468 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTDBE AND COTTAGK GAEDENEB, 



I June 16, 187S. 



now flowering for the first time in England. The plant ia of 

 graeefnl habit ; the leaves being about 2 feet in length by an 

 inch in width, and gracefully arched. The flower stem ia 

 abont IJ inch in diameter, and is perfectly smooth to a height 

 of nearly 5 feet, at which height commence the branchlets of 

 flowers, continuing to a further height of about 3 J feet. These 

 branchlets, which exceed fifty in number, are closely arranged 

 on the stem, and each bears from five to ten cream-coloured 

 star-like flowers of six petals and fully expanded. Their tex- 

 ture is stout and waxlike, and their perfume delicious, not 

 unlike that of the Stephanotis, or between the Stephanotis 

 and Gardenia. This is a stately spike of lovely flowers, and 

 must be admired for its intrinsic beauty apart from the novelty 

 attaching to a " first flower." 



We have received from Mr. Smoothey of Brainlree a 



flower of the double Chikese Tree Pjeonv. It is very large, 

 2 feet in circumference, and in colour delicate pink. The 

 flower is rendered further attractive by numerous pink stamens 

 bearing orange-coloured pollen, which are conspicuous amongst 

 the petals ; it also possesses a powerful odour. As summer- 

 flowering plants for shrubbery borders few are more strikingly 

 effective than these Paonies, and the grand specimen before 

 US suggests that Mr. Smoothey has a variety of great merit. 



The subscriptions to the Van Hoctte Memorial have 



already amounted to upwards of sixty guineas, and this with- 

 out any special appeal having been made to the public. We 

 have no doubt that the horticultural spirit of the country will 

 be so far stimulated as to make this memorial worthy of the 

 nation. Subscriptions will be received by either of the follow- 

 ing :— Dr. Hogg, 171, Fleet Street, E.G. ; Dr. Masters, 41, Wel- 

 lington Street, W.C. ; and Mr. H. J. Veitoh, Eoyal Nurseries, 

 Chelsea. 



• The thirty-third anniversary dinner of the Gabdeners' 



EoYAL Benevolent Institdtion takes place on the 30th of 

 Jane. The Chairman, Dr. Hogg, has a subscription list open, 

 and Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, have headed that list 

 with a donation of £50. Contributions of fruit and flowers 

 to assist the dinner will be very acceptable. They should be 

 forwarded to Mr. Edward R. Cutler, Secretary, 14, Tavistock 

 Row, Covent Garden. 



The Crystal Palace Rose Show this year is a fortnight 



too early, for the cold which has prevailed throughout the 

 spring has retarded the developing of the flowers. Even in 

 Devonshire Roses will not be in perfection, and all other 

 flowers are similarly backward. The most striking evidences 

 of this are the Hawthorns, the " May," flowers of which are 

 only now just fully developed. 



A VERY excellent portrait of the late Mr. John 



Standish of Ascot has this week been suspended in the Lecture 

 Hall of the Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensington, 

 which will recall to the memory of his friends the features of 

 one whose presence when alive was well known iu that room. 



The exceedingly inclement May retarded considerably 



the important work of bedding-out, and the weather during 

 the first ten days of June has been anything but genial and of 

 a summer-like character. Up to the present time many of the 

 beds in the London parks remain unfurnished, and the plants 

 which have been planted are in a standstill state. On some 

 days the northerly winds have savoured of March rather than 

 June, and vegetation is generally in a backward state. The 

 weather is now warmer in London, and showers have fallen. 



As will be seen by advertisements, it has been found 



necessary to rosTPONB the Maidstone Rose Show to the 28th 

 inst., and the Frome Rose Show to July 6th, on account of the 

 lateness of the growth of the Roses by the long term of cold 

 and inclement weather. 



Iberis corri^folu is now and has been for some time 



exceedingly eflective in the gardens of the Royal Botanic 

 Society, Regent's Park. For affording a close margin around 

 shrubs, green in summer and winter, and of snowy whiteness 

 in the spring months, this is one of the most suitable of plants. 

 It is the best of all the Iberises, and on every rockery and in 

 every hardy herbaceous garden it should have a place ; its 

 flowers are also exceedingly useful for associating with Ferns 

 in the furnishing of vases and other room ornaments. 



The new Pelakoonium lateripes Koxig Albert — 



double-flowered Ivy-leaved Pelargonium — as exhibited at South 

 Kensington last week, proved to be a perfectly distinct novelty, 

 the flowers being very double and prodneedin the greatest pro- 

 fusion. Their colour is also pleasing, being of a lavender-pink 



colour. The plant is of dwarf habit, and will be useful for 

 purposes of decoration as well as for affording flowers for 

 bouquets and button-hole purposes. This novelty was raised 

 by Herr Oscar Liebmann of Dresden, the stock in England 

 being distributed by Mr. Bull, who exhibited the plant re- 

 ferred to. 



At the meeting of the Horticultural Clue on the 7 th 



inst., the following gentlemen were admitted as members : — 

 Charles Pallo Wheatstone, William Edgecumbe Rendle, John 

 Cranston, Nicholas Voice, and Francis Arthur Dickson. Three 

 other names were submitted for election at the next meeting, 

 and several additions to the library both by gift and purchase 

 were announced. 



We have received an interesting and very full sketch 



of the life of Mathus de L'Obel, the celebrated botanist 

 alter whom the genus Lobelia is named. It is from the pen 

 of Professor Ed. Morren of the University of Liege ; and we 

 shall have occasion shortly to refer to it more fully. 



Me. Crawford, gardener to Lord Petre of Thorndon 



Hall, Brentwood, Essex, feeling hie strength unequal to the 

 efficient discharge of his duties, has been led to relinquish 

 his office. His noble employer was not satisfied with express- 

 ing his regret at partmg with an old and valued servant, but 

 has given substantial proof of the estimation of Mr. Craw- 

 ford's services by presenting him with a valuable gold watch 

 from the establishment of Mr. Streetor. The watch bears the 

 following inscription : — " Alexander Crawford, given to him by 

 Lord Petre in acknowledgment of his long and faithful ser- 

 vices, 1876." Lady Petre has added to the value of his lord- 

 ship's gift by presenting Mr. Crawford with a gold chain. Mr. 

 Crawford has been gardener at Thorndou for twenty-six years. 



Rev. F. D. Horner has sent me a single pip of a 



green-edged Auricula Talisman (Simonite). It is a very good 

 addition to its class. The tube is bright yellow, paste white, 

 dense, and circular ; the body colour a deep crimson maroon, 

 almost black, and as perfect as that of Prince of Greens or 

 Freedom ; nor is there a single spot on its pure green edge, 

 which is not sufficient, however, as the body colour touches it 

 in places. Mr. Simonite writes that he has it in flower now 

 very fine, " all its rings as round as engine- turned." It ought 

 to be in the most select collections. — J. Douglas. 



Me. Bratlet, in his antiquarian work entitled " Lon- 



diniana," details the household accounts of a citizen residing 

 in the parish of St. Michael Bassishaw in the year 1594. 

 Among the details are these : — " Paid for a capon. Is. 2d. ; 

 for a dozen of pigeons, 2s. id. ; for twenty-eight eggs, 8d. For 

 three pints of Strawberries, June 6, Is. id. ; for a pecke of 

 Pease, June 8, lOd. ; for another peeks, June 14, 5d. ; a quart 

 of Strawberries, June 29, Gd. ; six Artichokes, August 3, Is. ;, 

 half a pecke of Filbirdes, August 19, Cd." 



Some remarkable physiological facts have, says Mr. T. 



Meehan, been brought to hght by Mr. F. Parkman of Cambridge, 

 Mass. , the eminent historian and good botanist. He had endea- 

 voured to hybridise a number of species of Lily with the Japan 

 L. auratum. To guard against the chance of fertilisation by 

 their own pollen, the anthers were cut from the flowers before 

 they had perfected, and other precautions taken. There seemed 

 to be no chance of any result but to produce hybrids, or not to 

 seed at all, according to all that has been heretofore known of 

 such subjects. But in every case but one of those which have 

 so far blossomed, the seedlings are like the female parents. 

 There was one remarkable hybrid, and one only. That the 

 male parent should be potential for reproduction, and yet 

 powerless to transmit the slightest trace of its own character- 

 istics, he thought among the most wonderful of the recently 

 discovered facts in vegetable physiology, and would render the 

 LUy family an object of renewed interest. As remarked before, 

 some Lilium superbum growing near the others bore seeds 

 freely, every flower perfectly, and, so far as he could see, with- 

 out any special aid from insect agency. He had been interested 

 in noting the remarkable manner iu which the seed vessels 

 varied. He exhibited a number of capsules, selected from 

 twenty-five plants, each plant bearing all its seed vessels 

 exactly after the pattern of each one exhibited. Some were 

 about 2 inches long and linear, with rounded ends ; others of 

 the same character but with the end promorse, and giving a 

 triquetrous character to the apex. Another had the carpellary 

 edges perfectly smooth ; another, perhaps like it, with tumid 

 raised edges. Then there were lanceolate, oblong, clavate, 

 pyriform, and almost globose forms. In old times many of 

 these characters would have been deemed of sufficient im- 



