July al, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



79 



Kewydd, and probably some other residences, have gardens 

 that will each require a separate notice. — G. 



FLOWERS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 12. 



THX'SBERGI.V ALATA.— Wisq-petioled TursBEROli. 

 Thusbergia alata and its varieties have, from the date of 

 their introduction, taken high rank among popular annuals, a 

 position which they still retain, notwithstanding the nume- 

 rous competitors for public favour which the seedsmen's lists 

 now comprise. This popularity is well merited, not only on 

 account of their elegant flowers and foliage, but for their great 

 ntiUty as dwarf climbers. They also claim the attention of 

 the amateur for the curious structure of those parts of the 

 hlossom more immediately concerned, and other features, to 

 ■Vfhich a brief reference may be made. 



In commencing our examination of the flower, we must be- 

 ware of confounding the two large bracts by which the corolla 

 is enveloped before its expansion with the true calyx, which 

 is very small, and only perceptible upon a close inspection. If 

 the two bracts be pulled aside, twelve minute teeth will be ob- 

 served clasping the base of the tube of the corolla ; and after 

 the blossom has fallen, these teeth embrace the ovary so 

 closely that the uninitiated observer would easily overlook 

 them altogether, and imagine the more conspicuous bracts to 

 be the calyx. If one of the satiny corollas be opened, there 

 will be discovered within four rather short stamens, each 

 terminated by a highly curious fringed or bearded anther. 

 The office this fringe performs — and that it has one we maybe 

 assured — it is somewhat difficult to guess ; it perhaps serves to 

 retain the pollen after its emission from the anther until the 

 stigma is fit for its reception, for it does sometimes occur that 

 the pollen is mature before the stigma is sufficiently advanced 

 to receive it, and if in this case no provision were made for 

 the retention of the fertilising particles, they would be scattered 

 before the impregnation of the ovules could be effected. De- 

 cidedly the most interesting part of the flower is the slender 

 curved stj'Ie with its double stigma. This organ, destined for 

 the reception of the pollen, has, in addition to its small 

 terminal cavity, a beautifully delicate shell-like lateral stigma 

 of a larger size. Both of them are, however, so minute that 

 in order fully to appreciate their exquisite finish a microscopic 

 examination will bereqaisite, but a Stanhope lens of moderate 

 power will be all that is necessary. There can be no doubt 

 that both of these appendages to the style perform the same 

 function, for if the terminal stigma be cutoff before the pollen 

 is ripe, seeds will nevertheless be matured, which proves 

 satisfactorily that in this case the pollen must have been con- 

 Teyed to the ovnles through the medium of the beautiful 

 organ to which we have referred. Each of the seed-vessels 

 contains four hard cup-shaped seeds. 



It will be remarked that the petioles have a leafy edge, or 

 are, botanically speaking, winged, a circumstance by which 

 alata and all its varieties are easily distinguished from other 

 ■species. 



The flowers of the typical Thunbergia alata are of a buff 

 colour with a deep rich purplish-black tube or throat ; in the 

 variety alba the Umb of the corolla is pure white ; iu aurantiaca, 

 one of the handsomest, the limb is orange ; in sulphurea of a 

 yellowish buff ; and in Fryerii both limb and throat are of 

 a uniform orange colour. 



All these are of easj' cultivation, either in pots for the window 

 or for ornamenting the flower garden during the summer. The 

 seeds require to be sown in spring upon a hotbed, and we have 

 sometimes found it advantageous to soak them for three or 

 lour hours previously in tepid water. A light vegetable soil, 

 composed of leaf mould or very old and thoroughly decomposed 

 manure, with a third of any good garden soil, will form a suit- 

 able mixture in which to sow the seeds. With a good bottom 

 lieat of 75° the seedlings will soon appear above ground, and, 

 as the roots descend deeply into the soil of the pot, the young 

 plants will be best potted-off separately as soon as they have 

 juade one pair of leaves in addition to the seed-lobes. In the 

 whole of their after-treatment a free, open, vegetable soil must 

 be used. If intended as a window ornament, as soon as the 

 small pots are filled with roots the plants should be shifted to 

 one at least .5 or 6 inches in diameter, if a fine specimen is 

 desired ; and an important point to be attended to is, that the 

 leading shoot must be pinched off when it is a few inches long ; 

 and this operation must be repeated as often as the laterals 

 threaten to outgrow their trellis, by which means a multitude 

 of side shoots will be produced, and the plants be restrained 



within moderate bounds. All the varieties of alata produce 

 an abundance of flowers for two or three months in succession ; 

 and when covering, as they can easily be made to do, a wire 

 trellis :i feet iu diameter, more striking objects cannot well be 

 imagined. 



To preserve the delicate green tint of the foliage, the plant 

 should be shaded from the direct rays of the sun during the 

 hottest part of the day ; and as the whole of the Thunbergia3 

 are extremely liable to the attacks of the minute insect popu- 

 larly termed the red spider, the plant should be frequently 

 sprinkled or syringed with water. During this operation the 

 pot should be turned on its side ; the soU will thus be preserved 

 from too much moisture, and the application of the water can 

 be more effectually carried out. If the plant is kept in a dry 

 hot atmosphere, and the precaution of syringing be neglected, 

 the leaves will speedily lose their rich green hue and assume 

 a pale spotted appearance, and upon a close examination the 

 little pests to which we have alluded will be found in vast 

 numbers upon all parts of the plant, chiefly, however, on the 

 under surface of the foliage. 



Thunbergia alata alba. 



When cultivated out-doors a shady situation aud rich light 

 soil must be chosen, as in a hot, dry, exposed locality they 

 will not succeed. They may be grown against a wall with a 

 suitable trellis, or allowed to trail ; but iu this case the ground 

 should be covered with a few small bushes, which the plants 

 will quickly conceal. A very pretty effect may be produced by 

 planting several specimens in a small bed, and training them 

 over a few willow rods bent across from side to side. In short, 

 in almost any situation partially shaded, and where proper 

 support can be given to their twining stems, the Thunbergias 

 will be found among the most ornamental of the summer 

 occupants of the flower garden. 



The species of Thunbergia are not very numerous, but iti- 

 clude several splendid plants, nearly all of which are inhabi- 

 tants of the stove. The most remarkable are chrysops from 

 Sierra Leone, with the limb of the flower of a rich purple and 

 the throat of a golden yellow ; fragrans with white flowers ; 

 Harrisii and laurifolia with very large blue flowers ; and Haw- 

 tayneana with scarlet flowers, all from various parts of the 

 East Indies. The plant formerly known as T. coocinea, also a 

 stove species, is now placed in the genus Hexacentris. — W. 

 Tno-iivsos, Ipsicich.— (English Flower Garden, liecised by the 

 Autlior.) 



MESSRS. SUTTON & SONS' TRIAL FARM, 



READING. 



Travelling down the Great Western Railway the other day 



I found that as we neared Heading there was a general rush to 



the windows of the left side, and it turned out that the 



