1880. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



103 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



PORTLANDIA CRANDIFLORA. 



BY C. H. CLAFLIX, NEWTON, MASS. 



In an article in the January number of your 

 magazine, a writer on the Portlandiagrandiflora 

 expresses the opinion that it would grow to the 

 height of twenty feet, which opinion I am happy 

 to say I can confirm by actual observation. Dur- 

 ing the earlier part of January, 1874, I was in 

 the village of Mandevillo, Manchester parish, 

 Jamaica, which is situated about fifty miles in a 

 north-westerly direction from Kingston, and at 

 an elevation of about 2000 feet above the sea, 

 where a fine specimen of the Portlandia was 

 shown me which had attained to the height of 

 20 to 22 feet, forming quite a tree. That the 

 size was exceptional however, I found by the 

 pains that was taken to call the visitor's atten- 

 tion to it, and also confirmed by subsequent ex- 

 perience in the gorge of the Rio Cober River, 

 above Spanish-town, where I saw no bushes 

 over 10 feet high, and but few over 6 feet. There 

 were however more flowers on them than in the 

 tree at Mandevillo, which may be accounted for 

 by the diff'erence of temperature, which may 

 have kept the larger specimen back, Spanish- 

 town being but little above the sea level. The 

 flowers looked from a distance more like the 

 Lilium longiflorum, having more firmness in 

 the petals than any of the Daturas. They were 

 at that time in full leaf, and the fragrance dur- 

 ing the day time imperceptible. 



FERNY FACTS AND FANCIES. 



BY W. T. HARDING, UPPER SANDUSKY, OHIO. 



In the Monthly of December, 1879, I see 

 Mr. Parnell answers the query of "J. S. R." as 

 correctly and concisely as any one can do, without 

 seeing the plants in question. The allusion to 

 the Rabbit's, or Hare's Foot Fern, seems to call 

 me back to my boyhood days, when I, a mere 

 stripling first saw them. And probably no in- 

 cipient gardener felt prouder than myself, when 

 first promoted to a position under the sashes. 

 Lord Vernon's great gardens were 'then famous 

 for ferns and flowers; especially for Cape, and 

 Australian, or Xew Holland plants, as they 

 were then more generally called. In one of the 

 large, though somewhat antiquated greenhouses 

 were placed a collection of what my much 

 honored and gray haired preceptor called his 

 anatomical group. Rather a queer designation , I 



will admit and which may need explaining to the 

 reader. As the kind-hearted old man, Mr. Dig- 

 well's specimens of comparative anatomy were 

 but few, they were soon learned, and it seems 

 with me were long remembered. To briefly de- 

 scribe them, I arrange them under the following 

 heads, to wit : a la Digwell — horns, heads, ears, 

 faces, tongues, throats, wings, tails, feet and 

 claws. The horns, as first named, were primus, 

 of course, as they are generally placed on the 

 highest part of the animal structure, and were 

 representated by Plat3^cerium alcicorne, or Stags 

 Horn Fern. This curious plant in reality much 

 more resembles an osseous formation, than a 

 herbaceous one, when seen from a distance. The 

 head, or second example, was a Euphorbia ca- 

 put Medusae, or Medusa's Head. And next 

 was the Face Tree, the singular Mimusops cy- 

 nocarpa, — known in common parlance as the 

 Monkey-faced Tree. The ears had a fac simile 

 in a specimen of Phillis nobla, the Hare's Ears. 

 "While Ornithoglossum undulatum, or Bird's 

 Tongue, and Picris hispida, or Ox Tongue 

 were proper examples, if not exactly, lingual 

 synonyms. Next in order was Trachillium dif- 

 fusum, or Throat Wort. The Bat Winged Fern, 

 Pteris vespertilionis, whose strangely formed 

 fronds were considered appropriate illustrations 

 of wings, were the next. Then in consecutive or- 

 der, was the caudal appendage, — and " thereby 

 hangs a tail," a Rat's Tail forsooth: and which 

 is commonly known as the Rat Tail Cactus, or 

 Cereus flagelliformis. 



It will be seen that much of what goes to make 

 up a perfect anatomical frame was wanting, and 

 at best there are but parts of vegetative frag- 

 ments to compare with a full corporeal structure. 

 But the extremities, both feet and claws, were 

 not wanting to complete the similitude, inas- 

 much as the Bird's Foot, Euphorbia ornithopes 

 and Testudinaria elephantopes, or Elephant's 

 Foot; Hare's Foot, or Polypodium aureum, and 

 Rabbit's Foot, Davallia canariensis, answered 

 well for pedal parts, and which very properly 

 ended with claws. Epiphyllum truncatum, or 

 the Crab's Claw Cactus as terminal examples. 



The good old gentleman, Mr. Digwell, was a 

 good naturalist, a good linguist, a good botanist, 

 and a good gardener, " one of the olden time." 

 His abundant wealth of common sense, exten- 

 sive information, urbanity of manners, and up- 

 right bearing, well fitted him for a "gentleman's 

 companion," as he and his like were in days of 

 yore. Men of his type, and abilities, ranked 



