1. The two sheaths of the Empalement. 2. A flower cut open, to shew the insertion of Chives. 3. The Chives as attached to the tubular part of the blossom, the border cut off (magnified). 4. The Shaft, Summits, and Seed-bud (magnified). This fine species of Ixia, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, was introduced to our collections about the year 1795, by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy, nurserymen; they having raised it from seeds received by them, from the Royal Gardens at Vienna; is certainly amongst the tenderest of its tribe: the root, being extremely subject to injury by wet, it should be dried as soon as it has done flowering. It is one of the earliest Ixias in bloom, being in high perfection about the middle of April; is increased but slowly by the root, thriving best in very sandy peat, or sand only. The figure here given was drawn from a plant which flowered at the nursery, Hammersmith, in 1798, for the first time. [Illustration] PLATE XXIV. CINERARIA AURITA. _Two-coloured-leaved Cineraria._ CLASS XIX. ORDER II. _SYNGENESIA POLYGAMIA SUPERFLUA._ Tips united. Superfluous Pointals. GENERIC CHARACTER. CALYX. Communis, simplex; polyphyllus; foliolis æqualibus. COROLLA. Composita, radiata. Corollulæ hermaphroditæ, æquales; numerosæ, in disco. Femineæ ligulatæ;, numero foliorum calycis in radio. _Propria_ hermaphroditi, infundibuliformis; limbo quinquefido, erecto. _Feminea_ ligulata, lanceolata, apice denticulata. STAMINA. Filamenta quinque, filiformia brevia. Antheræ cylindracea, tubulosa, apice quinquefida. PISTILLUM, hermaphroditis. Germen oblongum. Stylus filiformis, longitudine staminum. Stigmata duo erectiuscula. _Femineis_: Germen oblongum. Stylus filiformis, brevis. Stigmata duo, oblonga, obtusiuscula, revoluta. PERICARPIUM nullum. Calyx immutatus. SEMINA hermaphroditis solitaria, linearia, quadrangula. Pappus pilosus, copiosus. RECEPTACULUM nudum, planiusculum. EMPALEMENT. Common, simple; of many leaves; small leaves equal. BLOSSOM. Compound, radiate. Florets with chives and pointals equal; numerous in the centre. Florets with only pointals ligulate; equal in number to the leaves in the circumference of the empalement. _Individuals_ with chives and pointals funnel-shaped; border five cleft, upright. _Individuals_ with pointals only, liguiate, lance-shaped, toothed at the point. CHIVES. Five threads, thread-shaped and short. Tips forming a hollow cylinder, with five clefts at the top. POINTAL of florets with chives and pointals. Seed-bud oblong. Shaft thread-shaped, the length of the chives. Summits two, a little upright. Of florets with pointals only. Seed bud oblong. Shaft thread-shaped, and short. Summits two, oblong, rather blunt, and rolled back. SEED-VESSEL none. Cup not changing.