20 
NEW GARDEN PLANTS. 
will merely mention here, as an example, the genus Calceolaria , several clearly distinguishable species 
of which have become the parents of the countless varieties now cultivated with so much ardour. "When 
these are sown with the most careful separation of the seeds, it is found that the most varied shades of 
a ffin ity occur in the seeds of one and the same plant when this is a hybrid form. But if the seed has 
been obtained from a form recurring more to one of the primitive types, with yellow or red flowers, the 
seedlings will be found more uniform. When the characters of the species, or of the genus to which 
it belongs, have become uncertain through artificial fertilization, at least the cause of this can be satis¬ 
factorily demonstrated. This is more difficult when particular genera of plants produce such hybrid 
progeny in the wild state ; as, for instance, the Willows, the Hawkweeds, the Thistles, the Gentians, 
and many others. If it amount merely to simple hybridation, the truth may always be discovered, since 
this always carries with it very definite characters. But, as we see in some Saxifrages, further hybrida¬ 
tion and seeding of the hybrids give rise to new series of forms which are ordinarily much more diffi¬ 
cult to reduce, and appear to connect two well distinguished species by gradual transitions.— M. E. 
Regel, of Zurich : Botanische Zeitung. 
Impatiens pulcherrima, Dalzell. Handsome-flowered Balsam.—Order Balsaminacese (Balsam tribe).—A 
very handsome tender annual Balsam, with much the aspect of I. platypetala, with which, indeed, Dr. Lindley 
identifies it. It appears, however, from the published descriptions and figures to differ in being annual not 
perennial, in having the leaves alternate not whorled, and in having a fringe of glands at the base of the leaves, 
which I. platypetala has not; the flowers are also somewhat different in form. The stems are erect, smooth, 
simple, or branched, with alternate longish-petioled ovate-acuminate leaves. The flowers are large, a couple of 
inches across, flattish, and of a deep lilac rose colour. It was found near Warree, in Bombay, and was introduced 
by N. Dalzell, Esq., in 1850, to the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. It flowers throughout the summer months. 
There is a figure in the Botanical Magazine, t., 4615. 
Dictyanthtjs campanulatus, Jordan. Bell-flowered Dictyanth.—Order Asclepiadaceas (Asclepiad tribe).— 
This fine and very singular-flowered climbing plant, has been introduced to the Belgian Gardens, and was exhi¬ 
bited by M. Joseph Baumann, of Ghent, at the exhibition of the Royal Horticultural Society of Anvers in 1851, 
where it was awarded the first prize. It has been said to grow in Mexico, at the foot of the Sierra Madre, near 
Durango, but Professor Morren, who figures it in La Belgique Llorticole , states, on the authority of M. Baumann, 
that it is a native of Brazil. The base of the stem is woody, with white lines or fissures in the bark, which pro¬ 
bably become corky with age. The stem is pubescent and twining ; the leaves are opposite cordate-acuminate, 
with a red petiole three to four inches long. From their axils is produced a single flower, borne on a long 
peduncle. The calyx has five broad lanceolate lobes. The corolla is urceolate below, and green; its limb is 
turned back, and prolonged into five large horns, with recurved margins ; this part is whitish, marked with innu¬ 
merable small purple lines or striae, which are horizontal on the limb, and vertical at the base of the tube. The 
stamina! crown has five large rays in the form of a star. The flower remains open about a week. M. Baumann 
has grown it in the open air during summer, and in a warm orange-house during winter, and had bloomed it on a 
wire trellis, about two and a half feet high. It is the Tympananthe snberosa (Haskarl), and the Stapelia campa- 
nalata (Pavon). 
Saxifraga flagellaris, Willdenow. Spider-legged Saxifrage.—Order Saxifragacece (Saxifrage tribe).—Tliis 
very curious plant, v r hose filiform stolons are cast out on all sides like the legs of an immense spider, was brought 
from Cornwallis Island, in the Arctic regions, by Captain Penny, to the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, in October, 
1851, the plants being in flower on their arrival. It has a compact rosulate tuft of spathulate glandular-ciliate 
leaves at the base of the short stem, which is surmounted by from one to five yellow five-petalled flowers. The 
stolons, bearing each a young plant at the extremity, have a very remarkable appearance. Arctic plants are 
difficult to cultivate, from the impossibility of giving them the absolute and extended winter rest to which they 
are naturally adapted; and this can only be imitated by placing them in a cold shady frame during the winter 
season. A sandy soil is desirable. 
Geissois racemosa, LabiUardiere. Racemose Geissois.—Order Cunoniaceae (Cunoniad tribe).—This very fine 
stove shrub, sent last year by Mr. C. Moore, from New Caledonia, Dr. Lindley provisionally identifies with La¬ 
billardiere’ s plant. It bears crimson blossoms abundantly on the old wood. The leaves are opposite trifoliolate, 
with large obovate obtuse leaflets, woolly and serrated on young plants, entire and glaucous when they reach a 
blooming size. A roundish leathery sessile stipule is seated between each pair of leaves. The flowers grow in 
racemes from eight inches to a foot long ; they are close packed, rich crimson, with globular buds, four leathery 
ovate sepals, hairy inside, and eight stamens with long crimson filaments. It has been introduced by the Horti¬ 
cultural Society, and is described in their Journal (vi., 273). 
