MARCH. 65 



the country, while the means at their command for rewarding suc- 

 cessful growers in the varied productions which have come before 

 them, have not unfrequently fallen short of the demand ; and while 

 improvement in all art is mainly determined by the extent of com- 

 petition, adequate reward is the great lever to set the latter in motion. 



To no flowers does this remark applj^ with greater force than to 

 the Picotee and Carnation, which demand far more care, labour, and 

 watching, than any other out-door inhabitant of the garden. Their 

 multiplication is limited, their season of flowering short, the num- 

 ber of blooms extremely few ; who, therefore, does not feel that these 

 disadvantages demand the counterpoise of peculiar encouragement, 

 which it is impossible that the claims of other flowers can permit 

 general floricultural societies to afford ? At the present moment, 

 not only is the cultivation in question much restricted, but in num- 

 berless instances, growers will not exhibit. They will not sacrifice for 

 a prize comparatively insignificant the pride of their stages. They 

 prefer to enjoy at home what has cost so much pains and attention. 



The new society for the encouragement of the Picotee and Car- 

 nation will be supported by the annual subscription of its members, 

 who alone will be qualified to compete. Being thus devoted to one 

 object, it is hoped that it will be able, not only to stimulate, but 

 handsomely to reward merit ; and in this way to draw within its 

 circle all who produce or admire the beautiful flower which it has 

 taken under its guardianship. Morgan May. 



NOTES FROM THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW, 



AND OF NEW PLANTS FIGURED IN CONTEMPORARY PERIODICALS. 



Brownea coccinea. This is one of the best stove-shrubs in cultivation. It is 

 an old species, a native of the West Indies and South America; but it is seldom 

 grown so as to form a compact handsome-looking plant. It requires great heat, 

 with plenty of moisture and abundance of pot-room, to bring it to perfection; 

 the foliage is of a pleasing green, somewhat pendulous, and the flowers are pro- 

 duced from the stem at tlie axils of the leaves, in pendulous clusters of a bright 

 scarlet, with brown scales at their base. A large plant of it has been flowering 

 profusely at Kew during the dreary months of winter, and a truly beautiful 

 object it makes. 



Adenocalymna comosa. This is an excellent species for planting in a stove 

 and training up pillars or against rafters. It is a large-growing free-flowering 

 Bignoniad, having flowers of a bright yellow, enlivening the stove during the early 

 portion of the year. It is an old species, and is a native of Brazil. 



LucuLiA GRATissiMA. When well cultivated, few evergreen flowering-shrubs 

 surpass this in beauty. No conservatory or greenhouse should be without it, as 

 it grows freely, and flowers abundantly even when in a young state. The flowers 

 are produced in large corymbs on the apex of almost every branchlet ; they are 

 light pink, and very fragrant. When planted out, or allowed plenty of pot and 

 head room, it forms a very handsome bush five or six feet high ; numerous plants 

 of it have been flowering at Kew during the last two months. It has long since 

 been introduced to English gardens from Nepal. 



SciiCENiA OPFOsiTiFOLiA. A tender greenhouse annual, equal in beauty to the 

 Rodanthe Manglesii. It is an erect-growing branching plant, with a terminal 

 inflorescence, the flowers forming a broad handsome corymb of a yellow and 



NEW SERIES. VOL. I. NO. III. G 



