OCTOBER 31.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
59 
NEW PLANTS. 
THEIR PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES. 
Woolly-leaved Myrtle (Myrtus tomentosa). — Gar¬ 
dener* Magazine of Botany, vol. ii. p. 105—This 
Myrtle is a native of the Neilgherry Mountains, in 
India, and of China and Cochin-China, It has been 
known to gardeners and botanists for many years, 
being introduced from China, by Mrs. Norman, as long 
since as 1776. It is a sbrub, and its flowers are more 
beautiful than those of the Common Myrtle (M. com¬ 
munis), inasmuch as that its bright purplish-pink 
flowers become white after a few days, and thus its 
sprays are adorned with blossom of many shades of 
colour between the two extremes we have named. It is 
now becoming more common, yet is of such rare occur¬ 
rence that it may be included among New Plants. It 
requires to be grown in the stove. 
Jasmine-like Rhynchospermum (Rhyncliospermum 
jasminoicles).—Gardeners Magazine of Botany, vol. ii. 
p. 114.—Mr. Fortune, during his “Two years in 
China,’' discovered this plant at Shanghai, in the 
year 1844. It was first made known to the public in 
the Journal of the Horticultural Society (vol. i. p. 74), 
and is, as there described, a slender climbing evergreen 
shrub, rooting along its branches wherever it touche sa 
damp surface, like Ivy. The leaves are deep green and 
glossy like those of the Camellia, and its flowers are 
white, very like those of the Jasmine, and deliciously 
sweet-scented. In habit it is like an Jganosnia, It is 
a greenhouse plant, and requires a trellis. “ It is to the 
greenhouse and conservatory,” says Mr. Ayres, “ what 
Pergularia odoratissima is to the plant stove.” 
Purple-flowered Cuphea (Cuphea purpurea).- 
Flore des Serres, t. 412.—A hybrid perennial sub- 
sbrubby plant, seemingly suitable for bedding out, 
raised about 1848, by M. Helaclie, of St. Omer, from C. 
miniata, by the pollen of C. viscosissima. The flowers 
are rosy tinged with purple, large, and appear through¬ 
out the summer. 
Dr. Wallich’s Berberry ( Berberris Wallichiana).— 
Paxton's Flower Garden, vol. i. p. 79.—This is known in 
gardens as B. macropliylla. It is certainly half-hardy, 
and perhaps a hardy, evergreen shrub, for it has en¬ 
dured, unsheltered, three winters, at Exeter. The deep 
yellow flowers clustered in the axils of the leaves are 
highly ornamental. Introduced in 1845, from Java, by 
Mr. T. Lobb, the plant collector in the service of Messrs. 
Veiteli. Mr. Lobb found it in mountains, at an elevation 
of 9000 feet above the sea’s level. 
A FIVE-POUND GREENHOUSE. 
Our ingenious correspondent, who has succeeded in 
erecting an efficient structure for protecting his plants, 
at a cost so reasonable, has sent us, most obligingly, the 
following details and plans :— 
“ I have attempted two or three sketches of my green¬ 
house, but I fear very much I shall not have served your 
purpose. My wife has succeeded better in the “ tout 
ensemble,” which I also enclose. In the materials I am 
better satisfied, as the calculations of their cost is not at all 
difficult. 
“ Of course, much ingenuity would naturally be exercised 
in the application of the various parts, and some reflection 
as to the best mode of placing the laths, so as to throw off 
the rain. My glass lies over the plate, so that no splashing 
can take place. A little zinc gutter, with pipe into a drain, 
carries away all the roof-water. 
“ A person glazing the upright glass would find thin lead 
S this shape, placed on the lowest frame of glass (upheld 
by a brad), of great use in supporting the next one, and so 
on until all the row is finished. The lead can be removed 
when the putty dries. You will perceive, with such light 
material the house has no shade at all; indeed, it is the 
same, except the glass, as if the plants were outside. It is 
low outside, to suit the size of my ground. Inside, I have 
lowered the path, so that a moderate-size man can stand 
upright comfortably.” J. B. 
