By his Lordship's direction, I received at the same time from his Gardener, Mr. William Dean, the following information, in answer to my queries:--"My Lord received the plant from China in 1766:--it was planted in a conservatory, is now sixteen feet high, and expands ten feet wide:--bears a succession of flowers from September to March:--the time of its first blowing I cannot precisely ascertain, but believe it to be nearly twenty years back:--it is propagated by layers, cuttings, and seeds, the latter it produces most years at Croome, but I believe at no other place in England:--there are plants of it at Croome six feet high, in a warm situation in the open border, which have stood out several years by being covered with a single mat in severe weather." Not expecting to receive a plant from Lord Coventry in bloom, our drawing was made from one which flowered with Mr. Whitley, Nurseryman, Old-Brompton, December 22, 1798, and which came originally from Croome, his Lordship having presented most of the Nurserymen about town with plants of it; the blossoms of that from Croome were somewhat larger than those here represented, and the petals were less striped, indeed almost wholly tinged with purple, the leaves also proceeded more from the summit of the stalks and were of a much greener hue, owing no doubt to its being kept in the conservatory, while Mr. Whitley's plant was tacked to the outside of the bottom of the greenhouse. In the number of its stamina, which is rarely more than five, it does not accord with the character of the class icosandria, nor do the seeds agree with the generic character as described by Linnæus. [467] [Illustration: Nº. 467] Dracocephalum Virginianum. Virginian Dragon's-Head. _Class and Order._ Didynamia Gymnospermia. _Generic Character._ _Cor._ faux inflata: labium superius fornicatum. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ DRACOCEPHALUM _virginianum_ foliis lineari-lanceolatis serratis, floribus confertis. _Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 13. Gmel. p. 915._ DRACOCEPHALUM _virginianum_ floribus spicatis, foliis lanceolatis serratis. _Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14. Murr. p. 543._ DRACOCEPHALUM _virginianum_ floribus spicatis confertis, foliis lineari-lanceolatis serratis. _Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 317._ This elegant species of _Dracocephalum_, a native of Virginia, and other parts of North-America, is a hardy herbaceous plant, rising to the height of about two feet, and producing numerous flowers in long spikes, usually arranged on each side of the stalk. It comes near to the _denticulatum_ already figured, but differs in its superior height, the form of its leaves, the number of its flowers, and many other particulars. It flowers from July to September, and with me has generally ripened much of its seed, from which it may be easily raised, as also by parting of its roots in spring or autumn; it succeeds best in a moist situation, and its stalks require to be carefully and timely sticked.