POINSETTIA pulcherrima Grah. This splendid plant is figured in the Bot. Magazine for June, t. 3493. The same correspondent, quoted under Euphórbia fúlgens, states that the plant he saw in Germany and mentioned in his communication, is the E. heterophylla Karw. the same as that figured as Poinsettia pulchérrima. If this is true, it must have been introduced into Germany about the same time that it was brought to this country; as living plants, drawings, and dried specimens, of both this and Euphorbia fúlgens, were received by that writer in May, 1835, from his brother in Vienna. It is somewhat singular, however, that plants have not found their way into English collections before this, or that some information respecting the existence of such in the continental gardens has not been made known before. We shall expect to see, in a future number of the Gard. Mag., more information respecting this plant. (Gard. Mag. for Aug., p. 390.) DICOTYLEDONOUS, MONOPETALOUS, PLANTS. GENTIANA quinqueflora Willd. Synonyme : Gentiana amarelloides. Mich. Pursh. I was kindly presented by a friend with some fine specimens of this elegant and rare gentiana, which were gathered in Sheffield, in this state, a few days ago. Growing to the height of about two feet, and bearing, on its quadrangular stem, successive verticils of delicate blue flowers, by twos, threes, and fives, it formed an elegant contrast with the decaying foliage of the year. It is greatly to be wished that this, with the inimitable fringed-corollæd species, G. crinita, could be introduced and cultivated in our gardens. How delightfully would their charming flowers appear amidst the purple and naked corolla of the Colchicum autumnale, and Crocus serótinus, and, now and then, a precocious phlox, tempted, by the balmy air and gladsome sun, to expand a few blossoms intended for the next spring. Gentiana saponària, is, however, to be recommended as a fine and certain autumnal flower, thriving with great vigor in a moist and cool border, and even accommodating itself to the exigencies of its situation. When suffered to stand in the same place for several years, it assumes a strong and vigorous aspect, and becomes literally crowded with flowers. This species does not expand: the corolla is contracted at the apex. G. crinita, on the contrary, opens regularly on the approach of the sun's rays, and welcomes its genial beams by the exhibition of its rare beauty. This last mentioned species may be found in seed at this season of the year. It is sometimes a rare, and again at other times a common plant, in the sphagnous swamps at Cambridge. Perhaps some of your correspondents or readers who have reared VOL. II.NO. XI. 53 the North American plants, and attended particularly to their cultivation, in England, could furnish your pages with some very valuable hints on the successful treatment of these unwilling guests of our gardens, though hardy inhabitants of our meadows and woods. Such information is much needed, and would be greatly promotive of an increased and national taste for our finer native plants, and the appreciation of their charms as well in the flower border as in their native localities.-J. L. R. ART. VII. Calls at Gardens and Nurseries. Amateur Garden of Mr. S. Walker, Roxbury.-October. We have been much pleased with a visit to Mr. Walker's garden; although so late in the season that the uncommonly early and severe frosts had destroyed the beauty of a larger part of the plants, still we found several pretty things to admire. Mr. Walker is noted as having produced some of the finest pansies that have ever been seen in the country; he 18-as indeed who should not be a great lover of these plants, and allows them a good share of his attention and care. He has imported many plants, and his seedlings, from seed of his own raising, have, many of them, surpassed in beauty some of the parents; much praise is due to Mr. Walker for his continued zeal and perseverance, in endeavoring to raise this beautiful plant to the place where it certainly belongsamong the florist's flowers-and we presume that he will dispose of duplicates to amateurs who are in want of some of his most brilliant kinds, or will exchange with other growers of this flower, who have succeeded in producing such as are worthy of a name. Some of Mr. Walker's best are Othello,- -a very large flower,fine form, possessing all the properties of a good pansy, and of a deep rich purple color-and Village Maid. We found, at this late season, a bed of seedlings, with many flowers expanded, of considerable elegance, although they were not thought sufficiently so to deserve names. Of pinks our readers are already aware that Mr. Walker has a fine collection, which he has only got together at much labor and expense. The plants are doing very well, and look vigorous and healthy; they are much easier grown than carnations, and we hope soon to see fine collections abounding in our gardens. Mr. Walker's article on the pink, at page 329 of the present volume, will give all necessary information regarding their cultivation. The double white rocket flourishes with the greatest luxuriance here, while the purple can scarcely be kept alive; we can only attribute this to the soil of the garden, which is a strong moist loam; from this same cause, that lovely plant, Gentiana acaúlis, of which there is a small one in this collection, is growing well, and has spread over nearly a square foot of soil. We may therefore anticipate a sight of the flowers in the coming spring. Cólchicum autumnale we found in full bloom: this is, to the garden, in the autumn months of October and November, what the Sanguinària canadénsis is in the spring months of April and May-extremely showy,—and both of them should be found in every flower border. Yucca filamentòsa has stood out here for four or five years; it has, however, never flowered until the past season: it then threw up a flower spike to the height of six or eight feet, which remained in perfection for a great length of time. It receives no protection, but the points of the stiff and rigid foliage are tied together at the top, to prevent the snow and rain from entering too freely into the heart of the plant. Mr. Walker has laid out largely for a tulip show the ensuing spring: he has planted upwards of one thousand bulbs, among which are many very fine kinds, such as Louis XVI, Strong's Charles X, &c. A large frame will be erected over the whole, to be covered with an awning, that the blooms may be screened from the sun, and thus kept in perfection for a great length of time. Mr. Walker has always grown a fine collection, but he has made many additions: he is in hope that, from the display which he intends to make, should nothing unforseen occur, to excite a greater taste for this most gorgeous flower, which appears not to be so highly appreciated by our amateur gardeners as other plants. There seems to be a fear with some, of catching the tulip-mania, if they once enter into the cultivation of the finer kinds. We hope, however, such is not the case with all, and that, eventually, we shall find as magnificent collections in our vicinity, as at present exist in England. Hawthorn Grove, Dorchester, M. P. Wilder, Esq.-Since our last visit to this place, there has been a large addition of fine plants made to the collection. Mr. Wilder has also extended the length of his range, by putting on an addition of about twenty-five feet, which he intends for a stove-he having concluded to make use of the former one for a showhouse, or for the purpose of placing in the most magnificent and rare species and varieties, when in full bloom. We like this arrangement much, as often the more humble, and frequently the most rare plants, are lost from view, when standing on the stages with the other plants, by being encroached upon, or wholly covered up, by the foliage of some gross growing individual: here they will show to the most advantage, and when their flowers fade-and what is more unsightly than a plant in such a condition-they can be removed into their proper place, where such a blemish will be less observable: all will here be one mass of flowers of varied hue and form-from the curious orchideous tribe, to the lovely ericas, or the splendid family of camellias. We are glad Mr. Wilder is one of the first to introduce a system, which we have long wished to see carried to its greatest perfection: although this will be on a limited scale, we hope to see it attempted with large span-roofed houses. In the stove or hot-house department Corre'a speciòsa, Treviràna coccínea, Nerine sarniénsis, Lobèlia longiflòra, and several other common plants were in bloom. The Nerine sarniénsis or the Guernsey lily, of Mr. Wilder, is said by some amateurs to be corúsca; this is, however, an error: corúsca is scarlet, and not purplish-crimson, the color of the former. We flowered corúsca a year since, and afterwards gave the plant to Mr. Haggerston, at Belmont Place; whether it has flowered there this season we are not aware: it is far more beautiful than the sarniénsis, which does not merit the name of corúsca, or glittering. The latter is of a most dazzling scarlet, the petals completely covered with a metallic lustre, which no language can convey an idea of ; we have never seen it in bloom only in our collection. We have no doubt of the correctness of Mr. Wilder's N. sarniénsis. We here for the first time saw a small plant of Araucaria imbricata, of which much has been said. It is one of the most splendid of the Coníferæ. It is a native of Chili, and too tender to stand our climate, wholly exposed; but it possesses sufficient beauty to deserve a house by itself. The collection of Amaryllacea is continually increased, and several fine crinums and pancratiums have been added: these are, for the most part, doing well; Doryanthes excélsa is just beginning to make a new growth. The orchideous plants are in very good condition; Oncídium flexuosum will probably produce flowers in a short time; there is no doubt these plants may be cultivated as easily as many others. Of the fine and valuable genus Citrus there are here upwards of thirty species and varieties, including some of the very best, both for the beauty and the quality of their fruit, and the elegance of their foliage. Tropaeolum peregrinum, or the Canary-bird flower (noticed in I. p. 345), a plant of, is here growing in a pot: it was raised from seeds last spring, and will soon be in flower. In the conservatory or green-house the camellias are coming forward very rapidly. The single white, double white, and double striped, have already opened some flowers. Since our last visit some extra large specimens have been added; they consist of the Woodsi, Greville's red, althææflora, double white, Hume's blush, &c., inarched, or grafted on the single or some other kinds, at the height of six or eight feet from the base of the stems; thus forming tree-like heads, in the manner of the tree roses. They are something new, but, we think, not in good taste, unless in remarkably high houses; in such a place they would have a grand effect. But for viewing individual flowers, or to observe the beauty of the foliage, they should be beneath the eye. A great many new sorts have been added, and some of them have singular looking foliage; we shall look forward with some interest to their blooming; C. Kíssi is budded. Of acacias those charming species dealbàta, decúrrens, verticillàta, undulata, longifolia and spectabile, are in this collection: the latter plant is showing buds, as it also is in our garden, Mr. Wilder has raised, from the seeds sent to the Horticultural Society by the Baron Von Ludwig, a large number of plants, ten or twelve, or more, kinds of heaths, and several New Holland plants. The heaths look very well. The arrangement of the plants is exceeding good, and the neatness which is preserved in every part of the range cannot be too much commended. In the garden Mr. Wilder has made many alterations: new walks have been laid out, and the fence on the north side removed, so that it now includes three or four acres. A fine collection of pear trees has been planted, as also a good assortment of other kinds of fruit trees, particularly plums. Some of the young trees, of the Dutchess d'Angouleme, produced several very large pears this season. A spot of ground has been marked out, on which a rosary is to be planted: already many excellent sorts occupy part of the ground, and additions are to be made another season. In front of his dwelling house, are planted, in the flower borders, a great number of tree roses: these have made a very vigorous growth the past season, and will probably bloom finely the coming spring: among the number are several of the most beautiful varieties of the mosses. We hope that the tree roses will be more cultivated; they have a grand effect when in full flower. We here saw a bed of very fine pansies; they were raised from imported seeds, but among them we observed some of considerable elegance. Next to Mr. Walker's, we may say that these were as fine as any we have ever observed. Not more than two or three are deserving of names, but they all form a handsome group, standing, as they do, in a small bed upon the turf. A row of them also runs parallel with the box edging, near to it, the whole length of one of the borders. REVIEWS. ART. I. Elements of Botany. By Asa Gray, M. D., Member of the Cosar. Acad. Naturæ Curiosum, and of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York. 1 Vol. 12mo. pp. 428. Carvill & Co., New York. 1836. Ir there are persons, and we doubt not there are many, who have felt a desire to become acquainted with that almost infinite variety of living organized substances, which, under the name of vegetation, in thousands of beautiful forms, and innumerable variations of structure, from the humblest moss to the loftiest forest tree, administer to the delights, the comforts, and the necessities. of man-if any, we say, have felt such a desire, and have been deterred from so doing by opening a volume of one of the old authors on botany, filled with hard terms, dull explanations of classes and orders, and dry technical details, we commend them to the work whose title stands at the head of this article. Botany, a science which at the present day comprises some knowledge of more than two hundred thousand distinct individuals, is not, as some seem to suppose, simply an amusement for the idle, or a pastime for the curious; nor does the fact of being able to dignify a pretty blossom with a learned name constitute the sum total of botanical knowledge. It is, however, that branch of natural history, which, examining minutely that wonderful combination of vegetable forms which occupy so large a portion of the earth's surface, teaches us the manner of their construction, their distinctive characteristics, the relations they bear to each other, the uses to which mankind alike in a savage or civilized condition appropriate them, and the great and important services they perform in the economy of nature. that science, in the possession of which the lover of nature will find a volume perpetually new, and ever varied and instructive, open before him. If he ramble forth to the woods and hills, his walks will never be companionless-and there is no mountain so barren that it does not produce a few lichens-no sea so boundless but in its waters are found the ever flourishing alga-nor any clime so bleak that the eye may not rest upon a few mosses, minute, yet not unimportant links in the great chain of creation. If in a strange land, it will instruct him how to distinguish wholesome vegetables from noxious weeds-nutritious fruits from poisons, and, at home, through it he may discover qualities and properties |