THE 



FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 



COLEUS QUEEN VICTORIA. 



WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. 



^0 family of plants has, in modern times, so speedily acquired notoriety as 

 that of the Coleus. It is not so long since that our gardens could boast 

 only a few weedy species, of which the most important was the " Nettle 

 Geranium" of cottage windows. Then came 0. Blumei, the red-stained 

 leaves of which first drew attention to the family as ornamental-foliaged plants ; 

 this being followed by C. Verschaffeltii, the still brighter colours of which have 

 been turned to so good an account in conjunction with the silvery Centaureas for 

 summer bedding purposes ; and this, again, being succeeded by the almost black- 

 leaved form of 0. scutellarioides known as nigricans, the purple-veined C. Gibsoni, 

 and the green-edged C. Veitchii. 



The foregoing, with one or two trifling sports, were all that we possessed up 

 to the beginning of the present year, when a set of a dozen novel hybrids, 

 raised in the Ohiswick Garden of the Royal Horticultural Society by Mr. Bause, 

 on their appearance in public, created quite a furore, and realized, when offered 

 for sale at Stevens' Auction Rooins, the large sum of £393. These included frilled- 

 leaved, plane-leaved, and reticulately-marked forms, represented respectively by 0. 

 Bausei, C. Saundersii, and 0. Scottii ; but the ground-colour was green, with mark- 

 ings of a deep chocolate purple. Mr. Bull, taking the hint from Chiswick, was soon 

 in the field with a second set of varieties, several of which proved to be desirable 

 acquisitions ; and thus the Coleus family may be said to have taken the public by 

 stomi, so rapidly did its beautiful and novel variations come forth. What the 

 value of these new sorts as bedding plants may be, has not yet been fairly deter- 

 mined, but they are certainly very beautiful objects if only suitable to be grown 

 as pot plants for conservatory decoration. 



During the past summer C. Telfordi, a yellow-leaved sport from C. Blumei, 

 was announced. This, from the contrast between its yellowish margin and chestnut- 

 red centre, proved to be a very pretty indoor plant ; and, taken in conjunction with 

 3rd Series. — n. b 



