VII 1 PROCEEDINGS. 



rich colour of the former being infused into the small 

 flowers of the latter. Also to the same nurseryman, for a 

 cut specimen of an orange-coloured plant from CafTraria, 

 resembling a Geissorhiza — apparently a very handsome 

 thing, and supposed to be hardy. To Messrs. Veitch and 

 Son, of Exeter, for Calceolaria albiflora, a neat-looking 

 species, a plant of which, now in bloom in the open ground 

 at Exeter, was stated to have survived last winter in an 

 open situation without any shelter. 

 Miscellaneous subjects of Exhibition. Justicia coc- 

 cinea, a seldom seen species, from Mr. Glendinning, of 

 Turnham Green; two plants of Lilium lancifolium rubrum, 

 or speciosum, from Mr. Groom, of Clapham Rise, each a 

 single stem, bearing upwards of forty flower buds. " My 

 object in exhibiting them," wrote Mr. Groom, "is to show 

 how well this variety of Lily grows in the open ground ; 

 and as they are perhaps the finest specimens of single stems 

 ever produced, a short account of their culture may pos- 

 sibly not be uninteresting : — 



" A bed 4 feet wide, of common garden soil, was pre- 

 pared about the end of November, 1845, by being dug and 

 well broken with a fork, but without any manure, which I 

 do not consider desirable in the cultivation of the Lily. 

 After the bed was raked level, the bulbs were i^lanted on 

 the surface 15 inches asunder each way, spreading the fibres 

 regularly out. They were then covered 3^ inches deep 

 from the top of the bulbs with a light sandy soil, composed 

 of sand and fine mould in equal proportions ; the bed was 

 then raked level and left without further care, and it was 

 7iot protected from frost or bad weather in any way ; last 

 autumn, after the stems were quite dead, the top soil was 

 removed down to the bulbs, but without disturbing them, 

 and fresh sandy soil was laid over them to the same depth 

 as before. In this bed they flowered well last year, but 

 were sadly injured by the hailstorm of the 1st of August — 

 so much so, that I feared I should have but a very indifferent 

 display of them this season ; they have, however, recovered 

 their strength, and are now in luxuriant growth. It is from 

 this bed I have taken the two specimens now forwarded, 

 which were taken up and potted in the end of last week. 



" I have now established the fact of this variety being 

 equally hardy with the other sorts, and from the vigorous 

 growth and fine colour of the foliage, it is clear it succeeds 

 better in the open ground than when kept in a close green- 

 house, fully illustrating the advantages to be derived from 

 a free circulation of air in our glass-houses. 



