THE COTTAGE GARDENEli. 
187 
j December 20.] 
, of the tubular flowers; for if we translate them accord- 
' ing to our wont, we find Oncogastra to bo from onkos, a 
j swelling, and gastra, the belly ; and Codonanthus from 
1 Codon, a little bell, and anthos, a flower; therefore, we 
| must pause for further examination before we chime in 
j with Lindley, who believes Hypoeyrta gracilis to be a 
i species of Alloplectus, though that genus be in close 
1 affinity with Hypoeyrta. The true Gesnerworts—from 
■ Ocsnera, Gloxinia, Acliimenes, Nipluea, Nematanthus, 
1 through Besleriads and others, on to Hypoeyrta —aro all 
natives of the warmer parts of Central and South 
1 America ; and every addition made to their numbers is 
bailed by our industrious gardeners with strong feelings 
of regard and satisfaction. Witness the universal move, 
both here and on the Continent, to multiply the best 
forms of Acliimenes by the use of the pollen. Hence our 
baste to record the appearance of the present species in 
the pages of our oldest acquaintance of the illustrated 
guides to the cultivation of tho delightful science of 
botany—the Botanical Magazine, t. 4531, with the fol¬ 
lowing specific definitions:— 
The whole of this creeping stove plant is slightly hairy. 
: Stem purplish brown, rooting at the joints. Leaves in pairs, 
! fleshy, egg-shaped, rather pointed, dark green, and spoon¬ 
like above, paler and often marked with red beneath. 
Flowers single or in pairs on short stalks; calyx, or outer 
flower-cup, in five narrow long-pointed segments, red near 
the stalk; corolla, or real flower leaves, creamy white, orange 
spotted, funnel-shaped, with a swollen, bent tube, and the 
mouth divided into five round segments. It is a native of 
Brazil, and was introduced in 184!), by Messrs. Backhouse, 
I of York. It belongs to the Natural Order Gesrtcrads, and to 
14 -Didynamia 2-Angiospcrmia of Linnaeus. 
Dark Purple Ochna (Ochna atro-purpurea). — Bo¬ 
tanical Magazine, 4519.—This genus, Ochna, was named J 
about the middle of the last century, by a German 
botanist, and author of several botanical works, named 
Schreber; and about forty years since the elder Decan- 
dolle proposed it as the bead of a small Natural Order 
of plants, now called Oclinads, in the Annals of the 
Museum of Natural History, Paris. Since then Ovli- 
nacea has found its place iu the consecutive arrange¬ 
ments of various botanists, either in the neighbourhood 
of the Rueworts, or by the side of the Quassiads, whose j 
bitter properties several of the Ocbuads possess, though 
in a milder degree; but the principal distinguishing 
character by which Oclinads are best known from neigh¬ 
bouring allies, is tho large fleshy receptacle or torus 
around which the fruit grows, and from tho top of which 
the style grows. There are six. or seven more species of 
Ochna that have been introduced to our gardens, all stout 
evergreen bushes, except arborca, which is an evergreen 
tree, and like this atro-purpurea, a native of the Cape of 
Good Hope. Our present subject, notwithstanding its 
name, does not depart from the yellow colour prevalent 
in the flowers of all Oclmads; and beautiful yellow j 
flowering things most of them are. The flowers are 
produced on side racemes or spikes from the angle 
between the leaves and the branches; these leaves are 
smooth and shining, much in the way of those of a 
healthy pear-tree, hence the name, Ochna being the 
Greek term for the wild pear-tree. As far as we are 
aware of, this is the first time Ochna atro-purpurea has 
i been figured in England, but it is not new to science, 
having been published as far back as 179(5, by Leonard 
Plunkenet, in bis Alm'ugestum Botanicum. 
This greenhouse shrub belongs/ as above stated, to tho 
Natural Order of Oclmads, and to Vi-Polyandria 1-Monogynia i 
of Linnccus. Its specific name alludes to the purple colour 
of its calyx, and which becomes still darker as it dies ofi. j 
It is a native of the south-east point of Africa, between the . 1 
Cape of Good Hope and Delagoa Bay. It bloomed for the 
first time this year at the Kew Gardens, though introduced 1 
in 1823—a result obtained by giving it more warmth in 
winter. The divisions of the calyx aro egg-shaped; the 
edges of the leaves are sometimes smooth, and sometimes 
acutely toothleted. 
Javanese Gordonia (Gordonia Jaranica).—Botanical 
Magazine, t. 4539.—This is an acceptable addition to 
