131 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, June 2, 1857. 
Begonia splendida. —I have cot seen this plant in 
flower, but the foliage is particularly beautiful. The 
stems and leaves are densely covered with bright 
crimson, hairy down, making a very showy appearance 
all the year round. 
Calyptraria elemantha.— A splendid new plant, 
producing racemes of large flowers of a bright scarlet 
colour. One of the finest plants ever introduced. It 
is yet scarce and dear. 
CriiETOGASTRA Lindeniana. —Another fine new plant, 
with velvety leaves, and rich, red, fleshy corollas. 
Exceedingly beautiful. 
Eucharis grandiflora. —A grand addition to our 
bulbous stove plants. The flowers are nearly five inches 
in diameter, very fragrant in the evening, and of a 
pure white colour. They are produced on a stout, 
round stem in a kind of umbel, sometimes as many as 
six in one umbel. This is well worthy of general 
cultivation, being of easy culture. 
Gonocalyx pulcher. —A bushy plant, with small, 
round, thick leaves, among which appear the flowers, 
which are of a bright red colour. The young shoots 
and leaves are of a fine rose colour, which adds greatly 
to the beauty of the plant. 
Hoya grandiflora. —Java must be a country rich 
in plants: its stores seemingly are not exhausted. 
Here is a grand addition to the favourite tribe of 
Hoya. It is in foliage something like H. imperialis, 
the chief difference being in the colour of the flowers. 
In the latter species the flowers arc a dingy, shining 
purple; but in H. grandijiora they are large, and of 
the purest white colour. 
Jacaranda velutina. —The foliage of this plant is of 
a beautiful velvety appearance. The flowers are bell¬ 
shaped, and of a fine blue colour. 
Lamourouxia grandiflora. —This little-known, new 
plant has flowers nearly three inches long, of a velvety, 
bright scarlet colour. 
Locheria magnifica. —This may be called the scarlet 
Lily shrub. The flowers are three inches in diameter, 
with a tube two inches long. Colour a velvety red. 
Mandirola lanata. —A very curious and singular 
new plant, with large arched leaves. Flower of a clear 
lilac, delicately tinted inside the tube with violet. The 
leaves have their stems and under surface densely 
covered with a soft, thick down of a pure white colour. 
Meyenia erecta. —Though a new plant, it is so 
easily propagated that the price has fallen considerably. 
It is now in almost every collection. The foliage is 
small, and habit bushy ; but the flowers are very large, 
and of a beautiful bluish purple. They are produced 
plentifully from the axils of the leaves, and are in shape 
like an Achimenes, but with a tube fully two inches in 
length. This is really a handsome addition to our 
stoves, requiring less heat than most of its compeers. 
Ouvirandra fenestralis (The Windowed Plant).— 
This is, perhaps, the most singular and beautiful of all 
plants. It grows in the swamps of Madagascar, where 
it is found growing just under the surface of the water, 
the flower only rising above the surface. It is of a 
beautiful rosy pink colour, and is very fragrant. The 
leaves are, however, the most curious and interesting 
part of the plant. They are, when fully grown, a foot 
long, and six inches wide at the widest part. They are 
beautifully pierced like rich embroidery; the holes of the 
embroidered work are arranged in long lines, and are 
separated by cross bars, which divide off the whole leaf 
into a series of parallelograms, thus seeming to be all 
veins and ribs without the green tissue between them; 
hence it appears something like a Gothic window without 
glass. The leaves, also, are continually throwing up to 
the surface bubbles of air. In cultivation it requires a 
warm stove, and should have a tank of warm water to 
grow in. 
Rondeletia anomala. —A very desirable new plant, 
something like a Bouvardia. The flowers are produced 
at the ends of the young shoots in umbels, and are of a 
rich vermilion red, with a yellow eye. The orifice of 
the tube is quite filled with yellow hairs. It is a de¬ 
sirable addition even to this handsome tribe of plants. 
Siphocampylos iNFUNDiBULiFORMis (Funnel - shaped 
Siphocampylos). — A dwarf species of considerable 
beauty. The flowers are long, tube-shaped, and of an 
orange and buff colour. Free to flower, and easy to 
cultivate. 
Tecoma spectabilis. —The genus Tecoma has been 
formed out of Bignonia. Many of the species are 
handsome climbers, with trumpet-shaped flowers. This 
species is, however, a shrub or little tree, with very 
large, noble leaves, and terminal heads of fine yellow 
flowers. The under side of the corolla, or flower-cup, is 
yellow. Altogether it is a fine ornament to the stove or 
warm conservatory. 
Tpiyrsacanthus rutilans. —I have already written 
about this plant, but have seen it frequently since, and 
it rises in my estimation greatly. As a winter and 
spring flowering shrub there are none to surpass it in 
beauty. The plant grows erect, has tolerably large, fine 
leaves, and long, pendulous racemes of scarlet flowers. 
It is now pretty common in collections; but whoever 
has a stove, and has not this plant, ought to procure 
one as soon as possible. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
HEATING AND VENTILATING HOTHOUSES. 
Notwithstanding all that has been said and written 
on the subject of heating and ventilating hothouses, it 
is far from certain that we have arrived at the true 
principles of the art yet; for, as these important agents 
must go on simultaneously, it seldom happens that the 
means adopted are equally favourable to both. Heating 
as a science has received more attention than ventilating, 
and several new modes have sprung up within the last 
few years. One of these recommended to heat dwelling 
rooms is said to perform its duties without the aid of a 
flue or other outlet, its inventor insisting that the 
apparatus consumes its own smoke. This may appear 
good news to the amateur who is unwilling to add an 
expensive heating apparatus to his greenhouse or vinery; 
but it is right here to warn him against adopting such 
a deceptive mode of applying heat as the one must be 
which consumes its own smoke. It may be true that a 
description of fuel may be recommended which produces 
no smoke visible to the naked eye; but it must be borne 
in mind that there are many invisible vapours far more 
poisonous than ordinary black smoke. It would, there¬ 
fore, be prudent to be on the alert in not too readily 
sanctioning the use of these novelties. A lamentable 
case occurred a few days ago, wherein two persons lost 
their lives by sleeping in a room heated by a stove in 
which a patent prepared fuel was used in a stove 
without a proper chimney, which fuel the vendor in¬ 
sisted did not require a flue, the apparatus being said 
to consume its own smoke. The fatal results told too 
plainly how deleterious the gas must be which it gave 
off during combustion—far beyond that of ordinary 
smoke from a coal fire. Now, though we all know that 
there are certain kinds of effluvia emitted by marshes 
and other stagnant places which have an injurious 
effect on the human constitution, hut which are, never¬ 
theless, grateful to the great mass of the vegetable 
creation inhabiting their site, still the great bulk of 
noxious gases are equally fatal to both the animal and 
vegetable world, as has been witnessed over and over 
again by the deleterious effects the poisoned smoke of 
some chemical factory has on tho surrounding crops, 
