1882.] 



AND HORIICULTURIST. 



47 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



Jasminum gracillimum (see illustration on 

 preceding page). — We have briefly noted this 

 novelty in our last year's volume. It seems 

 to be an introduction of more than ordinary 

 value, on account of the great demand for 

 first-class winter-blooming flowers. We give the 

 following representation of it, together with a 

 sketch of its history with which we have been 

 favored by Messrs. J. Veitch & Son, of Chelsea, 

 London, through whose enterprise it was first 

 introduced to public notice : 



"A beautiful Jasmine, collected for us in Bor- 

 neo by Mr Burbidge. 



"The following is Sir J. D. Hooker's descrip- 

 tion of the plant in the Gardeners' Chronicle for 

 January 1st, 1881 : 



" ' A very near ally of the well-known Jas- 

 minum pubescens of India and China, the type 

 around which are to be arranged a good many 

 closely- allied species, differing in habit, in the 

 size and number of flowers, and of the divisions 

 of the corolla, all of them natives of Eastern 

 Asia and its islands.' 



" ' Of these Jasminum gracillimum is one of the 

 most distinct in its graceful habit, and in the 

 abundance of its large sweet scented flowers, 

 w'hich are also more copiously produced, in 

 which respect I know of none to compare with 

 it. It appears to be a small species, with long, 

 very slender branches springing from low down 

 on the stem, and curving over on all sides, 

 weighed down by terminal globose panicles as 

 large as the fist.' 



" We may add, that as a decorative plant for 

 the stove and w^arm conservatory, Jasminum 

 gracillimum is probably the best of recent intro- 

 duction. It is exceedingly floriferous ; a flower- 

 ing shoot is produced from every joint, which 

 terminates in a dense cluster of pure white frag- 

 rant flowers. The plant is continuously in 

 bloom from October to January, and its grace- 

 ful habit renders it one of the most beautiful of 

 flowering plants for table decoration at that 

 season." 



" It received the award of a first-class certifi- 

 cate from the Royal Horticultural Society, De- 

 cember 14th, 1880. 



Cyrtodeira metalica. — A new basket plant 

 now popular. Of creeping habit. Its leaves are 

 a rich bronze color, marked in the centre with 

 pink. The surface of the foliage being covered 

 with minute white hairs, gives it a silvery ap- 

 pearance ; very beautiful . — Henderson. 



Begonia Schmidtit.— Although we have seve- 

 ral times referred to this pretty addition to the 

 popular Begonias,we continue to have inquiries 

 concerning it, and have thought that the follow- 



ing sketch of its history, furnished by Haage & 

 Schmidt, of Erfurt, will be generally interesting : 



"Begonia Schmidtii, Kegel. A new species 

 grown from seeds which we received from the 

 South of Brazil. It neither belongs to the tu- 

 berous-rooted nor to the large-leaved ('Rex 

 hybrid') sorts and maybe classed to the shrubby, 

 small-leaved and free-flowering kinds such as the 

 well-known species : Dregei, incarnata, Ingrami, 



Weltoniensis. Among'these it is certain to rank 

 foremost and become a very popular sort on ac- 

 count of its extraordinary abundance of flowers ; 

 the latter are white, slightly veiled with pink, 

 and form an agreeable contrast to the foliage, 

 being dark green with a metallic lustre. The 

 dwarf branching and regular globe-shaped habit 

 of the plant makes it a most desirable acquisi- 

 tion for decorative as well as for market pur- 

 poses. Literally covered with flowers from May 

 to the end of October, it will continue in bloom 

 through the winter if treated under any ordi- 

 nary circumstances ; so that this species may 

 justly be called a perpetual-flowering Begonia. 

 The culture is tlie same as of all the other 

 shrubby sorts, thriving well out of doors during 

 the summer and in a temperate stove during the 

 winter months. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Shy Flowering Plants.—" B." says : "Can you 

 or some of your readers inform me what treat- 

 ment is required to make Ageratums bloom 

 freely? I have three fine varieties, Blanche, 

 Lady Jane and John Douglas, and they grow 

 very vigoreusly but produce very few flowers. 

 How long does it take seedling Geraniums to 



