68 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [S 



ESS. LXXX 



veiy small and not liaiiy, the tiower scapes only a few 

 inches high. The flowers are pure white. 



A few 3^ears ago Messrs. Veitch sent out under the name 

 of S. cortusue folia one of Wilson's Chinese plants, and a 

 delightful one it is, forming long runners and rapidly 

 making a leaf carpet. It is not S. cortusaefolia, Sieb. 

 et Zucc. which is apparently only Japanese. I have named 

 it *S'. Veitchiana. It has orbicular green leaves and small 

 flower panicles and can at once be recognised from S. cor- 

 tusaefolia by its flagella — -there are none in >S'. cortusaefolia 

 — and by the unilateral yellow tuberculate disk in the flower 

 — it is circular and smooth in >S'. c art iisae folia. From S. 

 sarmentosa, Linn. fil. its bright green leaves, not white- 

 veined, and small inflorescences distinguish it. Occasion- 

 ally the leaves of the young rooting rosettes on the runners 

 show some white veining. 



*S'. cortusaefolia, Sieb. et Zucc. (S. japonica of old 

 gardens) is one of the species "which do not form runners. 

 It is widely spread in Japan. Two stories of its intro- 

 duction are current : one that it came to Britain through 

 Maries, collector for Messrs. Veitch, about the middle of 

 last century ; the other that Fortune and Standish intro- 

 duced it. It was in cultivation before 1874. The stifl" 

 fleshy leaves and pure white flowers make it an effective 

 plant, but at Edinburgh not quite satisfactory outside. 

 It is variable. Makino's varietal names obtusocrenata and 

 partita refer to features of the leaf, and S. madida, Makino, 

 is a microform with more delicate leaves more deeply cut. 



The palm for beauty belongs to the Japanese ;S^. Fortunei, 

 Hook., discovered by Fortune, and known in our gardens 

 for some sixty years. Its fringed rich green leaves, the 

 largest of all in cultivation, with bronzed or bright red 

 underside and petiole, and its large white flowers, make it 

 a welcome plant. Like S. cortusaefolia, Sieb. et Zucc. it 

 does not show its best foliage in the open at Edinburgh and 

 its flowers come too late for so succulent a plant in the 

 Edinburgh climate. 



*S'. rufescens, Balf. fil. is the most recent introduction of 

 the group, and is from China. It has come from Bees, Ltd. 

 through their collector G. Forrest. It is a plant of the 

 habit of S. cortusaefolia, Sielx et Zucc, but distinguished 



