ON THE ALPINIA NUTANS. 
187 
beauty of this flower, which is equally rich and delicate ; but it is 
intended to figure it in an early number of the “ Florist’s Journal.” 
It makes only one pseudo-bulb in the course of the season, and 
flowers soon after its completion. The time of flowering is in Oc¬ 
tober ; and when the flowering is over, it rests till about May. A 
pot is the proper station for it; and when a large and^well-grown 
plant is in flower, there is hardly an inmate of the stove which 
can compete with it in beauty. It is a native of Brazil, and of 
other parts of South America. There are several species which 
have not yet flowered in this country, but which will, I have no 
doubt, be very beautiful: C. gigantea , which has not yet been in¬ 
troduced here, is said to be the most splendid of the whole ; fine 
as many of the rest are. 
Tooting Nursery, 
Oct. 22, 1840. 
ON THE ALPINIA NUTANS. 
BY MR. JAMES MAIN. 
This beautiful exotic was introduced into our collections as long 
ago as 1789 ; and, from the shape of its leaves and stems, was 
supposed to be an amonum. It was nearly ten years in this coun¬ 
try before it was brought to flower; but at last it was flowered by 
Mr. Grimwood, at Kensington, and Mr. Colvill, at Chelsea, 
nearly about the same time. 
As the blossoms are remarkable in form, beautifully coloured, 
and large in size, the young plants were readily sold, and exten¬ 
sively circulated ; so that there are but few stove collections at 
present, in which the plant is not to be met with. 
It was not till some time after it flowered in England, that 
botanists were agreed about its name; in fact, it bore several 
names, until at last it was described and named by Mr. Roscoe. 
Although the plant is not at all rare, it is seldom seen in flower, 
which is owing, perhaps, to its not being generally known that 
it is a half aquatic. In its native country, the southern provinces 
of China and India, it is invariably seen growing on the sides of 
the ponds, in gardens, or on the banks of canals in the open 
