The Houstonia coccinea has been placed, by some late botanical authors, under the genus Hedyotis; but such authorities can have no weight with us, when opposed to an established name, a nearly general conformity in the essential generic characters; and though last, not the least in our estimation, the corroborating testimony of Sir J. Banks, Bart. P.R.S. &c. by whom it was sent to the Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1793. It is a native of Mexico, South America; and like the Hemimerises,[A] Fuchsias, Chelones, &c. of that country, is very subject to damp; but being partly herbaceous, the root is most frequently preserved, although the upper part has perished. Though it requires the protection of a greenhouse in winter, it may be made an ornamental plant for the flower borders in autumn, by putting single cuttings, in small pots filled with rich earth, into the heat of a hotbed, early in March, they will be fit to transplant into the open ground the latter end of June, and will flower about August, continuing to blossom till destroyed by the frost; or if taken up and put into large pots, will flower till Christmas. Our figure was taken from a beautiful plant, in the collection of R. H. James, Esq. Grosvenor-place, in 1799. [A] _These are the two species of an old genus, introduced into the Bot. Mag. of Curtis, under the titles of Celsia liniaris and C. urticifolia._ [Illustration] PLATE CVII. ALLIUM GRACILE. _Sweet-scented Garlic._ CLASS VI. ORDER I. _HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Six Chives. One Pointal. GENERIC CHARACTER. CALYX. Spatha communis, subrotunda, marcescens, multiflora. COROLLA. Petala sex, oblonga. STAMINA. Filamenta sex, subulata, longitudine sæpe corollæ. Antheræ oblongæ, erectæ. PISTILLUM. Germen superum, breve, subtrigonum, angulis linea insculptis. Stylus simplex. Stigma acutum. PERICARPIUM. Capsula brevissima, lata, triloba, trilocularis, trivalvis. SEMINA pauca, subrotunda. EMPALEMENT. Spath common, roundish, withering, inclosing many flowers. BLOSSOM. Petals six, oblong. CHIVES. Six threads, awl-shaped, often the length of the blossom. Tips oblong, upright. POINTAL. Seed-bud above, short, nearly three-sided, the angles marked by a line. Shaft simple. Summit pointed. SEED-VESSEL. Capsule very short, broad, of three lobes, three cells, and three valves. SEEDS a few, roundish. SPECIFIC CHARACTER. Allium scapo nudo, tereti, longissimo; foliis canaliculatis, linearibus; umbella multiflora; corollis albidis; staminibus subulatis, ad basin cum petalis desinentibus in tubum. Garlic with a naked flower-stem, cylindrical, and very long; leaves channelled, and linear; umbel many flowered; blossoms white; chives awl-shaped, terminating with the petals at the base in a tube. REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.