April 15, 1875. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTORE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



295 



pelled to do so in a County Court. As to tbs raids upon the 

 Rosea, a notice forbidding such pillage should be exhibited, 

 and policemen be in attendance to secure that the notice is 

 obeyed. — Eds.1 



VIOLETS— A NEW VIOLET. 



At the close of February last a lady sent me flowers by post 

 from plants growing at Parma. Their freshness was surpris- 

 ing, and none the less so the doubleness, size, hifih colour, and 

 perfume of the blooms. It is the colour that I wish to par- 

 ticularly note — a decided purple, not so deep as we have it in 

 the Double Purple King and others, but the purple shown in 

 the spots of Queen of Violets. The flowers were followed by a 

 dozen pots of plants, and I felt fortunate in having secured 

 another and better form of Neapolitan, the stems being longer 

 and stouter than in that variety ; but though the opening 

 buds on the plants promised blooms equal in colour to those 

 received by post, they opened paler and paler each succeeding 

 bloom, until now they are very little deeper in colour than the 

 sky-blue Neapolitan, which we have in frames and outdoors. 

 Other plants came to hand from Paris, taken from the open 

 ground, had the pale blue of the Neapolitan. 



Can any of your correspondents inform me if the size and 

 deep colour of bloom of the Parma Violets and their length of 

 stem is due to climate and soil, or to some peculiarity of treat- 

 ment ? We all know of the change of colour effected in the 

 bloom of Hydrangeas ; by the application of iron filings and a 

 solution of alum the rose of that flower is changed to blue. 

 The same thing occurs when the plants are grown in peat soil, 

 or an admixture of peat containing oxide of iron. 



Plants and blooms have also reached me by post of a new 

 Violet — viz., Prince Consort, raised by Mr. Lee, Cliveden, who 

 is also the raiser of Victoria Regina. I had an opportunity, 

 therefore, of forming an opinion both of bloom and plant. 

 The plant, as it appears to me, is not so strong in foliage and 

 habit as Victoria Regina. The leaves are more like Czar, and 

 do not droop as in Victoria Regina, but are equally fine and 

 glossy. The flowers are a little larger than those of Victoria 

 Regina, are a little paler in colour — a pleasing bluish purple — 

 with petals more rounded, the flower altogether having the 

 form of a well-formed Pansy, whilst it has stout long flower- 

 stems, and the perfume is delightful. It is a fitting companion 

 for Victoria Regina, and as great an advance upon that variety 

 as that is upon Czar. 



Victoria Regina both in frames and outdoors is much better 

 than Czar, the flowers are larger, the petals have greater breadth 

 and substance, are more even and circular in outline, and are 

 of deeper colour. To the raiser of this great improvement in 

 Violets I am indebted for a number of blooms of seedlings 

 raised from Prince Consort, the size of all being greater than 

 anything we have in sweet single varieties, and of as many 

 shades of blue and purple. Many of them have the outline, 

 the smoothness, the rays and eyes, the substance, and not far 

 beneath the size of Pansies, all having in the highest degree 

 the fragrance of the Violet. One I particularly noted as not 

 dissimilar from Viola incana, being exactly like it in colour ; 

 others must partake of the nature of V. cucullatum. 



These are splendid specimens of Violets, and when once 

 seen are not soon forgotten, their fine form, substance, colour, 

 and fragrance alike impressing one with their superiority over 

 the older varieties. — G. Abbey. 



EUPHOBBIACEyE. 



Moke than 2300 species are included in this botanical family , 

 and nearly each of them has in its sap some portion of one of 

 the most virulent of poisons — a resin called by chemists Eu- 

 phorbium. It is in the diminutive weed common in our gar- 

 dens — the Spurge, or Wart-wort, Euphorbia helioscopia, as 

 weU as in the Euphorbia tree, found at Dutar and elsewhere in 

 northern Africa, depicted in the accompanying woodcut. 



A recent traveller informs us that, being at Dufar in the 

 neighbourhood of the gigantic Euphorbium, he requested 

 one of the negroes to go with him to the tree. The fellow 

 hesitated, excused himself on various pretences, but at last 

 consented to go. It was evident that he was in extreme fear, 

 and that his terror increased the nearer he approached the 

 tree ; he lifted his large eyes several times to its branches, 

 and apparently entertained the notion that he was treading on 

 forbidden ground. He stood by without uttering a syllable, 

 but in a high state of nervous excitement, while the traveller 



made his sketch ; but when, on its completion, the artist 

 suggested breaking off a branch as a memento of the visit, the 

 terror of the negro became extreme. His gesticulations were 

 irresistibly comic, his language utterly incomprehensible, but 

 it was clear enough that he felt sure some dire penalty would 

 follow the commission of such sacrilege. At last he said in a 

 sort of mongrel Arabic, " Touch it, and you'll die— it will kill 

 you — it always kills." But the hrauchwas broken off, and the 

 sap, a milky-looking fluid, burst out far more copiously than 

 the traveller had anticipated, and penetrated his outer clothing 

 in an instant. He soon understood the cause of the negro's 

 terror. The sap was a deadly poison, and he was assured that 

 if he had any wound or scratch upon his body the result 

 would be fatal. Fortunately for him he had not. 



The Euphorbium, of which we give an illustration, grows on 

 the mountain of Kavane. It measures about 80 feet in circum- 

 ference ; its height is about 30 feet. The trunk is a piece of 

 hard firm timber ; the branches are cylindrical in form, and 

 interlaced. 



There are other arborescent Euphorbia! strikingly peculiar. 

 Euphorbia balsamifera, the milk of which is so innocuous and 

 sweet that it is thickened to a jelly and eaten by the inhabitants, 

 is a very remarkable tree. The trunk, though very crooked, 

 at first rises without branches, but afterwards divides into a 

 great number, which again divide into innumerable smaller 

 branches. Leaves are nowhere to be seen but at the extremity 

 of the branches round which they are placed. They are short, 

 lanceolate and narrow, grey, and furnished with a little thorn 

 at the point. The Cordon (Euphorbia canariensis, the juice 

 of which is as acrid as that of the other Euphorbiie) is a stUl 

 more wonderful production of nature. Its dark green branches, 

 completely leafless, rise all at once from a common root, bend 

 in a semicircle down to the ground, and then rise again per- 

 pendicularly at various distances from the first root, so that the 

 tree resembles an enormous lustre with a number of branches 

 hearing lights. Each branch is as much as half a foot in cir- 

 cumference, and is a prism of four, or more generally of five 

 sides. Their edges along the whole length are set with pairs 

 of short prickles. At the extremity of these thick, angular, 

 fleshy branches break forth the scarlet flowers, which at a 

 distance are like burning coals. Higher up the older branches 

 divide, and form separate smaller lustres on the larger one. 



According to Endlicher, Euphorbia oflicinarum is the plant 

 that King .Tuba discovered in Barbary, and named after his 

 physician, who was brother to Musa. It is a native of Africa, 

 Arabia, and India, and is one of those Cactus-looking species, 

 without leaves, with erect, thick, fleshy stem and branches, 

 having the appearance of candelabra ; each branch is termi- 

 nated by a red flower, and is covered with knobs, from which 

 issues a sharp spine. It is called Furbiurne by the Arabs, and 

 Dergmuse by the inhabitants of Atlas. 



The above-named species are thus described by Meyen, 

 Dr. Hogg, and in Messrs. Cassell's " Magazine," who have 

 obliged us with the accompanying woodcut. We now descend 

 to a few of the species cultivated in our gardens. The Spurge- 

 worts are generally characterised by quaint form or habit, 

 there being very few which can be regarded as beautiful flower- 

 ing plants. Yet we find a trio of species worthy of general 

 cultivation, and to these we draw timely attention. 



E. splendens is a Madagascar plant, which adds to singularity 

 of form flowers which are highly attractive. These are produced 

 in clusters of two to six, on short footstalks. Tbey are of a 

 pleasing soft scarlet colour, and for button-hole bouquets are 

 extremely suitable. The plant is of a prickly erect shrub-like 

 habit, and may be grown as a wall plant in the stove, or be 

 trained as a specimen to stakes or a wire trellis. It is of easy 

 culture, and blooms profusely over a long period of the year. 

 It is propagated by cuttings put in at the present time. Short 

 stubby side shoots with a little old wood at the base of each 

 are the best. They should be laid for a day to dry — as the 

 cuts bleed profusely — before they are put in. They require 

 sandy soil and a brisk heat. When struck they require to be 

 grown in the full sun of a weU-heated structure. The plants 

 must be watered with care until the pots are filled with roots, 

 and must be kept comparatively dry during the winter season. 

 When once established the plants will continue to bloom for 

 a number of years, and are useful as affording cut blooms of 

 stout texture, and of a colour hardly to be found on any other 

 plant. 



E. pnnicea is a somewhat rare yet a beautiful species of this 

 family. It is a native of Jamaica, and although it has been 

 known to our gardens for more than a century, it is but seldom 



