BOTANICAL NEWS. 349 



of perpetual snow ; and, certain it is, that the finest Orchids of onr stores 

 do not surpass in beauty Lilies and Irises, that are as easily grown as 

 common Seiikale " (pp. 2-3). 



The bulk of the present work is taken up with a catalogue, arranged 

 in alphabetical order, of thirteen hundred species of perennial duration, 

 selected from the great mass of hardy plants on account of their superior 

 beauty, with a description of the general habit of each, the colour of its 

 flowers, the time of the year at which it appears, the kind of soil and situa- 

 tion for which each is best fitted, and the mode in which it can be most 

 readily propagated. Of course, such a list of favourite plants made by 

 one man will never contain everything that another would wish to see in 

 it, but the selection of genera and species has been made with great care 

 and judgment. The rest of the book is taken up with chapters of general 

 directions as to cultivation,, with advice on the subject of arranging plants 

 to the best advantage for display, and with copious lists of species of 

 difl'erent habit, colour of flower, time of blooming, etc. The following is 

 the plan of a bed of Lilies selected from a number that are given in the 

 chapter on the grouping of hardy perennials : — 



" This shall be a grand bed of Lilies. Unhappily the fine hardy kinds 

 of Lilies are anything but as plentiful as they should be, though in a free 

 rich soil they increase readily enough. Few may have them sufficiently 

 plentiful for some time to make beds of them, but when once people know 

 how truly fine they are when seen well arranged in a large bed in an 

 isolated place, they will hardly rest content without such glorious garden 

 ornaments. With such kinds as Lilinm tedaceutn and t'ujriuum, var. Fortnriei 

 in the centre, surrounded by the queenly candidum, burnished croceum, 

 spotted canadense, poiiiponlum, colchicum, vivid clialcedonictim, and gradu- 

 ally worked down to the edge with dwarf but beautiful kinds, like exi- 

 niiinu, lo>igiJlorum, and teniti folium, a large circular oval bed might be 

 made in the grass in some isolated spot which for the highest beauties of 

 colour, form, and fragrance, for in fact almost every quality by which 

 vegetable beauty endears itself to us, could not be surpassed by any 

 arrangement of indoor or outdoor plants. The only precaution that need 

 be mentioned is, that to grow Lilies well they should have three feet, or 

 nearly that, of free loamy earth with a good dash of vegetable mould in 

 it" (pp. 12 13). 



Of the catalogue we need say little beyond what is contained in the 

 title, and letting our readers know that there is such a list in existence, if 

 they require it. It is intended, like tlic ' London Catalogue,' esfiecially 

 for marking desiderata, and for enabling collectors to check off, in a handy 

 printed list, the species they possess. No authorities are given with the 

 names, and a large number of mere garden-names are included ; but the 

 duration of each species is indicated, and those that are wild in Britain 

 are printed in a dill'erent type to the rest. — J. G. B. 



fiofankal Jtctos. 



The publication of Jordan's ' Icones,' which was interrupted by the 

 Avar, in one of the engagements of which his young coadjutor Fourreau 

 was killed, has now been resumed. Parts 53 to 50 have now been re- 

 ceived in England, devoted to " splits " of Salvia verbenaca (of which ten 



