nursery of Messrs. Lee and Kennedy; by whose liberal 
communication of them, we are enabled to present our 
readers with the first figure from the living plant yet pub- 
lished. 
The genus, as far as it is yet known, belongs wholly to the 
neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope; unless indeed 
Tapernta should at last be found to be of it. The species ap-. 
pear to bear the same relation to the rest of the Ensate, that 
Dracana, Yucca, and their kindred frutescent genera, do to 
the herbaceous Liliacee. Botanists vary as to the situation 
they ascribe to the germen. In the present species the 
upper fourth part of that organ is evidently detached from 
and within the tube of the corolla, and consequently supe- 
rior; while the remainder is as plainly grown to and united 
with the tube, and therefore inferior. In corymbosa it is 
simply inferior. We mean to be precise on this point, as we 
stand so far in contradiction to some very eminent botanists. 
In the four species known to us a peculiar sameness per- 
vades the foliage of them all; but the reverse is as remark- 
able in the bloom. ruticosa and partita are not yet known 
to be in our gardens, The latter is curious for its hexape- 
taloid corolla, with long linear-spatulate segments; and was 
first recorded in the Annals of Botany (v. 1. p. 237) from 
very perfect spontaneous specimens in Mr. G. Hibbert’s 
Herbarium. Monsieur Ventenat (in Dec. nov. gen. plant. 1.) 
has separated corymbosa under the generic name of Niventa:. 
a separation in our judgment, to say the least of it, most 
inexpedient. On the authority of Monsieur Bruguitres, the 
stem of maura is said to yield a strongly saccharine juice. 
We suspect that it is a plant requiring the growth of a 
considerable number of years before it flowers. In Mr. Grif- 
- fin’s Collection there is a specimen, at this time little less 
than five feet high, which has not yet flowered. It thrives — 
best in peat-earth, and requires no greater degree of warmth 
than will prevent the frost affecting it. When the flowers 
are terminal and sessile, the upper leaves extend beyond 
them; but when these, as in our specimen, are elevated 
upon a common peduncle or stem, they generally extend 
beyond the leaves. Thunberg found it flowering in April 
and May on the sides of the hills near False Bay. ‘The green 
part of the flower dries yellow. 
aA flower dissected to show the position of stamens and pistil. 6A 
spathe disposed so as to show both valves. c Shows that portion of the 
germen which is detached within the flower and superior, as distinguished 
from the lower portion, which is grown together with it and inferior. 
a ee 
