April 27, 187(5. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE QARDENEK. 



y2S 



Dodwell. The words may bear a stronger meaning than I is bo plentiful, that Liunious says the inhabitants of that 



intendoJ, and I therefore beg to retract them, and to say I country take scarcely any other vegetable food than Sorrel 



never intended to impute, as he seems to think I did, either and Angelica, 



coarseness or personal ill-feeling to him. — D.,Dcal. 



THE OXALIS. 



This is a large genu? of plants of free-flowering properties. 

 Most of the specioj, which are numerous, arc of dwarf habit, 

 and are worthy of cul- 

 ture alike by their pleas- 

 ing foliage, close growth, 

 and attractive flowers. 

 The plants are of easy 

 culture, the greater num- 

 ber of them being natives 

 of the Capo of Good 

 Hope, and consequently 

 they require cool green- 

 house or frame treat- 

 ment. The species ligured 

 which is typical of the 

 genus, has jcUow flowers, 

 which are drooping and 

 produced in umbels borne 

 well above the bright 

 groon Clover-like foliage. 

 It requires protection 

 during the winter. Olher 

 species have rose, purple, 

 and white flowers. 



A very attractive kind 

 is 0. floribnnda rosea, 

 which is one of the finest 

 of border, rockery, or pot 

 plants. It is a tuberous- 

 rooted species, forming 

 dense floriferous cushions 

 G inches in height and 

 a foot in diameter, the 

 plants continuing in 

 bloom from -June to Sep- 

 tember. Its white variety, 

 alba, is a charming com- 

 panion plant, and both 

 should be grown for rock- 

 ery decoration. 0. Deppei 

 is a reddish - flowering 

 Mexican species, and is 

 attractive as a green- 

 house plant. The roots 

 of this species have been 

 employed as a vegetable, 

 the roots being boiled in 

 gravy and served with 

 brown sauce. 0. rosea 

 and 0. Valdiviana are 

 raised from seeds, the 

 plants flowering in a few 

 weeks after the seed is 

 sown, and they are 

 charming as pot or bor- 

 der plants. 0. tropiBO- 

 loides is also raised from 

 seed, and is employed as 

 a carpet plant for flower 

 beds, its dark foliage 



being very distinct. It is not necessary, however, to enume- 

 rate, for all the species are pretty without being gaudy, and 

 grow freely in ordinary garden soil. 



A few are hardy, and amongst them the Wood Sorrel or 

 Shamrock, 0. acetosella, which is a native of the moist shady 

 woods of this country, Europe, and North America, and is one 

 of the most elegant of wild flowers. It delights in retired 

 shady woods, groves, and hedges, and flowers in April and 

 May. It was called by the old herbalists AUeluja and Cuckoo's 

 Meat, because as Gerarde says, " When it springeth forth, the 

 cuckoo singeth most ; at which time also AUeluya was wont to 

 be sung in our churches." But AUeluja is merely a corruption 

 of the Calabrian name Juliola. The whole plant has a grate- 

 ful acid taste, much more so than the common Sorrel, and is 

 on that account used in salads and in sauces. In Lapland it 



NOTES ON AURICULAS. 

 Orchiuk and Roses can bo seen at almost any time and at 

 various shows, but an Auricula exhibition is seen but onco or 

 twice a-year ; and to the old florists who do not now cultivate 



the flower it is a source 

 of great delight to eee 

 the same flowers that 

 were popular in their boy- 

 hood , and perh ape loving- 

 ly tended by their own 

 hands. I had a visit of 

 an old florist to see the 

 collection at Loxford Hall 

 this year, and how pleased 

 ho was to see some of the 

 old flowers that he had 

 not seen, it may be, for 

 very nearly fifty years 1 



I have before me an 

 old gardening periodical 

 containing the names of 

 the flowers that obtained 

 the greatest number of 

 prizes during the year 

 1834. At the head of the 

 list in green-edged flow- 

 ers is Col. Taylor (Lee's, 

 not Leigh's as it is spelt 

 in lists now) : the same 

 flower was shown at the 

 lloyal Aquarium still 

 holding its own as the 

 best green-edge. Free- 

 dom (Booth) stands next 

 to it, but this is a weak 

 grower, seldom ehowing 

 more than three pips. 

 Alexander (Stretch) is 

 third, followed by High- 

 land Laddie (Pollit), .Jolly 

 Tar (Buckley), and Jubi- 

 lee(Moore). Nextinorder 

 is the grey-edged flowers ; 

 and here the modern- 

 raised varieties are very 

 considerably in advance, 

 although the Eorts named 

 are still grown and valued. 

 Heading the list is Priva- 

 teer (Grime), followed by 

 Ploughboy Claylor) ,Ring- 

 leader (Kenyon), Con- 

 queror of Europe (Water- 

 house), Revenge (Thomp- 

 son). In white-edged 

 flowers the one highest 

 on the list was also in the 

 winning twelve at the 

 Show this year — Glory 

 (Taylor). I have now ten 

 healthy young plants of 

 this propagated by cut- 

 ting down a small plant last year. A celebrated florist told me 

 that the plant could not be true as it increased so fast ; but it 

 is true, as it has just flowered, although no Auricula fancier 

 could miftake the leaf of Glory, independent of the flower. 

 Next to it in 1«34, and only one mark behind, is Pillar of 

 Beauty (Hugh), Bright Venus (Lee), Rule All CAshworthi, 

 Kegulator (Pott), Favourite (Taylor). In selfs the best of 

 forty years ago was Flora's Flag, Metropolitan (Kedmain), 

 Ned Lord (Scheie), Lord Lee (Berry), Lord Primate and Apollo. 

 The raisers' names are not given of the first and two last 

 flowers. 



I carefully examined the different collections at the Aquarium 

 and took the names of the best flowers in each class, although 

 from the early date of the Show some of the best sorts were 

 not represented at all. In green edges Alderman V.'istey 



Fig. 95.— OXALIS CERNUA, 



