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Excerpt from The Ladies Companion to the Flower Garden: Being an Alphabetical Arrangement of All the Usually Grown in Gardens and Shrubberies; With Full Directions for Their Culture Ab'elia - Caprifolidceœ. This- genus was discovered in China as long back as 1818, by Dr. Abel, in honour of whom it was named; but it was little known in Europe, though several species were afterwards discovered, till 1844, when Mr. Fortune sent over plants of Abelia rupestris, which he found growing among some rocks on the Chamco Hills. It is a pretty little plant, with fragrant flowers, somewhat resembling those of the sweet scented Daphne, but not remarkably beautiful. Another species (A. unifibra) is an evergreen shrub, with whitish flowers, which appear in July. It was introduced by Messrs. Standish and Noble, in 1851, and seems hardy. There is another species of the genus, which was introduced in 1842, under the name of Vesdlia fiorihunda, from Mexico, which has long rose-coloured flowers, closely resembling those of the honeysuckle, to which, indeed, it is nearly allied, but which are produced singly. The plant itself is a pendulous shrub, and it requires a warm greenhouse. It grows freely, strikes readily from cuttings, and flowers during the greater part, of the summer. A'brus. - Lefuminosce. - The Wild Liquorice (A.precatòrius) is a pretty climbing stove plant, which requires a strong heat to throw it into flower. The seeds, which are poisonous, are scarlet and black, and are sometimes made into necklaces for children. Abu'tilon. - Malvaceœ. - There is a very beautiful greenhouse plant called Ahutilon striatum, or Sida picta, that deserves a place in every collection. It is a native of Brazil, and half-shrubby, with vine-like leaves, and bell-shaped flowers of a bright yellow, strongly veined with scarlet, which hang down on long slender stalks. The plant should be grown in a pot, a quarter filled with broken potsherds to insure perfect drainage, in a ligh