I 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 15, 1857. 
16T 
ECHEVEEIA QUITENSIS. 
Received from Isaac Anderson, 
Esq., of Edinburgh, in August, 
1851. 
A bright green, smooth, succulent 
: plant, forming stiff, erect stems about 
six inches high, clothed by imbri¬ 
cated spathulate leaves, with an 
almost circular base, attached to the 
stem only by one bundle of fibro- 
vascular tissue. The flowers are in 
' stiff, close, erect racemes, shorter 
I than the lower bracts, which resem¬ 
ble in form the leaves, but taper 
i less to the base. Sepals five, longer 
than the pedicel, equal, linear, acu- 
| minate, rather shorter than the co- 
! rolla, which forms a scarlet five¬ 
sided pyramid, opening very slightly 
I at the end into five acuminate lobes. 
Of the ten stamens, five stand in 
furrows of the petals, and five are 
distinct. 
i 
This is evidently an Echeveria , as 
De Candolle surmised, and not a 
Sedwn. During the summer it does 
' very well on rockwork out of doors; 
but it is probable that it should be 
treated as a greenhouse, sluubby, 
succulent plant, requiring the same 
kind of soil and treatment as Eche- 
verias. It is easily increased by 
cuttings, and seeds, which it ripens 
abundantly. 
When grown out of doors, though 
pretty, it is not a very striking plant. 
It flowers in August. How it will 
look in a greenhouse is not ascer¬ 
tained as yet .—{Horticultural So¬ 
ciety's Journal .) 
BEDROOM DECORATIONS. 
I AM always much interested to read the different expe¬ 
riences and opinions respecting the application of horticulture, 
especially of that order of plants Filices; and few can en¬ 
joy more than myself the study of these beauties of Nature. 
They must form a source of pleasure and gratification to 
every mind; but more so on being viewed with a Christian 
spirit, when they seem to form such “ voluminous leaves ” of 
sermons for our instruction and edification. 
Rut, enthusiastic as I am in this study, I have not gone so 
far as to have forgotten that excellent old proverb, instilled 
into me with an occasional unerring stroke of the scholastic 
cane, that “there is a place for everything (cane included), 
and everything should be in its place.” 
This remark is called forth by a letter in a late number of 
your valuable journal (just come to hand) on “Bedroom 
Decorations ;” wherein the writer advocates the introduction, 
among the furniture, of Ferns, statues, flowers, rockeries, and 
such scientific apparatus and tilings as I should supply, did I 
wish to transmogrify the place into a small museum. 
In favour of his proposition he urges that, 
“ Whatever, cheerful and serene, 
Supports the mind, supports the body too.” 
Now, if that be the principle on which he proposes to supply 
the dormitory with “ green ” furniture, I consider one might 
most economically (during the present financial crisis), dis¬ 
pense with the extravagance of using bed and its adjuncts, by 
spending the night in his conservatory, supporting the body 
through the medium of the mind; with the study of Nature’s 
bounties to the accompaniment of a quiet Havannali; very 
cheerfully, and “ all serene.” 
As the writer begs to put it to your readers “ Whether his 
new style of decoration is not more desirable than the old j 
regime ,” I beg to reply, that in my opinion a room thus fur¬ 
nished would be very suitable for an invalid, who may have to 
spend whole days therein, and would tend to amuse his mind; 
but I do not think it an advisable or a salutary mode of 
setting out a bedroom for a healthy individual. 
I take it, that the majority of mankind are men of business, 
who, like myself, retire to their bedrooms at night tired, and 
ready to make use of the apartment for its legitimate pur¬ 
pose,— i.e., sleep; but not at all inclined there to study the 
“ Hairy Ferns,” or “ Mossy Rocks,” and other objects in the 
museum ; so that the new bedroom decoration would be lost 
to them that night. 
Then, in the morning I am an advocate for early rising; 
and would not have a display of Ferns or other tilings to keep 
and amuse one hi bed after waking; or to divert one’s attention 
when half-dressed, at the expense of future bronchitis ; or to 
keep him in the room after the completion of his toilet; when, 
if lie must study the floral and fernical beauties of Nature, he 
may do so more healthfully out of doors, or in another proper 
place—the fernery or greenhouse. 
The new system woidd increase the attraction of the sleep¬ 
ing apartment; and I consider the length of tune spent there 
at present is one of the great evils of the day. In fact, the 
; sooner out of doors in the morning the better: an over 
1 amount of sleep rendering the mind inactive and the body 
j effeminate—like Mrs. What’s-her-name’s tea, so weak that it 
' could not run up the spout. 
My notion of a bedroom is, that it should bo furnished con¬ 
sistently to its purpose, viz., that just the requisite amount of 
sleep may be enjoyed therein with healthfulness and comfort, 
and no more. 
