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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[March 1, 1SG8. 



BOTANY. 



Cham^erops humilis. — This is the dwarf palm 

 of Italy, and the more southern parts of Europe. 

 It is very useful as an ornament of greenhouses ; 

 its handsome fan-shaped leaves forming a beautiful 

 contrast with those of camellias, oranges, rhodo- 

 dendrons, azaleas, and other simple-leaved shrubs. 

 We scarcely ever get it above three feet high, 

 although it is said to become a tree when very old. 

 The following, copied from Landen's " Arboretum 

 Britannicum," will probably interest many of the 

 readers of Science-Gossip who feel disposed to 

 give this plant a trial out of doors on their lawns or 

 grassplots. I must, however, remind them that it 

 is not " sufficiently hardy to withstand the winter 

 climate of some localities in this country." Though 

 this palm is designated dwarf, yet, according to the 

 " Nouveau du Hamel," it grows to the height of 

 30 feet or 40 feet in Spain ; and one in the Jardin 

 des Plantes, in a tub, attained the height of 30 

 feet. In England, one in an old conservatory, at 

 Buckridge House, near Godalming, was, in 1836 

 upwards of 12 feet high. The trunk of plants of 

 this size is cylindrical, perfectly naked from ground 

 to within a short distance of the leaves, where scales 

 commence, of a reddish hue, being the base of the 

 footstalks, which remain for some years after the 

 leaves and petioles have dropped off; and which 

 scales, with great plausibility, have been considered 

 as giving the first hint for the foliaged capitals of 

 Corinthian columns. " As this palm produces 

 abundance of seed in Italy and Sardinia, if large 

 quantities of it were imported, and the plants raised 

 from it exposed to the frost, some would doubtless 

 be found more hardy than others ; and these might 

 be perpetuated from the suckers which arise 

 abundantly from the roots. The soil which this 

 palm prefers is a deep sand, in, which soil it is said 

 to grow in the south of Europe, and spread over the 

 surface in the same manner as the fern does in 

 England. As a single object on a British lawn, few, 

 in rarity and singularity, can surpass a fan palm. A 

 plant has stood out in the open air, in the Edinburgh 

 Botanic Garden, for several winters, with scarcely 

 any protection." A fine specimen is also flourishing 

 on the lawn at Dangstein, near Petersfield, Hants. 

 The seed may be had of almost any respectable 

 nurseryman for 4d. or 6d. per packet, which may be 

 sown in March on a hotbed, and when the young 

 plants appear treat them like any other greenhouse 

 shrub, hardening them by gradual exposure to sun 

 and air. — George Newlija. 



Pink Primrose. — This variety is certainly 

 common in Pembrokeshire, but I think your corre- 

 spondent (D. Tredegarville) is hardly correct in 

 making the Yellow the exception. Both flourish 

 abundantly, but the yellow predominates here as 

 elsewhere. — 11. Ricks. 



Snowdrops— On the 6th of February, " P. G." 

 enclosed snowdrops in flower from a garden in a 

 maritime parish in the south-west of Scotland, the 

 name of which we cannot decipher. This is rather 

 early so far north for the " fail' maid of February." 



LiciiENOLOGY.- — Dr. Lauder Lindsay has an- 

 nounced two works in course of preparation, " Out- 

 lines of Lichenology " and " Lichenologia Britan- 

 nica," each complete in itself, but the former is 

 intended to constitute an introduction to the latter. 

 A work of this kind is much wanted. 



Ivy Again. — The instances mentioned by your 

 correspondents of ivy flourishing as " vigorous as 

 ever," and " showing no signs of decay " after the 

 communication with the ground had been entirely 

 cut off, need, I think, to be very fully and carefully 

 inquired into ere we receive them as conclusive and 

 satisfactory proofs in favour. I do not for a mo- 

 ment object to accept those as very marked cases, 

 in evidence of unusual power of sustaining vitality 

 for a time; but I think I can also bring forward 

 other evidence to show that this vitality, in all 

 probability, only lasts for a certain time, increased 

 or otherwise in proportion to the advantages 

 present. Moreover, that the removal of direct 

 connection with the ground (or other suitable 

 source) does affect the vitality, and ultimately de- 

 stroys the life of the plant. About ten years since 

 it was thought advisable to get rid of the ivy then 

 covering much of the eastern end of St. David's 

 Cathedral, especially the walls of the Lady Chapel, 

 where it flourished luxuriantly. Eor this purpose 

 the stems, in every case, were sawn across from 

 twelve to fifteen feet above the ground, and the 

 whole of the lower portion cleared off, leaving only 

 the upper parts undistiubed to wither and decay. 

 In some instances this occurred also rapidly, but in 

 most cases the symptoms of decay came on only 

 very gradually, whilst others, for years, showed 

 scarcely any indications of being at all affected. 

 Year after year, however, some drooped, and at last 

 the freshest and fairest, so that at the present time 

 but few portions remain, and these in as sickly a 

 state as possible, the remaining faint indications of 

 life being only present in the highest branches, fed 

 apparently by the last drops which they are likely 

 to be able to draw out of the now hard and dead 

 stems and adjoining branches. The miserable 

 appearance, and sickly yellowish tint of the last 

 lingering leaves, tell the tale of ten years' depriva- 

 tion from a continuous stream of natural food, and 

 look ill, indeed, in the face of those fresh and deep- 

 tinted companions on an adjoining wall. Doubtless, 

 position has much to do with accelerating or delay- 

 ing decay. A barren and dry wall can yield little 

 or no nourishment, while a mossy and moist trunk 

 of an " old hawthorn " may yield a scanty suste- 

 nance for a proportionally long period. — //. Hicks. 



