BRUGMA'NSIA. Two very different plants have been called by this name, one a Ithisanth belonging to the order Itafflesiaeete, the other a plant belonging to the natural order Solanaeae. The species of the latter are now referred to Datura. D. arborea is the Bovochevo of the Columbiana, and is known in our gardens under the name of Brugmansia. Like the rest of the natural order Solanacem it is narcotic in a high degree. " This remarkable plant is a uative of elevated and cold situations in the provinces of Tama, Xauxa, Huaroehesi, Cants., and Humalies, where it grows among rubbish ; it is also found near the village of La Cruz and on the banks of the river Mayo, between Almaquer and Paste in New Granada, where it was found by Humboldt and Bonpland at nearly 7000 feet above the sea. It begins to flower in June and ceases in November. By the Peru vians it is called Floripondio Encaniado and Campanillas Encarnadas ; by the Columbiana Bovochevo. Its stature varies from 10 to 12 feet, the stem being generally undivided and terminated by a roundish leafy head. The flowers are either a bright yellowish-orange colour
or a deep orange-red : we believe they change from the former to the latter. They are succeeded by an oblong, smooth, yellow, pendulous capsule, which is as much as 8 inches long. The seeds, like those of the common Stramonium, are narcotic in a high degree. In the Temple of the Suu in the city of Sogamoza there is a famous oracle, the priests of which inspire themselves with the intoxicating seeds of this plant, just as the Pythoness at Delphi is said to have received the influence of her god by chewing laurel leaves and inhaling a gaseous vapour. From the fruit itself the Columbiana prepare a drink called Tonga,' which when weak is merely soporific, but drank in stronger doses produces frenzy, which can only be removed by administering imme diate draughts of cold water." (` Botanical Register?) In cultivation it is hardy during the summer, but requires the protection of o greenhouse in winter.