562 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICUIiTUBB AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ December 84, 1874. 



London trade a year before it was sent ont, is when cooked 

 with the utmost skill only a dirty yellowish green, neither 

 yellow enough to look like marmalade, nor green enough te 

 please the eye. — John Besteb, Pine Apple Nursery, Maida 

 Vale. 



NOVELTIES IN THE EOYAL GARDENS, KEW. 



Senecio macboglossds an interesting and rare novelty, ia 

 flowering in the Succulent house. A superficial observer with- 

 out seeing the inflorescence would at once pronounce it an Ivy, 

 so close is the resemblance, particularly in the form and veining 

 of the leaves. The flower-heads are very ornamental and last 

 a considerable time ; they are golden yellow, about 2 inches 

 across, with but a small centre of tubular florets. It is a native 

 of the Cape, and requires greenhouse temperature. Cuttings 

 are easily rooted. The cultivation is very simple, so that no 

 special instructions are necessary. The above is an example 

 of plant-mimicry — when two species not related so closely re- 

 semble each other that they might be mistaken for the same. 

 Even the scrutiny of the botanical eye has been deceived ; a 

 specimen without flower was described for a genus to which it 

 has not the slightest relationship. Several suggestions have 

 been advanced for its scientific explanation, but nothing clear 

 and decisive has yet been given. Without diving into detail 

 we cannot perhaps do better than quote a sentence in the 

 " Popular Science Eeview," written by Mr. A. W. Bennett. 

 He has recourse to the " doctrine of design," and says that 

 " Nature has some general purpose in the different modes in 

 which life is manifested ; a purpose not in aU cases for the 

 immediate advantage of the individual species, but in further- 

 ance of some design of general harmony, which it may take 

 centuries of unwearied observation and laborious toil before 

 we discover the key by which we may be able to unlock it." 



Asparagus decumbens, a species of pretty slender growth, is 

 here in flower. The stems are numerous, and, mingling to- 

 gether, form a mass of lively green. The flowers are small, 

 but sprinkled numerously and with pleasing effect over the 

 entire plant. They have cinnabar red anthers, contrasting 

 with the white perianth. The perfume is agreeable, and not 

 unhke the lemon-scented Verbena. It may be increased either 

 by seeds or division, and is worth cultivation wherever variety 

 is desired. Rich loamy soil should be used. Here may be 

 noted a point of interest : The leaves of Asparagus and other 

 genera of the tribe Myrsiphyllum, Euscus, &o., are always de- 

 veloped in the form of a minute membranous scale. In their 

 axils are one or more branches, which perform the function of 

 true leaves, and have more or less their appearance. For true 

 leaves they are usually mistaken, and for them are often de- 

 scribed. 



If a digression from our heading can be allowed, it is 

 impossible not to mention Luculia gratissima, which is mag- 

 nificently in flower in the conservatory. It is planted out in 

 a bed of CameUias, and in a similar position it should always 

 be cultivated. In pots it may be grown, but with less suc- 

 cess and greater trouble. We have before given methods of 

 cultivation, to which our readers can easily refer. It cannot 

 be too persistently recommended to the attention of all who 

 do not make it of great value during winter. 



SALTPETRE FOR HYACINTHS. 

 Now that the time has arrived when lovers of Hyacinths in 

 glasses will have, or ought to have, them consigned to their 

 places of flowering, it may be interesting to know that while 

 the bulb is producing its roots in the water, by applying a little 

 of nitrate of potash (saltpetre) to the water in which the bulb is 

 in, it will in a great measure stimulate growth, and be the 

 means of producing better roots and flower than otherwise 

 would be. Dissolve the nitrate in water, pour it into the 

 glasses when changing the water, which ought to be done at 

 least every two or three weeks. If there are any who doubt 

 this fact, let them apply it to some such thing as Mustard or 

 Cress, which they are likely to be growing in their hothouses 

 about this time, when, I doubt not, they will find it to pro- 

 duce beneficial effects, and I shall be glad to hear of such at 

 some future date. But although all means are taken to pro- 

 duce growth there will be many failures, which will arise from 

 not having the proper bulbs for water. As a rule, single 

 Hyacinths grow much better in water than the double varieties. 

 The water ought to be soft, and when changed not colder than 

 the temperature of the room or the place where the Hyacinths 



are kept. Many are the failures I have seen, owing to some 

 ladies thinking if they just had a bulb struck in a glass with 

 the water nearly over the bulb, it was all right.— Wiujam 

 Laukie, Lynnwood. 



COLLETIA CRUCIATA. 

 A SHORT time ago it was noticed that this shrub had flowered 

 somewhere under glass, and was a highly ornamental object ; 

 but is it necessary to keep this plant under glass at all ? One 

 we have here (Linton Park, Kent), has flowered for several sea- 

 sons quite exposed, there being nothing higher than itself for 

 several yards in all directions, and during the autumn it was 



Fig. 157.— Colletia craoiata. 



a mass of flower, and I need hardly say looked exceedingly 

 well from the middle or early part of October up to the 11th 

 of November, when we had a sharp frost, which injured it 

 very much, or rather disfigured the flower to a certain extent, 

 but not entirely so ; and notwithstanding the wind, rain, and 

 frost we have had up to the time I write (December 8th), there 

 is still a good sprinkling of flowers on it. 



It is certainly strange that this plant should be so prolific in 

 flowers, and the equally formidable, but not so curious, C. hor- 

 rida should flower so sparingly, as I have not noticed a single 

 bloom this season. Both plants being about of a size, and 

 equally open to all the influence of the atmosphere. And to 

 those who have not grown C. cruciata I would by all means 

 recommend it to their notice, as its singular formation renders 

 it a highly interesting object every day in the year. Its rigid 

 cruciform construction, armed as it is with spines equally 

 formidable, give it a Cactus-Uke look, and proclaim its foreign 

 habitat. Yet even there I should think it has more the stamp 

 of a spreading than an upright tree, as the plant we have, 

 which now and then makes a vigorous growth in some of its 

 parts, has a tendency to lie down or spread, rather than push 



