nd few
comparatively have been introduced to this country, six species only
being mentioned in the _Hort. Kew._ of Mr. AITON, in that work the
_tomentosa_ here figured, not known to LINNAEUS or MILLER is specifically
described, and there Mr. AITON informs us that it is a native of China,
and was introduced by Mrs. NORMAN about the year 1766.

Since that period it has fallen into the hands of various cultivators,
and flowered perhaps in greater perfection than it did originally at
Kew; the peduncles, in the various specimens we have seen usually
supporting more than one flower.

It is a shrub of great beauty, both in respect to its foliage and
flowers, bearing but little similitude to the common Myrtle, if suffered
to grow, acquiring the height of many feet.

Its blossoms are produced in June and July, the buds are covered with a
white down, as is also the underside of the leaves, whence its name of
_tomentosa_.

It has been customary to treat it as a stove plant, such it is
considered in the _Hort. Kew._ there is great reason however to believe,
that it is by no means tender, and that it may succeed as most of the
Chinese plants do in a good greenhouse.

It is usually increased by cuttings which are struck difficulty.

[Illustration: _No 250_]

[251]

ALLIUM DESCENDENS. PURPLE-HEADED GARLICK.

_Class and Order._

HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

_Generic Character._

_Cor._ 6-partita, patens. _Spatha_ multiflora. _Umbella_ congesta.
_Caps._ supera.

_Specific Character and Synonyms._

ALLIUM _descendens_ caule subteretifolio umbellifero, pedunculis
exterioribus brevioribus, staminibus tricuspidatis. Linn. _Syst.
Vegetab. ed. 14._ _Murr. p. 322._ _Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 425._

ALLIUM staminibus alterne trifidis, foliis fistulosis, capite sphaerico
non bulbifero atropurpureo. _Hall. All. Tab. 2. f. p. 355. xx. ii._

BARON HALLER in his most admirable _Monographia_ on the plants of this
genus, published in his _Opuscula Botanica_, describes and figures this
species, a hardy perennial, being a native of Switzerland, and
cultivated according to Mr. AITON, in the garden at Oxford in 1766.

It usually grows to the height of three feet, thriving in almost any
soil or situation, its flowers as in many other species grow in a
capitulum or little head, not an umbel, strictly speaking, as LINNAEUS
describes it; this head is at first covered with a whitish membrane,
wearing some resemblance to a nig