GAERTNERA (named after Dr. Joseph Gaertner, a celebrated German botanist, 1732-1791). SYNS. Frutesca, Sykesia. ORD. Loganiaceae. A genus containing about twenty-five species of handsome stove glabrous shrubs or trees, natives of West Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, and the Malayan Islands and Peninsula. Flowers white, green, or rose-coloured; in some species, not unlike those of the common Privet, and arranged in a similar manner; in others, disposed in compact terminal heads; and in others in corymbs; calyx usually very minute. Leaves opposite, entire, coriaceous, penniveined. They thrive in a mixture of loam and peat. Cuttings of firm shoots, made in April, will root, if inserted in sand, under a hand glass, in heat. The species here described are those best known in cultivation. GAERTNERA obtusifolia (obtuse-leaved). fl. composed of five petals, the lower two more expanded, the upper three completely reflexed, the uppermost one has a rosy tinge round a yellowish base, the other four are white; fragrant. March. l. oblong, obtuse. h. 20ft. China, 1810. A large shrub. GAERTNERA racemosa (racemose).* fl. somewhat resembling GAERTNERA obtusifolia, but larger, more beautiful, and exceedingly fragrant; exterior petals oblong. April. l. ovate-oblong, acute. Various parts of India, 1793. A very handsome species. (A. B. R. 600.)