in the decoration of our 
gardens of late years have been very remarkable; all the old- 
fashioned notions have been discarded, the old occupants of our 
borders voted useless, and beds, filled with masses of gay 
flowers, and borders formed into elaborate ribbon-patterns, 
have taken their place; but even this is in process of altera¬ 
tion, and now, after a cold, and cheerless summer, many of our 
most ardent gardeners are seriously discussing whether it would 
not be better to depend more on foliage and less on flowers, 
saying that while Verbenas looked draggled, and Geraniums 
even failed to please, Coleus Verschaffeltii , Iresine HerbsMi , and 
others of a similar character were full of beauty. 
From this cause it has happened that many hitherto little- 
thought-of plants have been brought into notice, and others 
have been introduced as iikely to be of use. Three new plants 
have been much spoken of; we saw them all on trial at Batter¬ 
sea Park, and decidedly that which we now figure bore away 
the palm. Alternanthera sjoathulata is a dwarf-growing plant, 
with spathulate leaves, marked with pink-crimson and choco¬ 
late-brown, but it has a dingy appearance, and we do not think 
will ever be a favourite. Teleianthera ficoidea versicolor is a 
dwarf-branching perennial, with narrow ovate leaves, tapered 
below, and variegated with rose-colour and deep red; we have 
grown this ourselves as a border plant, but cannot say that 
it seems to us to be likely to be generally useful. Alternan- 
thera sessilis , var. cimcena , is, as a reference to our Plate will 
show, a very dwarf, neat-habited plant; the leaves are spa¬ 
thulate, and are richly coloured with red, crimson, and amber, 
with dark olive-green tips. In some instances, where small beds 
