The _Mesembryanthemum micans_, so called from the glittering particles which are conspicuous on its stalks and leaves, is a species which has long been introduced to our gardens (having been cultivated by Prof. Bradley in 1716) for the beauty of its flowers, which in richness of colour are indeed surpassed by few; they are produced in the months of July and August, but do not expand fully, unless the sun shines powerfully on them; nor do they long retain that regular expansion observable in some species, but quickly assume a somewhat ragged appearance; nevertheless, upon the whole, it is one of those species which is highly deserving of culture, by those who are partial to this tribe of plants. It is a native of the Cape, and readily propagated by cuttings. Varies with flowers of a paler hue. [449] [Illustration: Nº. 449] Dillenia Speciosa. Shewy Dillenia. _Class and Order._ Polyandria Polygynia. _Generic Character._ _Cal._ 5-phyllus. _Petala 5._ _Caps._ polyspermæ, connatæ, pulpa repletæ. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ DILLENIA _speciosa_ foliis oblongis rotundato-acutis denticulatis, pedunculis unifloris. _Thunb. in Linn. Trans. 1. p. 200._ DILLENIA _indica_. _Linn. Syst Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 507._ SYALITA Malabaris. _Rheede Hort. Malab. tom. iii. p. 39. t. 38. 39._ The name of _Dillenia_ was given by Linnæus to this genus of plants, in honour of John James Dillenius, Professor of Botany at Oxford, and the celebrated author of the _Hist. Muscorum_, _Hort. Elthamensis_, &c. Until the publication of the first volume of the _Linnean Transactions_, only one species of _Dillenia_ was generally known; in that work Prof. Thunberg minutely describes five others, three of which are there figured; all these, and one more described by Dr. Roxburgh in his work on the Coromandel plants, are inserted by Prof. Martyn in his new and highly improved edition of Miller's _Dictionary_. The present species, which now loses its name of _indica_ in that of _speciosa_, and which though not enumerated in the _Hort. Kew._ has many years been cultivated at Kew, and in the stoves of the curious near town, is a native of Malabar and Java; in its native soil it becomes a vast tree, here we rarely see it more than two or three feet high; its flowers are large and shewy, but quickly deciduous, and remarkable for the unpleasantness of their scent, which is like that of the _Lycium japonicum_, but not being readily exhaled does not infect the air of the stove. This species is increased without difficulty by cuttings, which quickly produce flowering plants. [450] [Illustration: Nº. 450] Gladiolus Watsonius. Watson's Corn-Flag. _Class and Order._ Triandria Monogynia. _Generic Character._ _Cor._ 6-partita, tubulosa, ringens. _Stamina_ adscendentia. _Specific Character and Synonyms._