760 



horticulture: 



June 16, 1906 



the fronds are dripping with moisture. Being always 

 surrounded by dampness, they do not need much 

 watering but that has to be looked after anyway. 



Filmy ferns are represented only by three genera 

 Hymenophylluni, Trichomanes and Todea. They are 

 all of very delicate texture, have only mid ribs and no 

 side ribs. Some are very finely and some broadly 

 divided ; some look more like sea weed than ferns ; some 

 have fronds not over one inch long while others grow 

 over one foot; some todeas have fronds over two feet 

 long. Most of the filmy ferns are of very dark green 

 color while some are very light green and some are cov- 

 ered with hair; these last ones cannot stand overhead 

 sprinkling. They are all very showy when well-culti- 

 vated. These are a few of them which we have in 

 cultivation : 



Hymenophyllum : Asplenoides from Central Amer- 

 ica is a small species; caudiculatum from Chili or 

 Brazil, a strong growing species with a tail-like append- 

 age at the end of the frond ; crispatum from New Zea- 

 land, crispy frond, dense in habit; demissum, South Sea 

 Islands, fine divided, free growing ; flexuosum, New Zea- 

 land, large growing and finely divided; Forsterianum 

 from Brazil, large growing fronds, light green and un- 

 dulated; tunbridgense from Europe, a small growing 

 species making big turfs mixed with moss. 



Trichomanes: Alabamensis, from the United States, 

 has narrow crowded egg-shaped fronds; angustatum. 

 Japan and Java, light green in color, very delicate; 

 auriculatum, Japan, a wide-creeping species, frond 

 stalkless, narrow and long, broadly divided; Luschnati- 

 anum, from Brazil, a very nice species; maximum, Java, 

 a strong growing species; radicans (Killarney fern), 

 from Europe, are all over the world, one of nicest of 

 which there are a few varying forms; reniforme. New 

 Zealand, has the fronds entire and kidney-shaped; 

 trichoideum, West Indies, very delicate species, fronds 

 divided in hair-like divisions. 



Todea: Pellucida (hymenophylloides). New Zea- 

 land, has a thick fibrous trunk and long-stalked, large, 

 very delicate fronds; superba, New Zealand, the nicest 

 of all the todeas, frond long and very finely divided; 

 Fraserii, from New Caledonia and Australia, has a 

 fibrous trunk like osmunda, big broad fronds, very del- 

 icate in texture; Wilkesiana, New Hebrides, a little 

 filmy tree-fern, fronds nearly like pellucida. 



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Cattleya citrina 



Cattleya citrina is one of the most fascinating of 

 orchids. Its peculiar habit of growth with its leaves 

 hanging downwards, looking exactly like a plant upside 

 down, attracts the attention of almost everyone. 



It is a native of Mexico and grows at a considerable 

 elevation and is a true epiphyte. We sometimes see it 

 grown on blocks, but do not consider this very kind 

 treatment, as it is a plant which loves air and it is 

 almost impossible to keep the roots moist enough on a 

 block, and at the same time have the cool, airy con- 

 ditions necessary to the welfare of the plant. A raft 

 with about an inch of fern root and good sized pieces of 

 charcoal at intervals will keep the roots moist without 

 continual watering. Nothing sour should be allowed 

 near the roots. 



The best plants the writer has seen were at the Boyal 



Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. These were grown in 

 ordinary teak baskets hung vertically, not against a 

 wall or glass partition, but near the centre of the 

 cattleya house where the air could circulate around 

 them. The plants were dipped and allowed to drip in 

 such a way that the foliage never got wet which was 

 perhaps partly the reason why the plants were in such 

 fine condition. The leaves are glaucous and are covered 

 with a waxy bloom which, with the pendant habit of 

 the plant, may be taken as an indication that nature did 

 not intend that the foliage should remain wet. 



The flowers are very attractive and appear in May 

 and June and are also pendulous, yellow, and very 

 fragrant. 



Pittsburg, Pa. 



Lilium Brownii 



The typical Lilium Brownii is said to have been cul- 

 tivated in Europe since 1838. Lilium Brownii has on 

 many occasions been referred to as a native of China, 

 yet there is no record of its ever having been found 

 there. 



The origin of Lilium Brownii seems to be obscure. 

 It appears that its name first occurred in the catalogue 

 of F. E. Brown, a nurseryman of Windsor, England, 

 about 1838 or 1839. Whatever be its origin, Brownii 

 is a magnificent lily which has often been considered to 

 be the problematical Lilium japonicum. Its large 

 trumpet-shaped flowers are of a thick and wax-like text- 

 ure; inside they are white and on the outside heavily 

 suffused with chocolate coloring. In the bud state this 

 chocolate coloring is most marked. Among importa- 

 tions of lilies from China there have been some forms 

 of this, the principal one being that represented in the 

 accompanying colored supplement, namely, Lilium 

 Brownii leucanthum, which was awarded a first-class 

 certificate by the Royal Horticultural Society last year. 

 This lily was first sent to Kew by Dr. Henry in 1889, 

 and during recent years it has been imported in consid- 

 erable quantities. It is a vigorous grower, the stems 

 reaching a height of 4 to 5 feet. The long-tubed flow- 

 ers are creamy white with a ruddy tinge outside and 

 having a yellow throat. 



Lilium Brownii Chloraster is also a beautiful form 

 of Brownii received in importations from China. It 

 differs from the variety illustrated by its brownish 

 stem, narrower leaves, and less drooping flowers. It 

 is also noteworthy on account of its having been used 

 as one of the parents of the beautiful hybrid Lilium 

 Kewense. The other parent of the latter was Lilium 

 Henryi. 



Writing about Lilium Brownii a well-known grower 

 says : "No mention of L. Brownii and its varieties 

 would be complete without directing attention to a lily 

 which botanists persist in calling a variety of L. japon- 

 icum (Krameri of gardens). The lily in question is 

 that which used to be called Lilium odorum, now called 

 L. japonicum Colchesteri. It has nothing to do with L. 

 japonicum. It is undoubtedly a form of Lilium 

 Brownii. 



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