1882.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



203 



rooted ^^rides, and the rambling Renanthera. 

 But in this " cool" house the plants that are in 

 blossom are in full leafage, too, a sturdy thrift 

 that well demands the gay-clad wreaths and 

 rambling spikes to cheer the vernal mass. In 

 scores the arching wreaths of Odontoglossum 

 A^lexandrae (more properly crispum, but Alex- 

 andrae is the garden name, and ever likely to be 

 used as such,) rife in variety, break Over the 

 bank of deep and bronzy green ; and by its side 

 its variety Andersoni, so rare and so expensive, 

 but less beautiful than its peerless mother. Pes- 

 catorei, triumphans, gloriosum, crocidipterum, 

 blandum, Eossii majus and others added to the 

 show. Speaking of Odontoglossum vexillarium 

 and Roezlii, Mr. Robinson tells me he finds 

 much difficulty in growing them. Now, when 

 my friend and neighbor, Mr. E. L. Beard, used 

 to have a collection of orchids, these two species 

 seemed to be special favorites of his, and many 

 handsome blossoms of them have I seen in his 

 greenhouses. Would other orchid growers please 

 tell us how they get along with them? As Odon- 

 toglossum phalsenopsis belongs to the same set, 

 I should like to hear of it too. I remember 

 Mr. Gray at Mr. Coming's, of Albany, some 

 years ago gave me a distressful account of it, 

 nor did I hear any more sanguine report of it 

 at Mrs. Morgan's, New York. But come back 

 with me to the greenhouse and lift and smell 

 that little darling, Oncidium cheirophorum, and 

 get the orchid fever : and then behold these 

 brilliant, fiery blossoms hovering over the tufts 

 of fleshy deep green Masdevallea leaves. Bright- 

 est among them are the erubescens variety of 

 ignea and the magenta Lindeni, and rarest (in 

 blossom) Backhousianum, which has large, 

 fleshy, long-tailed blossoms, in form and color 

 somewhat similar to those of Chimera. Sarco- 

 chilus Fitzgeraldi, a rare Australian orchid, has 

 racemes of waxy white flowers whose sepals and 

 petals are barred with purple, and the lip 

 blotched with yellow. 



erous ; its flower is large, of a fine bright red, 

 and its buds long and well-shaped. For forcing, 

 or out-door cultivation, it is a great acquisition. 

 The Pearl is another of this class, not so largfe a 

 rose, but of a beautiful flesh tint, admirably 

 adapted for winter bouquets. The French rose 

 known as Perle des Jardins being probably 

 referred to. 



Seedling Azaleas. — It does not take so long 

 as it is often supposed to raise flowering plants 

 from seed of Rhododendrons and Azaleas. Col. 

 Wilder, who continues actively his work of 

 hybridizing and crossing flowers, at a recent 

 meeting of the Massachusetts Hort. Society, 

 exhibited five plants of Azalea Indica, raised 

 from hybridized seed, and of remarkable growth, 

 the largest being a foot high at one year from 

 the seed. The leafstalks and the under sides of 

 the leaves of some of the plants were reddish, 

 like those of Rhododendron. There is little 

 doubt but they will flower next year. 



There is yet much to be done in the way 

 of hybridization of these plants. The East 

 Indian Rhododendrons are too tender for our 

 climate, but are fragrant. It would be a grand 

 thing if we could give this property to our 

 pretty kinds. 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Pritchardia Grandis.— The Palm recently 

 figured in our magazine is Licuala grandis of 

 Wendland. 



Rose, Duke of Connaught.— Mr. Halliday 

 believes the Duke of Connaught will supersede 

 Jacqueminot ; it is more double, far more florif- 



H.EMANTHUS Kalbreyeri.— This, we suppose, 

 rendered into English, would be " Mr. Ka]- 

 breyer's Hsemanthus." But it does not mend 

 the matter much. The name seems hard, but 

 after all should Mrs. Kalbreyer happen to be a 

 leader of fashion on Walnut street, the ladies 

 would not worry much over the hardship of 

 remembering the name. It is no harder to 

 remember than scores of names of people we 

 meet in everyday life. Perhaps it is easier to 

 remember a hard name that is fashionable than 

 an easy one that is not in the lower world. But 

 the plant is not English, but African, and hence 

 has no English name, — and were we to give 

 its common name, if the Africans ever had a 

 common name for it, it would not perhaps help 

 the matter very much. 



But it seem to be a very pretty thing,— one of 

 the many pretty things introduced to gardens 

 by the enterprise of Mr. Wm. Bull, of Chelsea, 

 London. Its showy inflorescence is of immense 

 size, a single head often producing upwards of a 



