The flesh colored Pentas, P. carnea, is a very handsome and free flowering stove or warm greenhouse plant, belonging to the Natural Order Cinchonaceae. It is the only species known, and is a native of the south of Africa, from whence it was introduced in 1842. It is a half shrubby plant of robust symmetrical habit of growth, and can with a little care and attention be so grown as to form an excellent exhibition plant, and it is especially valuable for the length of time in which the flowers are produced. Although it requires a light sunny situation and a winter temperature of from 55° to 6o° to enable it to bloom, it will live in a much lower temperature if care be taken as to watering, and young plants struck early in spring, and planted out in a well-enriched deep border, will flower during the entire summer.

The blossoms are produced in corymbose cymes or clusters and stand erect, displaying their lovely soft flesh-colored flowers. When the flowers are at first developed they are very pale, but gradually acquire color by exposure. Like most soft-wooded plants of vigorous growth, the P. carnea requires a generous treatment, and at all times it should be given an abundance of room for its roots. It prefers a compost of two-thirds of well-rotted sods, and one-third well-decomposed stable manure. If large specimens are desired, the plants should be repotted as often as is necessary, until they attain the desired size, when they should be given liquid manure water at least once a week.

Where it can be given a light sunny situation, and a winter temperature of from 55 to 6o°, it will be found to be an excellent winter blooming plant for either the greenhouse or window garden. If wanted for this purpose, it is advisable to prepare the plants during the summer, by gradually shifting into larger sized pots, until the plants attain the desired size; by training carefully so as to obtain handsome specimens, and by removing all flower buds the very instant they are noticed, so as to prevent the plants from exhausting themselves by excessive flowering. Ordinary care will be sufficient to keep the plant free from all insect pests, and propagation is easily effected by cuttings of the half-ripened wood, which will root in about ten days; then they should be potted off and encouraged to grow. The plants often flower when quite small, and it does not appear to weaken or injure them in the least.

The generic name is derived from "penti," five, in reference to the number of petals and stamens, Rubiaceous plants usually having but four, and the specific in allusion to the color of the flowers. Queens, N. Y.