486 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



I December 18, 1873. 



ment accordiugly. He said that he had several dozen of 

 flowers produced in this way this winter, all however confined 

 to separate spikes from those which bore the perfect flowers. 

 In some cases flowers were produced which had two of the 

 exterior petals united together perfectly, in which case they 

 formed a hood over the apex of the column. As changes of a 

 similar character were not uncommon in orchidaceous plants, 

 it was likely this form of changed structure had been seen 

 before, though not falling within his own observation. It was 

 usual to pass over these appearances as " monstrosities," but 

 in truth the whole Orchid structure was little less than a 

 monstrosity. If we except the character of the position of the 

 seeds in the capsule, there was little to divide an Orchid from 

 an Iris, beyond the power of combining organs which are free 

 in the Iris — the power which produced the " monstrosity " we 

 see. The stamens were entirely coherent with the pistil in 

 orchidaceous plants, and free in the iridaceous. He had seen 

 in a "monstrous" Habenaria the lip so transformed, that 

 the whole flower had as regular an appearance as a Sisyrin- 

 chium in the Iridaceje. 



He did not think as much had been made out of the changes 

 of structure in Orchids in the study of evolution as might be, 

 in consequence of the impression that these abnormal forms, 

 as they were termed, were monstrosities, or the result of culti- 

 vation. There had been already on record accounts of changes 

 in wild Orchids more remarkable than many much dwelt on 

 by modern writers on development. Sir K. Schomburgk de- 

 scribed and figured forty years ago in the " Linnnsan Trans- 

 actions" (15th vol.), three distinct genera — Catasetum, 

 Machranthus, and Myrauthus — all growing out of one plant in 

 Demerara ; and seed which he took from one of these, and 

 scattered on a piece of rotten wood, produced plants with 

 flowers of one of the other genera. All these facts showed 

 that the power of cohesion of one organ with another was one 

 of the leading forces at work in forming the orchidaceous 

 structure ; and, as we saw in the specimen exhibited, this 

 power could be readily obstructed, so as to produce many 

 variations, it could hardly be said that genera were founded on 

 any absolute law. 



He further remarked that, in examining closely the flowers 

 of Bletia Tankervilhai early in the morning, he found on the 

 outside, at the base of the three exterior petals, a liquid exu- 

 dation from a small gland. It was highly probable that these 

 glands were rudimentary spurs, and that, if the course of 

 nutrition which sustained the cohering power of an Orchid 

 could in any way be diverted before the final direction of form, 

 each of these outer petals might take on some of the labellate 

 character with its attendant spur, which gave such a peculiar 

 appearance to so many orchidaceous plants. 



At a subsequent meeting Mr. Meehan observed that, by the 

 mere cohesion of one of the dorsal petals with the column, a 

 flower differing very much from the general condition was the 

 result ; and that it was evidently the direction of nutrition 

 towards the production of a spur, which resulted in the forma- 

 tion of the labellate petal which gave such a distinguishing 

 character to the general Orchideaj flower. At that time he had 

 observed that very early in the morning a very small secretion, 

 from what appeared to be incipient glands, might be seen at 

 the exterior base of the outer petals, and that there was no 

 improbability that in time an Orchid would be produced which 

 would have, from these glands, three spurs and their petals, 

 giving the flower the appearance of an Aquilegia. Since that 

 time Dr. Maxwell T. Masters, in the April 12th issue of the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, notices the receipt of a Phajus Wallichii 

 in which there had been produced three spurs and regular 

 petals, looking. Dr. Masters says, rather hke those of a Gladiolus 

 than of an Orchid. This confirmation of the views, suggested 

 in the observations referred to, indicate that we were on the 

 right track as regards idea of the floral structure. — {Proceed- 

 ings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences.) 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL INSECTS OF 

 OUB GARDENS.— No. 12. 

 Many persons strongly object to having Ivy growing upon a 

 dwelling-house, resting their dislike to the plant mainly upon 

 the assertion that it harbours insects, which cannot well be 

 denied, though there is not much evidence that from the Ivy 

 on the wall these insects transfer themselves to the interior of 

 the domicile. Others will add the dictum that " the smell is 

 unwholesome," which one rather inchnes to meet with a flat 

 denial. Gardeners share, in Bome cases, with those indivi- 



duals this dislike to a plant which, in several of its varieties, 

 is an ornamental, and may be at times even a useful inmate 

 of the garden. Certainly no one admires what is not unfre- 

 quently to be seen in suburban gardens, a wall skirting a 

 flower bed, the said wall being raggedly clothed with Ivy, with 

 occasional tendrils drooping in a languishing manner on the 

 soil, or grasping some shrub in an awkward embrace. 



Flowering late, the Ivy serves to sustain life in many 

 creatures of the insect race, for its green and rather peniUar 

 blossoms are rich in honey. The swarms of bees and flies 

 besetting it on sunny days are particularly noticeable, and this 

 fact possibly leads some to look upon the Ivy as a great pro- 

 ducer of insects, whereas it is simply a source of food to 

 insects bred elsewhere. And a very slight amount of cbserva- 

 tion would show anyone that few of the insects resorting 

 to Ivy bloom in October and November are enemies to the 

 gardener. Such moths, it is true, as the Gamma (Plusia 

 Gamma) and the Angle-shades (Phlogophera meticulcsa) are to 

 be seen at it now and then. The eagerness with wMch some 

 species of insects resort to this is to be explained by the sup- 

 position that it is often their last resort ere they go in the 

 state of hybernation. Certain species, especially of the Hy- 

 menopterous order, will at times be observed actuaUy biting the 

 not yet expanded blossoms in their search for food. The 

 berries of the Xew have a Uke fascination in autumn. 



Phlogophora meticulosa. ^ 



Many of the autumn moths die-off under the influence of a 

 frost in November or December, though some reappear in the 

 spring. Gardens and outbuildings afford shelter in the winter 

 months to a proportion of these, and it by no means follows 

 of necessity that all the moths the horticulturist in his " clear- 

 ing-up times " dislodges from various nooks and corners_mu8t 

 all be next year the parents of broods of caterpillars that will 

 work him injury. 



The Green-brindled Crescent (M. Oxyacantha;) is a moth 

 common about our London suburbs, occurring in some seasons 

 late in the autumn. Though not, perhaps, often observed bj« 

 gardeners in its preparatory stages, the species is found 

 throughout these islands, often passing its whole existence 

 about or in cultivated ground, as the chief, if not the only, 

 food of the caterpUlar is the Hawthorn. But it has never yet 

 been so far abundant in our Hawthorn hedges as to be deemed 

 a hurtful insect. This is a handsome moth, though not of 

 large dimensions, the wings only about IJ inch. The general 

 colour of the forewings is reddish brown, but over the surface 

 there are diffused a number of scales of a metallic green, there 

 are several black streaks and dashes, and parallel with the 

 hind margin a broad pale band, and at the extremity of this, 

 near the inner margin, there is a white crescent. A variety ra 

 sometimes taken in which nearly the whole of the wings are 

 of a dull brown. Some old entomologist was so charmed with 

 this moth that he designated it the " EaJing Glory," probably 

 from the locality in which ho took some ; but as this name was 

 open to question, and might apply to some splendid young 

 lady of that district, an appellation taken from the peculiarity 

 of the markings has been substituted by modern WTiters. The 

 Latin name is, appropriately enough, taken from the food- 

 plant. 



The larva exhibits nothing strildng ; unlike most of the 

 Noctuffi, it is a day-feeder. Its body is humped slightly on 

 the twelfth segment, and dotted with white, the general colour 

 being a dark brown, the legs and claspcrs contrasting with this, 

 as they are green. The eggs are in all probability invariably 

 deposited on the twigs of the Hawthorn in autumn, the young 

 caterpillars hatching-out in AprU, and feeding during that 

 month and the following. Descending to the surface of the 



