l8o 



IRISH GARDENING 



Notes, 

 Iris unguicularis alba. 



The Iris season opened in the iirsl week of 

 Xovember, when the white t'onxi of tlie lovely 

 Algerian Iris began unfolding its blooms. By 

 tlu' middle of the month numerous tfowers 

 were open and others Mill continue from now 

 onwards. The plant is growing in a dry sunny 

 position, at the base of a greenhouse ^\•a.ll, with 

 numerous other viuieties of the same species. 

 To grow and liower this speoie& successfully a 

 confined root spacie and free exposure to sun is 

 necessary, and the plants jghould be left un- 

 ci istitrbcd as long as possible. 



Schizandra Henryi. 



Autumn colouring has been lititle in evidence 

 this season, due perhaps to the sunless summer. 

 On a wall, however, Scliizundm Hcnnjl has 

 been effective, the leaves dying away in a^beau- 

 tiful amber yellow colour, very noticeable from 

 a considerable distance. There is now quite a 

 number of Schizandraa in cultivation, of which 

 Sc]iiza)idra rubrifolia is perhaps the most at- 

 tractive when in flower, but Schiza)idra Hcnryi 

 is the only one which has attracted notice on 

 account of the autumn tint of the leaves. 



Sinofranchetia sinensis. 



Nkar the Schizandra, abo\e alluded to Sino- 

 jranclietia sinensis has borne its long racemes 

 of pale glaucous blue fruits, each about the 

 size of a small grape berry. This shrub is a 

 vigorous climber, the leallets in tdirees, 

 glaucous below. The tiowers are of no orna- 

 mental value, being small and of a dirty white 

 colour but the fruits are interesting and rather 

 attractive. i. 



Euphorbia biglandulosa. 



This is a striking plant for the rock garden, 

 where it can be given suthcient spaoe. Apart 

 from the yellow inflorescences, the long strong 

 shoots clothed with pointed silvery grey leases 

 render it a striking object in winter. It shows 

 to great advantage, clothing a rocky bank and 

 seems indifferent as to aspect. It may be pro- 

 pagated by means of cuttings. 



Lithospermum rosmarinifolia. 



This cliarming Gromwell has been flowering 

 now for some time, on the roekery, and is 

 very welcome at this season, when, in sjjite 

 of the display made until quite lately by the 

 other garden flowers, the fine blue colour is 

 uiuch admired. Given a fairly elevated 

 position where the shoots will be well ripened, 



the plant seems fairly lianly. "While e.xposui'O 

 is advised to facilitate ri])euing, it is possible 

 that shelter from the biting wind is disirable 

 and a soil not too rich. 



Linnaea borealis . 



I ENCLOSE a photograph of a book-plate which 

 maA' be the same as that mentioned by Sii" 

 Herbert JNIaxwell in >our issue for the current 

 month. It belongs to a set of volumes the 

 property of Mr. Horace W. Monckton, Trea- 

 surer of the Linucean yociet}^ who considers 

 that it was ])i'obably engraved soon after th( 

 death of Linnieus in 1778, at any rate before 

 1790. The special volume from which t)ie 

 photograi^h was taken was ijublished in 1781 ; 

 consequently the book-plate must have beer 

 employed by some botanist or society in com 



meuK /ration of the great Swedish natuialisv 

 1 may add that 1 have never found any trace 

 of a book-plate in Linnaeus 's own Library, but 

 in one or two cases I have seen a wax im- 

 pression of his seal inside the cover of a 

 volume. His series of thirteen seals is in- 

 teresting, but I will confine myself to tihose 

 showing Liniucd horcalis. The earliest was 

 used from 1784, but soon disused; its motto 

 was Considerate lilia. From 1742 tO' even so 

 late as 1774 we find a seal in use, with the 

 motto' Tiottifs itnior flunnn, as in the book- 

 plate in question. About 17o8 to 1768 Linnteus 

 used three seals with the motto Faincon 

 cxtuUere factis : the latest with any legend 

 shows his arms, the motto being varied in 

 Fa)naii cxteitdcrc factis. This seal is now in 

 the possession of his descendants, the family 

 of the late Prolessor Tycho Tullberg. 



B. Davdon Jackson. 



Delphinium macrocentron. 



This interesUng species has flowered very 

 Well during the late autumn, in a large pan. 

 It is ahout three feet in height, but would 

 probably exceed this if planted out. The 

 leaves are long stalked and much divided. 



