*Veratrum album (White Hellebore).—A handsome, erect perennial of pyramidal habit, 3½ ft. to 5 ft. high, with curiously plaited leaves 1 ft. long and 6 ins. to 8 ins. broad, regularly alternating on the stem and overlapping each other at the base. The flowers, of a yellowish-white colour, are borne in numerous dense spikes on the top of the stem, forming a large panicle. The leaves being handsome, it is worth a place in full collections of fine-foliaged hardy herbaceous plants, and would look to best advantage in small groups in the rougher parts of the pleasure-ground and by wood-walks. Thrives best in peaty soil, and is best multiplied by division, as the seed is very slow and capricious in germinating, sometimes not starting until the second year, and it is some years before the seedlings are strong enough to flower. The root of this plant is exceedingly poisonous. V. nigrum differs from V. album, in having more slender stems, narrower leaves, and blackish-purple flowers. V. viridiflorum resembles V. album in every respect, except that its flowers are of a lively green colour. France.
*Verbascum Chaixii.—Most of us know how very distinct and imposing are the larger Verbascums, and those who have attempted their culture must soon have found out what far-seeding things they are. Of a biennial character, their culture is most unsatisfactory: they either migrate into the adjoining shrubbery or disappear altogether. The possession of a fine perennial species must therefore be a desideratum, and such a plant will be found in Verbascum Chaixii. This is fine in leaf and stature, and produces abundance of flowers. The lower leaves grow 18 ins. or 20 ins. long, and the plant when in flower reaches a height of 7 ft. or 8 ft., or even more when in good soil. It is a truly distinct subject, and may, it is to be hoped, ere long be found common in our gardens and nurseries. Like the preceding, but grown under the name V. vernale, is a kind I saw in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, and introduced into cultivation in England; but it is as yet scarce.
Verbesina gigantea.—An ornamental shrub from Jamaica, about 6½ ft. high, forming, when young, a very pleasing subject for decorative purposes, its round green stems being covered with large, winged, pinnate leaves of a glistening delicate-green colour, and very elegant outline. Suitable for rich beds or groups; and should be planted out at the end of May or early in June. V. pinnatifida is a rough, half-shrubby species with a winged stem and woolly oval leaves with lobed or toothed margins; they are larger than those of the preceding species, growing 3 ft. long by 14 ins. broad in the first year. Both species require hothouse treatment in winter, and are multiplied by cuttings in early spring. Young plants are to be preferred for effect, and will be much the better for as warm and sheltered a position and as rich and light a soil as can be conveniently given them.
Wigandia macrophylla (caracasana).—This noble plant, a native of the mountainous regions of New Granada, is, from the nobility of its port and the magnificence of its leaves, entitled to hold a place among the finest plants of our gardens. Under the climate of London it has made leaves which have surprised all beholders, as well by their size as by their strong and remarkable veining and texture. It will be found to succeed very well in the midland and southern counties of England, though too much care cannot be taken to secure for it a warm sheltered position, free good soil, and perfect drainage. It may be used with superb effect either in a mass or as a single plant. It is frequently propagated by cuttings of the roots, and grown in a moist and genial temperature through the spring months, keeping it near the light so as to preserve it in a dwarf and well-clothed condition; and, like all the other plants in this class, it should be very carefully hardened off previous to planting out at the end of May. It is, however, much better raised from cuttings of the shoots, if these are to be had. It may also be raised from seed. W. macrophylla has the stems covered with short stinging hairs, and bearing brownish viscid drops, which adhere to the hand like oil when the stem is touched.
W. Vigieri is another fine kind of quick and vigorous growth, and remarkable habit. In the beginning of September, 1867, I measured a specimen with leaves 3 ft. 9 ins. long, including the leaf-stalk, and 22 ins. across; the stem, nearly 7 ft. high and 3 ins. in diameter, bearing a column of such leaves. It is known at a glance from the popular and older W. macrophylla, by the leaves and the stems being covered in a much greater degree with glossy,
