i8o 



IRISH GARDENING 



The leaves are spiny, and tlic ])laii1 liad tlie 

 appearance of a biennial. 



Gentiana Freyniana was very fine, and full of 

 flowers in the rockery, and is a very useful 

 summer flowerer. 



Epilo})iuni latifolium is dwarf, with grey 

 lea\es, and Wahlenhergia albo-marginata ap- 

 peared attracti\e. 



Alyssum serpyllifolium granatonse is a com- 

 pact form, otherwise much 

 like the type, which is 

 an excellent rock garden 

 plant, with tiny grey leaves 

 and bright yellow flowers. 



Codonopsis Meleagris, a 

 quaint BellWort, with 

 Fritillary-like flowers, was 

 flourishing ; and Anthemis 

 Biebersteiniana is a choice 

 silvery - leaved plant of 

 more than ordinary merit. 



Near the pond by the 

 palm - house there was a 

 very attractive bed of the 

 pink - flowered Carnation 

 Miss Shiffner, a variety 

 which is apparent^ well 

 adapted for bedding. 



In the Arboretum there 

 is an enormous collection 

 of new and rare trees and 

 shrubs which would require 

 several days to examine 

 even cursorily. Many, of 

 couKe, Were not :n flower, 

 but Were, nevertheless, full 

 of interest. Rhododen- 

 drons have been largely 

 introduced from China 

 during the last decade or 

 so, and the Kew collection, 

 always rich in species, is 

 becoming more so every 

 year. Among others the 

 following Were noted : — 

 R. siderophyllum in the 

 way of R. yunnanense, R. 

 orbiculare, R. Williamsianum, R. mucronulatum, 

 R. rhombicum, and R. halem.e, the latter from 

 the Austrian Alps. 



Lonicera ovalis was even then in fruit, and 

 looked very pretty with its slender arching 

 branches thickly furnished with pretty red 

 berries. A fine plant of the new Hydrangea 

 Sargenti was noted in the temperate house. 

 This species makes very large handsome leaves 

 under suitable conditions, but is not considered 



I'OFULUS 



\ new ]ivljrlil Pdplar gi 

 Clas 



hardy at Kew, and although growing outside at 

 Cilasnevin, has not yet experienced much frost. 

 Pyrus yuruiancnse and P. alnifolia, two neW 

 Chinei-e species, Avere noted near the temperate 

 house, and near by grows a nice tree of Sassafras 

 officinale. 



Aroimd the sanre structure several inters: ting 

 .shrubs are to be found — notably, Anagyris 

 fcetida. with glaucous leaves, and the shrubby 

 Helichrysum antennaria ; 

 Corema all)imr, a Portu- 

 guese plant of heath- like 

 growth, was noticeable, 

 and also Sarcobatus Maxi- 

 miliani, the North Ameri- 

 can greasewood. A very 

 haridsome oak is Quercus 

 serrata, with long lance- 

 shaped, very sriny, leaves, 

 while equally handsouie is 

 Quercus crispula from 

 Japan. 8cirpus lacustris 

 zebrinus, green and w'hite, 

 looked Well by the Lily 

 pool . 



Populus generosa. 



A New Hybrid Popr..\u 

 CxROwrNG rN Botanic 

 Gardens. Gi.asnevin. 



In a paper* which I read 

 at the Linncan Society in 

 A]ii'il, 1910. I sliowed tlrat 

 the great vigour of the 

 Huntingdon Ehn, Luconibo 

 Oak and Bhack Italian 

 I'oplar is due to the fact 

 that the.se trees are hybrids 

 of the first generation. 

 Other valuable lirst-crosses 

 are the London Plane, 

 Common I.,inie andC'ricket- 

 l.at Willow. All these fast- 

 growing trees are of acci 

 dental origin, the result of 

 seed ])roduced by tbe fer- 

 tilisation of the flowers of 

 one species by the jiollen of 

 ther species, wafted by the wind or carried 

 by insects. Impressed by these facts, I have 

 been making, during the past four years, ex])eri- 

 UTents in the production of new trees by hybridi- 

 sation in the lioi>(^ of obtaining fast-growing kinds 

 that would i)roduc«" timber rapidly. 



A full account of these researches will be pub- 

 lished shortly as the results are encouraging and 



* Jour. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), XXXIX. 290-300 

 (1910). See also (iardeners' Chronicle, XL\ 11. 

 2r^l, 27() (1910). 



Genero.^^a. 



•owing in Botanic Oardetis 

 nevin 

 ano 



