Amongst this numerous parasitic tribe there are many whose claim to beauty is by no means powerful, and certainly the present figure has little to boast of in that particular: but the singular and curious structure of their flowers will always render every new species and even distinct varieties desirable, particularly as they are an essential connecting link in the interesting family of the Orchidiæ. We were at first inclined to regard it as the E. fuscatum of Dr. Smith on rare plants; but on comparison with that figure we found it in foliage nearly the same, but so different both in the size and colour of its flowers, that, if it might be regarded as a variety, it must certainly be a very distinct one. It is a native of Jamaica, and as such requires the protection of the stove. From a plant plunged in the tan-bed our drawing was made at the gardens of G. Hibbert, esq. [Illustration] PLATE CCCCXLII. PROTEA PULCHELLA, _Var. speciosa_. _Waved-leaved Protea, Speciosa Variety._ CLASS IV. ORDER I. _TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA._ Four Chives. One Pointal. ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER. COROLLA 4-fida, seu 4 petala. Antheræ lineares, petalis infra apices insertæ. Calyx proprius, nullus. Sem. solitaria. BLOSSOM four-cleft, or four petals. Tips linear, inserted into the petals below the points. Cup proper, none. Seeds solitary. SPECIFIC CHARACTER. PROTEA, foliis lanceolatis, undulatis, rubro marginatis, pilosis; squamis calycis tricoloratis; capitulo-erecto, terminali: caule ramoso, bipedali. PROTEA, with lance-shaped leaves, waved, margined with red, and hairy; scales of the cup three-coloured: flower-head upright, and terminal: stem branching, and two feet high. REFERENCE TO THE PLATE. 1. The empalement and chives. 2. Seed-bud and pointal. Our figure represents so evident a variation of the Protea pulchella, that it probably should be only regarded as a fine large flowering variety; but as it exhibits a strong affinity in the flowers to that fine section of Protea called Speciosa, it is certainly better to denominate it a variety of that species, than to adhere too closely to the appellation of its original, whose specific is of too indiscriminative a character to be adopted any further than the acceptation of it already may have rendered necessary. The only method to avoid confusion in this extended varying tribe in future, will be to make as few species as possible in addition to those already made, unless they can be founded upon some apparent leading feature in the plant. Our drawing was made from the Hibbertian collection. [Illustration] PLATE CCCCXLIII. ERYTHRINA SPECIOSA. _Showy Erythrina._ CLASS XVII. ORDER IV. _DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA._ Chives in two sets. Ten chives. GENERIC CHARACTER. CALYX. Perianthium monophyllum, integrum, tubulosum, ore superne emarginatum, inferne poris melliferis instructum. COROLLA. Papilionacea.