Tupidanthus calyptratus.—A noble subtropical plant from Bengal, standing in the open air from the beginning of June till October without the slightest injury. The leaves are large, deeply-divided, and of a dark shining green colour. It requires stove treatment in winter and spring, and is suitable for beds or planting singly.
*Typha latifolia (Reed-Mace).—A native aquatic plant, growing in tufts of 2-rowed flat leaves from 1½ ft. to 2 ft. long, and 1 in. or 1½ in. wide. From the centre of each tuft springs a stem 6 ft. or 7 ft. high, which in the flowering season is terminated by a close cylindrical spike 9 ins. long, and of a dark-olive colour, changing to a brownish-black as it ripens. This is one of the most striking and ornamental of our British water-plants, and may be used with excellent effect grouped with such subjects as the Great Water-Dock.
*Typha angustifolia resembles the preceding species in all respects except in the size of its leaves and spike. The leaves are about ½ in. wide and the spike about ½ in. in diameter, and something shorter than that of T. latifolia. Of the two it is perhaps the more graceful in aspect.
Uhdea bipinnatifida.—This is one of the most useful plants in its class, producing a rich mass of handsome leaves, with somewhat the aspect of those of the great cow-parsnips, but of a more refined type. The foliage has a slightly silvery tone, and the plant continues to grow fresh and vigorously till late in autumn. It is well suited for forming rich masses of foliage, not so tall, however, as those formed by such things as Ricinus or Ferdinanda. It is freely propagated by cuttings taken from old plants kept in a cool stove, greenhouse, or pit during the winter months, and placed in heat to afford cuttings freely in early spring. Under ordinary cutting treatment on hotbeds or in a moist warm propagating house, it grows as freely as could be desired, and may be planted out at the end of May or the beginning of June. Mexico.
Uhdea pyramidata.—This kind has been less cultivated in England than the preceding, from which it is distinct in appearance. It is of a lighter and fresher green, and inclined to grow larger in habit, having more of the aspect of a Malva in foliage. Useful for the same purposes as the preceding kind, but not so valuable.