THE FLORICULTURAL CABINET, NOVEMBER 1ST, 1846. PART I. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. ARTICLE I. 1. CUPHEA MINIATA. SEVERAL new and fine-flowering species of this beautiful and interesting genus we have noticed in recent numbers of this Magazine, and we now record the present as a very strikingly handsome one. It has lately been introduced into this country from South America, and with us has bloomed in the plant stove; but, we are persuaded, it will be found to flourish well in the greenhouse, and it deserves to be in every one. 2. LYCIUM FUCHSIOIDES. A native of the Azoques, in the Quintian Andes. It is a shrub much employed by the natives for hedges. It has flowered beautifully in the splendid collection in the Royal Gardens at Kew. The plant is four feet high, branching freely, and blooming liberally, producing through the entire season a fine display. It appears likely to do well in either plant stove, conservatory, or greenhouse, and none ought to be without it. VOL. XIV. No. 165. Y ARTICLE II. DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BEGONIAS, BY MR. DONALD. (Extracted from the Journal of the Horticultural Society, Part II., and being a continuation of Article I., page 241.) A. Stems none. 1. B. rubricaulis Leaves all from the root, heart shaped, about five inches in breadth, of a dark green colour, and hairy on both sides. Flowers few, but beautiful, closely set together on the top of a footstalk of from eight to ten inches in length, covered with fine white hairs. This species, in some respects, resembles B. albococcinea, especially in the purple sepals and almost white petals, and, like it, blooms in autumn, and probably at other seasons. B. Stems creeping. a. Leaves palmate, equal at the base. 2. B. heracleifolia. Stems short and creeping. Leaves palmate, from fourteen to sixteen inches across, of a dark green colour, and hairy on both sides. The most remarkable feature in this species is the footstalks which support the leaves; they are generally about two feet in height, and covered with strong white hairs rising from crimson spots, which, along with numerous short bright green streaks, give the plant altogether a singular appearance. Flowers pink, in loose panicles, elevated on hairy footstalks about three feet in height. It blooms in spring.-Mexico. 3. B. crassicaulis. Stems rather short, thick, and fleshy, in clining to creep, of a dull green colour; when young, thickly set with strong black hairs, having all their points turned upwaids. Leaves palmate, measuring about 10 inches across, of a bright green colour, and partially covered with a soft brown substance beneath. Flowers white, produced in great profusion all over the stems. A deciduous species, flowering in spring before the leaves appear.-Guatemala. b. Leaves ovate, equal at the base. 4. B. fagifolia, entirely covered with soft white hairs. Stems creeping, short jointed, and of a dull crimson colour. Leaves ovate, about two inches in length, remaining long on the stem. Flowers white, rather small, but produced in great profusion, and remaining in perfection about two months. This, although it only blooms in spring, makes a beautiful object when grown on a trellis. Syn. B. pendula, B. repens.-Brazil. c. Leaves oblique, ovate, acute. 5. B. manicata. Stems rather short, inclining to trail, green when young, and marked with a few white streaks. Leaves oblique, fringed at the margin, of a bright green colour, smooth on the surface, but remarkable for the depressed crimson scales, which are suspended from the veins beneath, increasing in size and number towards the footstalk, and forming a ruff where they unite. Flowers pink, in loose panicles rising about a foot above the leaves. It blooms in spring.-Brazil. d. Leaves oblique, obtuse, often round. 6. B. stigmosa. Stems short, inclining to creep. Leaves oblique, sometimes nearly round, from six to eight inches in breadth, curiously fringed at the margins, of a pale green colour, smooth on the surface, and beautifully marked with dark purple spots. The veins on the under sides, as well as the long footstalks, are covered with soft chaffy-looking scales, giving the plant altogether a very mottled appearance. Flowers greenish-white, in loose panicles, rising six or eight inches above the leaves. 7. B. Barkeri. Stems very short and strong, lying close on the soil. Leaves unusually large, often a foot and a half across, and in form resembling a rhubarb leaf; smooth and shining on the upper surface, downy beneath, and supported by strong footstalks densely covered with dull green scales. Flowers white, produced in a huge mass on a footstalk upwards of four feet in height. It blooms in autumn, and at other seasons.-Mexico. 8. B. ramentacea. Stems short, and covered with depressed scales, which give them a very singular appearance. Leaves oblique, sometimes nearly round, from six to seven inches in breadth, dark green, and shining on the surface; crimson beneath, and covered with short forked hairs, gradually depressed towards the footstalks, which are covered in the same manner as the stems. Flowers pink, in loose panicles, consisting of twenty or thirty blooms. A handsome species, and one that appears to flower several times in the season.— Brazil. |
