Dijoamb«r26, 1883.,] JOUliJIAJL M' KOliXICUIiTU/^E .AND COTTACiP QAJIDENJ?Q. 



523 



country. It woulJ he iutorusliiig, tlicrcforc, to kuuw how tlii! variety 

 graudidovus hail uiij^inatml wIit-thtT a import or ut-cdling. It was a 

 f;roat advaaco on tlui compu-iitively small ;;ivyiah-tlo\vca-ecl HpecioB, and 

 that kuowlcdjje huinj,' ohtaiued, a yot fj:rfati'V advaui'o iu thu ni/.c oi 

 tho llowor mi^ht ho uhtaincd. Ml'. Sauadeia eimcUided hy intiuiatluj; 

 that thu Chimouauthas (lowers wore at tho sovvice of the ladies. 



CYCLAMENS. 



1 .VM u.greeably surprised to find a cominuniL-ation from Mr. 

 •J. Atkius, iu tlie dminial of Novciiil)ur28tli, pase 141. I wrote 

 of liiui as "tlio lato'' piu'cly from luisadvciiture ; it occurred 

 tu mo lit tlie time I wrote llio iiajior on (Jyclaiueus, tliat I had 

 heard liim spoken of aK the "late," wliicli I now understand 

 was not intended to mean that lio was not iu the "laud of the 

 living," but not the same enthusiastic raiser and grower of 

 Cyclamens as in former times. Viewed in that lif;ht, I think 

 many who having a talent do not exercise it, or allow it to lie hid, 

 might to advautagn he set dov,-n as "late," if by so doing we 

 could induce them to yield it up with interest, as Mr. Atkins 

 has done. I am, indeed, glad to iiud Mr. AtJuns still a grower 

 of Cyclamens, aud that he may long enjoy in liealth his favour- 

 ites, is, I beg to assure him, the only sentiment I have towards 

 him, aud every other grower of Cyclameus, whether differing 

 from, or agreeing with me, in opinion. Whilst thanking Mr. 

 Atldns for liia favouring ns with the account of his? experience 

 of C. repandum, I cannot but express my regret at his leaving 

 to "a more able hand," the iienning a few remarks on my 

 paper, cUfferiug very materially from me as Mr. Atkins does in 

 some points. I really do not know who can be "a more able 

 hand" than the raiser of Cyclamen Atkiusi, a hybridiser (and 

 the only successful one), a raiser, and grower of Cyclamens for 

 many years. I hope Jlr. Atkins will reconsider his decision, 

 and favour us with his experience, as also that to which he 

 alludes. 



I am glad to find that Mr. Atkins and I are agreed as to 

 Cyclamen odoratum, which, as I have seen it,' is nothing more 

 nor less than C. europanim album, there being no good Avhitc 

 form of C.europicum, but a very pale form passes under that 

 name, and is identical with C. odoratum. There is a variety of 

 C. persiciim, called C. persicum odoratum, which has white 

 petals dashed with piuk ; but no one could possibly confound 

 one with the other, as they differ so very materially in foliage 

 aud time of flowering. As to C. grieeum, what is it but a form 

 of C. eui-opicum, and what are all the round or orbicular-leaved 

 Cyclamens but varieties of C. ooum? C. coum may be, and I 

 am pi-etty nearly certain will be, at no distant day, tho only 

 true species of the orbicular-leaved section ; C. coum vernum 

 being nothing more thau the first natural remove from C. coum, 

 indebted to some variegated-leaved kind for its marking on the 

 leaves. After it would come C. europteum as C. coum euro- 

 piBUm, aud its white form as C. coum europa>um pyrenaicum 

 odoratum, or Sweet European Cyclamen from the Pyrenees ; 

 C. griccum being neither more nor less thau a deeper red form 

 of C. coum eiiropa'um, which might be distinguished from the 

 others as C. coum europmum gr.-ocum. I am certain when 

 Cyclamens come to be botanically sifted, that the many dif- 

 ferences of colour aud time of floweriug in the orbicular-leaved 

 section of Cyclamens will not be regarded as real distinctions. 

 Culturally the kinds differ widely, and that is enough for me, 

 only it would be well if something like accuracy were attainable 

 iu Cyclamen nomenclature. 



" W. X. W." lays me under a debt of gratitude to him. I 

 have perused his article, aud beg to thank him for it. I may 

 tell him that from what we see of other bulbous plants, it was 

 hut natural that ho should find the oorms of Cyclamens buried 

 under from 4 to (i inches of light soil. No one would think of 

 growing Cyclamens as hardy plants with tho eorms exposed, 

 any more than of plautiug Hyacinths, Tulips, ,tc., iu tbo open 

 garden, with the bulbs only half buried iu tho soil, but on the 

 contrary the,y wt)uld be covered witli 2 or 3 inches of soil, to 

 protect the roots from tlie c^dd of winter, the heat of summer, 

 and the atmospheric inllueuees at all seasons. 'We all know, 

 however, that we do plant many bulbs with the crown level 

 with the rim of the pot, aud tho bulbs only half buried in the 

 soU, aud wore we to bur.v tliem from 4 to 6 inches ilhave found 

 none of our hardy bulbous plants buried so deeply) below the 

 rim of the pot, the roots would have very little soil indeed to 

 grow in, whilst by only half burying the bulbs double the 

 amount of feeding ground for the roots is obtained. 



That it is necessary that the corm.i of Cyclamens should be 

 •covered with soil is evident from the leaves, and especially the 



flower-stalks, hiding thom.selvcs in the soil for awhile, even when 

 the corms are only half buried, ajjpoaring again at some distatice 

 from the crown, and forming a circle riuind it first of foliage, 

 aud then of flowers. To argue that because some Cyclamens 

 will bury their llower-slalks in the soil, all ought to be covered 

 with soil, is giung a little too far without proof or warranty for 

 the practice. Imitating Nature sounds well. It is little carried 

 out in practice. Crowing a bulb in the open air is one thing, 

 under protection another. It is necessary, if they arc intended 

 to live, to .say luithing of thriving, that the corms of all hardy 

 Cyclamens should be buried '■', or 4 inches in liglit, friable soil ; 

 and also in growing some of them in pots or pans for the conns 

 to be covered with soil ; for it is their nature not for tho leaves 

 and flowers to rise directly from the root, but to grow horizon- 

 tally from the crown of tho corms beneath the soil, and appear 

 at some distance from tho place whence they take their rise, 

 or where tho eorm is situated. Loaves and flower-stalks have 

 alike this tendency to run out lioi'izontally from the conn under 

 the soil, the latter giving themselves a twist, and sending up 

 the flower-bud directly towards the zenith, remaining until the 

 blooming is past, when the pod seeks its native earth, striving 

 luird to bury itself, which it sometimes, but not always, does. 

 It remains half hidden until tho seed is ripe, when the pod 

 opens, and the seedii are thrown out, not falling, for the pod 

 opens at its highest part, appeariug like a cu]i with the seed in 

 it. All the Cyclamens taking after C. coum have this pecu- 

 liarity, aud this is one of the chief reasons why coum cannot 

 but be accepted as the type of the. Cyclamens with spiral, or 

 corkscrew, leaf and flower-stems just as C. persieum is the tyjje 

 of those whose leaves and flowers rise dii-ectly from the root or 

 corm. All tho Cyclamens taking uftcr C. coum req.uire to be 

 Inuied in the soil, and, if grown in pots or pans, it is sufficient 

 to cover the corm half an inch, and not more than an inch, when 

 they will do just as well as if buried 2 or 3 inches as Mr. D. 

 Stewart says, 3 or 4 inches as Mr. Atkins says, or from 

 4 to 6 inches as " W. X. Vt'." states he found them growing 

 wild. I have grown, them in this way successfully, more so 

 than when the corms were placed deeper, or very little abo\ a 

 the drainage. Planting so deeply as this in pots or pans is 

 very injurious, and the leaves and flowers will be poor in 

 eonsequence ; for Cyclamens, even those that reipiire to be 

 buried in the soil, root from the lower part of the corm, send- 

 ing their thick wiry roots far lower than the depth of the 

 deepest of our bulb-pots, and never upwards, so that if not 

 jilanted well up in a pot or pan, the.y might as well not be 

 planted at all, as no amount of soil above the corms compen- 

 sates for the lack of that below them. " AV. X. W.'s " remarks 

 were, I am sure, never intended to apply to plants in pots, but 

 to those in the open ground, for he concludes by hints as to 

 their culture in pans, with which I agree, only the mound of 

 earth above the corms would be of no practical use, for instead 

 of the leaves pushing through it they would come through the 

 sides of the mound, unless those kinds whose leaves and 

 flowers rise directly from the corm were planted, and for such 



1 do not think this a suitable mode of culture. These (of 

 which Cyclamen neapolitanum and C. persicum are the type) 

 will do just as well with the soil level over them, aud, if grown 

 in pots or pans, it is enough if the oorms are placed with their 

 crowns level with the surface, or even but half biu'ied, for, 

 from the continual wetting of the surface, many of the flowers 

 will suffer. 



Though "W. X. W.'s" notes are very interesting and valu- 

 able, they do not afford information on one point, which I 

 hope he will not think it troublesome in me to ask him to 

 fiu'nish. I allude to his making no mention of the kinds. 

 C. neapolitanum would be over, I fancy, when he was in Sicily 

 last spring. What could it bo but C. coum ? for C. repandum 

 is nowhere found that I know of except in Greece. In Syria 

 he would probabl.y find C. persicum ; C. euro|ia'imi he would 

 not, of course, see anything of, but " W. X. 'VV." best knows. 

 Would he kindly give the above information ? 



Mr. D. Stewart confirms " W. X. W.'s" observation, having 

 lately visited Corsica, where he found Cyclamens covered 



2 or 3 inches deep with soil composed of decayed leaves. That 

 is the kind of soil to cover Cyclamens with — something rich 

 and light through which they can run and push their leaves 

 and fhnvers. Jlr. Stewart does not name the kind. From the 

 description of the root en- corm it belongs to any of the C. coum 

 family. Our correspondent is right — " Cyclumens would do 

 well in similar situations on a south bank in any of our 

 southern counties," to which I would add, avoiding C. persicum, 

 and if the bank were partially shaded from the mid-day sun. 



