312 



The Horticulturist and Journal 



Dloscorea Illustrata. — A handsome-fo- 

 liage stove climber, imported from liio Grande 

 do Sul. The stems are wiry ; the leaf-stalks 

 angular. The leaves are cordate sagittate, 

 about six inches across, abruptly apiculate, 

 and produced at the base into two bluntish 

 lobes, which are tliree inches across ; the blade 

 from the petiole to the tip measuring about 

 five inches. The size and marking of the 

 leaf are the peculiar features of the plant. 

 There is an irregular central band of silvery 

 gray, and a few angular patches of the same 

 color generally placed in juxtaposition with 

 the ribs, of which there are four on each side 

 the costa. The surface is a satiny green, 

 shaded with olive green, and marked by 

 fine, transverse, whitish, parallel lines between 

 the nerves, a third series of irregular virulets 

 crossing between the latter. The under 

 surface is purple. — Williain Bull. 



Liliani Tigrhiaiu Flore fleuo. — This 

 is one of the most remarkable varieties yet 

 produced of the Tiger Lily class. Its flowers 

 are very large, double, and of a bright orange 

 color ; the segments are thickly studded with 

 dark brown spots, except at the tips, which 

 are recurved — introduced from Japan only 

 within a few years, and hitherto has been 

 quite rare and high priced. Considered by 

 florists very novel and extremely handsome. 

 Most American florists now have it. 



New Ferns — Ferns have yielded little 

 of importance during the past year, if we ex- 

 cept the interminable and hard-named varie- 

 ties of British species, which we owe to the 

 enthusiasm of cultivators. The Dicksonia 

 Sellowiana, however, a tree fern of Brazil, 

 which has found its way to the Belgian 

 gardens, will be a nice addition to our collec- 

 tions ; Davillia (or Humata) Tyermanii is a 

 charming basket fern from West tropical 

 Africa, its small deltoid tripinnate fronds and 

 silvery-scaled rhizomes being singularly orna- 

 mental. Elaphoglossum Herminieri, christ- 

 ened the Eel Fern by Dr. Socman, from the 



resemblance of its clustered glossy iridescent 

 sterile fronds to clusters of silvery eels, is a 

 good stove basket fern ; and Trichomanes au- 

 riculatum is a lovely creeping stemned, hot- 

 house film fern, with transparent gj-een, narrow, 

 bipinnatifid fronds. Asplenium marinum 

 Thompsonifc and Polypodium vulgare cornu- 

 biense (or Whytei, as it is sometimes called) 

 may be mentioned as most distinct looking 

 bipinnatifid varieties of the Sea Spleenwort 

 and common Polybody respectively, which, as 

 is well known, are noi'mally pinnatifid only. — 

 Gardener''s Clironicle. 



Gordon's Dwarf Fir [Abies Gordoni 

 pumila). — This is a new variety raised by 

 M. Molet, nurseryman, of Plessis-Piquel, 

 France, and forms a dwarf pyramidal shrub 

 with numerous erect branches, covered with a 

 smooth bark of a light green or slightly 

 yellow color. The leaves are of a deep green 

 on the up|)er surface, and are marked iinder- 

 neath with two glaucous bands. It forms a 

 very handsome miniature shrub, well suited 

 for small lawns or gardens, while the leaves 

 never turn brown under the sun, as those of 

 the parent plant are liable to do. Another 

 advantage which it possesses over the latter, 

 is, that cutting from all the branches forms 

 vertical leading shoots, as readily as if they 

 were seedling, a property which belongs to 

 hardly any other species or variety of Abies. 

 — The Garden. 



A New Canada Apjile. — A new apple, 

 originated in Canada, by Mr. Charles Arnold, 

 from a cross fertilization of the Wagener, 

 Northern Spy and Spitzenburg, is highly 

 spoken of by the Canada Farmer. In form, 

 it is much like the Wagener, but has the 

 coloring of the Spy. The apple is of medium 

 size, having a yellow flesh, which is very 

 tender and very juicy, of good quality, if not 

 best, presenting a blending of the flavor *of the 

 Wagener and Spy. We learn that the Fruit 

 Growers" Association have made arrange- 

 ments with Mr. Arnold to grow a sufiicient 

 number of trees of this variety to enable them 

 to distribute one to each member as soon as 

 they can be raised. — American Rural Home. 



