152 THE FLOBIST AND POMOLOGIST. [JULY, 



in this large family is yellow. The exceptions are R. amplexicaulis of the 

 Pyrenees, a neat white-flowered sort, which grows about 1 ft. in height, and 

 of which we may have something to say when we come to treat of swamp plants ; 

 the R. nitidus of Carolina, and the R. aconitifolius and its double variety, natives of 

 the Alps, also white ; and the R. Lyallii of New Zealand, not yet introduced, which 

 has white flowers as large as a florin, and will, we trust, soon be found in cultivation. 

 The R. iso2)ijr aides of Siberia, and one or two others, are also white, but hardly 

 suitable for our purpose. 



We now pass on to relate what we know of the modest R, aquatilis. It is a 

 rather common British plant, and as dissimilar as anything can well be from the 

 R. Lingua, the one attaining to nearly the height of a man, and the other lying 

 flat upon the surface of the water. It begins to flower in May, and continues 

 through the summer, almost covering the surface of small ponds by the wayside 

 •with thousands of its pearly-white blossoms. It has two sets of leaves, those that 

 float on the surface being almost entire, while those that are submerged are 

 finely divided. As soon as the petals drop, the branches gradually sink to the 

 bottom, there to remain till the flowering time again comes round. There are 

 some varieties to be met with, probably not of a very permanent character, the 

 one merging into the other. One has been named R. aquatilis inultijlorus^ and 

 produces abundance of bloom in a small space, the flowers being closer together 

 than in the species. For the sides of ornamental water or for small tanks it is 

 well worth cultivating, as it can readily be kept within bounds by being reduced 

 annually to the dimensions most suitable for any particular locality. — W. 

 Buckley, Tontine/. 



PICEA NORDMANNIANA. 



CJ-jrHETHER in the young state, as we see it in this country, or in the 

 4^Xy matured condition in which it is shown in pictures of foreign scenery, this 

 is a grand Fir-tree, i^robably the most valuable, all points considered, 

 amongst the many new Conifers of the present century. Mr. Fowler, in 

 some excellent papers on Conifers published in the Gardeners' Chronicle^ remarks 

 that, " as an ornamental tree, it has already been very extensively used, and in this 

 respect is fast rising in popular favour ; as a nurse or for game cover, it can scarcely 

 be excelled ; as a timber-producing tree, it is likely to be very valuable ; its wood 

 is said to be much harder than that of the Silver Fir." 



It is a very hardy tree, of rapid growth, and though bearing a general resem- 

 blance to the Silver Fir, is certainly much handsomer, the leaves being of a fine, 

 deep lustrous green, and the branches being thickly furnished with them, so 

 that the tree always appears well clothed. One of its great merits as compared 

 with the Silver Fir is, that it is not liable to suffer material injury from spring 

 frosts, which so often disfigure early-growing trees, and the contrast between the 

 dark green of the upper, and the silvery hue of the lower surface of the leaves, is 

 very striking. It is a native of Northern Asia, and was first found in the 



