488 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTTJEB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 18, 1874. 



fallen into a stream, with the skins burst, if the frnit adhere 

 to the peduncle. I have recognised this bursting by endosmose 

 or by capillary attraction, as the means devised by nature by 

 which many seeds become separated from their pericarp, so as 

 to come in contact with the soil under the most favourable 

 conditions. — S. B. Heiges, President of the Penvsylvania 

 Fruit-Growers' Society. — (American Gardener's Monthly.) 



DR. MOORE'S NEW HYBRID SARRACENIA. 



The species selected with a view to crossing were S. Drum- 

 mondi and S. flava, the latter to be the seed-bearing parent, 

 and the former to supply the pollen with which its flowers 

 were to be fertilised. The pollen was applied, the usual pre- 

 cautions being taken that neither that of the plant operated 

 on, nor any other species then in flower, should affect or inter- 

 fere with the hoped-for result, and before the summer was over 

 Dr. Moore had the gratification of gathering a ripe capsule of 

 seed. This was in 1868, and the following spring the seed was 

 sown in pots well drained and nearly filled with finely sifted 

 heath mould. The seed was dusted over the surface, and 

 merely covered wilh a thin stratum of damp bog moss (sphag- 

 num), a piece of flat glass being laid over this, and the pot 

 placed in an intermediate or moderately warm house. In 

 about a month or so the young plants began to show. The 

 seedlings showed a good deal of liability to damp-off the follow- 

 ing winter, but with those which pulled through there was no 

 after-difiicuUy. As far as the foliage, pitchers, and habit could 

 indicate it, the doctor had not very long to wait for evidence 

 of a successful and interesting cross, and early last month 

 [April] the development of flowers still further confirmed it. 



This hybrid partakes in a remarkable degree of the cha- 

 racteristics of both parents. In the rich veiuing and exquisite 

 leaf-painting of the upper portion and lid of the pitchers, as 

 also in its purple-coloured flowers, it bears the impress and 

 likeness of the male parent ; while in the habit and less per- 

 sistent character of the leaves it shows the maternal traits. 

 It is very probable that a cooler treatment than that which is 

 agreeable to S. Drummondi will suit it. This, the first hybrid 

 Sarracenia yet flowered, was one of the lions of the recent 

 International Show and Congress at Florence, Dr. Moore having 

 brought it and several other living items of much botanical 

 interest with him on the occasion of setting out to take part 

 in that important and widely-representative gathering. We 

 believe our plant is to bear the name of the raiser, and will in 

 future be known in collections and plant lists as Sairacenia 

 Mooreii. — (Irixh Farmers' Gazette.) 



[In a subsequent number of the same periodical the Editor 

 very properly adds : — " It now appears that the honour and 

 credit of raising a hybrid Sarracenia does not belong to 

 Dr. Moore alone, though to him certainly attaches the honour 

 ot being the first in the field with a flowering specimen. At 

 the London Royal Horticultural Society's Great Summer Show, 

 Mr. Stevens, of Trentham Gardens, exhibited a new hybrid 

 Sarracenia, raised by him at that princely establishment. It 

 is the result of a cross between S. purpurea and S. flava. In 

 form and habit it resembles the parent last named, but the deep 

 red or purple markings on the pitchers show its affinity with 

 S. purpurea."— Eds.] 



FLOWERS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 34. 



GELASINE AiTr'REA.— Blue Gelasine. 



The Gelasine azurea was first introduced into this country 

 in the living state in 1837, having been sent from Boston, U.S., 

 to the collection of the lamented Dean of Manchester at Spof- 

 forth, where it flowered and ripened its seed. It is a native 

 of the Banda Oriental, and the province of Rio Grande, where 

 it occurs in stony places. It is sufficiently hardy to bear 

 exposure in this climate, especially if covered with a few dry 

 fern leaves, and, like some of the Irises, retains a part of its 

 foliage through the winter. It is readily raised from seed, and 

 young plants will produce flowers the second season ; so that 

 it will, we hope, soon be classed amongst the commonest of 

 our hardy bulbs. The seeds germinate most freely when sown 

 as soon as ripe, on a gentle heat, and the seedlings should be 

 kept growing through the winter. The plant also produces 

 offsets, by which it may be increased. 



It grows from 18 inches to 2 feet high, the flower stalk being 

 furnished with four bracts placed at regular distances, the upper 

 one being leaf-like. The leaves are from I to 2 feet in length, 



and about 1 inch in breadth, pointed at their extremities, and 

 plaited, as in the case of the Tiger- flower (Tigridia Pavonia). 

 The flowers are produced from a spathe, which is shorter than 

 their footstalks. The funnel-shaped limb of the blossom is 

 divided into six regular segments, alternately smaller, which 

 are united at the base into a tube ; each segment is marked 

 with white at its base, on which are several black spots, the 

 segments themselves being of a deep blue tint. The three 

 filaments are united into a short tube, in other words mon- 

 adelphous, the anthers tapering upwards, and opening by their 

 sides. Style simple, divided into a three-lobed stigma. Capsuler 

 egg-shaped, opening when ripe at the top by three valves. 

 Seeds angular, flat at top, tapering downwards. One of the 

 divisions of the flower, and also the monadelphous filaments^ 

 are shown separately in the engraving. 



tielasme azurea. 



As this plant is not commonly kept iu stock by London 

 bulb merchants, it may be useful to some readers to state that 

 it may be had of Mr. Louis Van Houtte, the well-known 

 nurseryman of Ghent, Belgium. 



Before quitting this subject, we are desirous of calling tho 

 attention of our readers to one or two other very interesting 

 genera of Iridaceous plants, not commonly seen in cultivation. 

 One of these is the Cypella Herbertii, a beautiful bulb from 

 Buenos Ayres, nearly hardy, and certainly less tender than the 

 Tiger-flower, which it somewhat resembles. The flowers are 

 large, and of a vermilion tint. It is a summer-flowering bulb, 

 and may be treated exactly as the Tigridia — that is, planted 

 in April in the open border, and dug-up in autumn when the 

 foliage is decayed. The bulbs may be purchased in a dry 

 state in autumn of most of the London seedsmen for about 

 Cjd. each, but care should be taken to secure ripened roots; 

 many of them, being dug-up in an immature state, decay on 

 being again planted, or at most produce only a few unhealthy 

 leaves. 



Equal in interest to the Cypella, and, perhaps, more manage- 

 able, is the Pardanthus sinensis, the Mor:ea sinensis of the 

 older botanists. In habit this showy plant resembles one of 

 the smaller evergreen Irises, the leaves being flattened, dis- 

 tichous, and diverging in a fan-like form. The flowers are 

 produced on a dichotomous scape, about li to 2 feet high, 

 which arises from the midst of the central leaves, and bears 

 several spathes, from each of which emerge three or four 



