WHY is it that this class of plants is never mentioned in our horticultural periodicals ? Why are they not included in the catalogues of our florists? They certainly are deserving of culture, and afford a variety of very charming flowers. I admit that they are of a tender character, and I would not recommend them to the novice in the culture of rare plants. I have made several unsuccessful attempts to grow them ; but I think the failure was on account of the small size of the plants, as they had been sent by mail. Last spring John Saul, of Washington, D. C., the only florist who to my knowledge catalogues them in their different sections, sent me, on special order, well-established and thrifty plants by express. They came in fine condition; one was in bloom, and the others beginning to bud.

Mr. Henderson, in his Hand-book of Plants, thus describes the gesnera, so named in honor of Conrad Gesner, a celebrated botanist of Zurich.

" A beautiful and extensive genus of tuberous-rooted greenhouse plants from Mexico and South America. They are remarkable for the beauty of their foliage, which is singularly marked and as soft as velvet, and for their long spikes of brilliant colored flowers, mostly scarlet and yellow. . Some of them are singularly spotted or marked. With a little care in regulating their season of rest, they can be brought into flower at any desired time. They require a light rich soil, a warm situation, but little sun, and plenty of water, which should not touch the foliage. They are easily propagated by cuttings of young shoots, or by cuttings of leaves with a bud at the base, division of the tubers, or from seeds. The latter is a very interesting plan. The seed should be sown in March in pans or boxes, in fine light compost, largely composed of sand. Place the pans in a warm, moist atmosphere. As soon as the seedlings are up and commence the second leaf, transplant them separately an inch or two apart, in shallow boxes, and from these when sufficiently grown, remove them singly to small pots. In the autumn allow them to rest.

As soon as they show signs of life in the spring, repot them in fresh soil, water, place in the light, and many of them will flower during the summer".

The following I think can be easily made to bloom during the winter months. G, alba rosea, rosy, creamy-white, carmine throat on yellow ground ; G. Diovati, with large flowers, orange-scarlet tip, spotted, free grower and profuse bloomer ; G. Hendersonii, the finest of all, a true gesnera, with pale green, velvety leaves, and a large truss of brilliant scarlet flowers, three inches long; G. Jasminiflora, pure white; G. refulgent, a superb winter bloomer, color between vermilion and amaranth ; G. Hansteini, white, shaded and spotted with violet; G. atrina rosea, half yellow, half rose.

Grsnera refulgens.

The Georges Bruant Rose; From Nature; Natural Size. (See page 422).

Achimenes or Eucodonias belong to the same family. The flowers are produced on large terminal cone-shaped racemes, in drooping funnel-shaped tubes. Araphitrite has flowers of lilac-rose, with three bands of orange-yellow. Those of Diane are lilac-blue, with yellowish throat. Those of nageliodea lilacina are lilac with a white throat, spotted and freckled with citron, yellow and lilac. Van Houttei bears large spikes, perfect in form ; vivid scarlet, spotted with flesh-colored stripes.

NAEGELIAS belong to another section of the family, and are very similar in habit to the others. N. amabilis (or properly N. multiflora) has fine panicles of snow-white flowers, with large lemon-yellow spots on the lower lip. Daphne bears rose-colored flowers, with a pure white center ; those of Sceptre Cerise are bright vermilion and cherry red, covered with golden yellow spots - magnificent and very large ; it has smooth foliage of bronze-maroon. In Gabriellas, flowers are carmine bordered with white, and the throat is pointed with carmine on a yellow ground ; an extra fine variety Plectopomas form a section of hybrid gesneras, considered by some botanists as a distinct genus. There are not more than a dozen varieties named under this head, and their colors are salmon, rose, white, blue and crimson, Baked, blotched and dotted, similar to those already described.

Group of Achimenes.

Tydaea is one of the natural order of gesneraceae. It is a native of the mountains of Grenada. The group includes both autumn and winter blooming varieties, producing a long and brilliant succession of flowers, in color like those of the other classes.

Belzebatb, which is now blooming in my window, has a crimson tube with the lip curiously spotted with dark maroon. In those of Gigantea, flowers are vermilion and gold. In Madame Halphen the lower lobes are lightly tinted with blue, and spotted with carmine, while the upper lobes are shaded with carmine-rose. Elliptica multiflora is dark purple with white spots. Wonder bears magnificent flowers of a dazzling vermilion veined with black. All these are plants of great beauty, and I hope some of the Garden readers will be induced by my descriptions to seek a more intimate acquaintance with their merits. The whole family of gesneracese will be found unusually attractive, and out of the common run of plants. Mrs. M. D. Wellcome.

Maine.