MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE; 269 



of Cymbidiuni giganteum ; this, a native of the East Indies, with large flowers, 

 striped with a tawny brown, and said to be very fragrant, is supposed to be the 

 first specimen of the species that has been seen in flower in this country ; along 

 with it was a long yellow-flowered Lobelia, of no beauty. A Bauksian medal 

 was awarded for the former. From the Rev. G. R. Rashleigh was an Anthocercis, 

 having a tall panicle of small yellow star-like flowers, striped witli brown; it did 

 not possess beauty enough to render it worthy of cultivation ; its seeds had been 

 sent to Mr. Rashleigh from Swan River. Mr. J. W. Dawson sent a well-grown 

 plant of Erica Banksii, with beautiful dark-green foliage, long greenish while 

 corolla, and dark-brown stamens; for thi< a certificate was awarded. From 

 Messrs. Veitch and Son, of Exeter, was a shrivelled specimen of Dolichos pur- 

 pureus; it had arrived in bad condition, owing to its being packed in dry cotton, 

 which in that state absorbs all the moisture of leaves and flowers. The best way 

 of transmitting specimens of cut plants to a distance, is to wrap them up in damp 

 coarse brown paper, which will preserve their beauty for a considerable length of 

 time; or if cotton is used, it should at all events be well damped and separated 

 from the plants by folds of paper. The plant from which this specimen was cut, 

 is said to have been only a few months old, and not more than two feet high, with 

 no fewer than ten spikes of bloom, besides the one that was sent. Mr. Scott, gar- 

 dener to Sir G. Staunton, Bart., s^nt fruit of the purple Guava, Psidium Catley- 

 flnum, from a plant which has produced fruit in abundance since June ; also fruit 

 of the Passiflora quandrangulai is, which measured nine inches long by five inches 

 and a half in diameter, and weighed thiee pounds; together with fruit of the 

 Akee tree, Blighia sapida, and of the Laurel-leaved Granadilla, or Water Lemon 

 • — the Pomme de Liane of the French. This plant is a native of the West Indies, 

 and not very frequently seen in this country ; the pulp, which is inclosed within 

 a very pretty orange-coloured rind, marked with green spots, is what is eatable ; 

 it is rather acid to the taste, and agreeable in hot countries. A certificate was 

 awarded for the Blighia sapida. From Mr. Osborn, of Fulham, was a cut spe- 

 cimen from North America of Shepherdia argentea, covered with clusters of 

 pretty dark red berries, like those of the Pyracantha, which were said to have 

 arrived to only about one-third their usual size when ripe. The tree from which 

 this specimen was taken is stated to be twenty -five feet high, and about the same 

 in breadth, quite covered with fruit; it never hears fruit in this country, because 

 all the plants here are male. When the females shall have been procured from 

 Konh America, they will be most valuable hardy shrubs. From the gardens of 

 the Society were plants of Fuchsia Chandlerii and racemiflora, a species of Ces- 

 trum that had been imported from Guatemala by Mr. Skinner, with dark green 

 foliage and bright orange flowers, anil a very pretty autumn plant ; also the 

 beautiful Miltonia Candida and Oncidium sanguineum, with the following plants, 

 viz., Fabiana imbricata, Mahernia incisa, Phyllocladus asplenifolius, Berberis 

 actinacantha, and Fuchsia globosa, which were placed in Brown's patent puts 

 about the beginning of June, and were fully exposed to the sun, along with other 

 plants in the common pots. These were growing beautifully, the foliage was 

 perfectly green and health)', and the plants had never lost a leaf. The great 

 advantage in the double pots is, that plants placed in them in very hot weather, 

 and exposed to the sun, only require watering, on an average, once, where those 

 in the common pots require it three times ; there must not, however, be any 

 water admitted into the cavity in the side of the pots, as from their porous nature 

 the water passes through and keeps the soil too damp. They seem to answer 

 fur all kinds of plants very well, but require more drainage than the common put, 

 in order to guard against excess of moisture. 



On Salvia patens. — When Salvia patens is planted in light soil on a dry sub- 

 soil, and the surface covered over at the approach of winter with four inches 

 thick of dry leaves, having a sprinkling of soil spread over the same to prevent 

 their being blown away, the roots of the Salvia will be preserved uninjured 

 through winter, and push numerously the following spring. I find it is the 

 humidity and cbangeableness that destroys the roots, not the cold. This is the 

 case with many other similar plants. 



Chiswick. A Practical Gardener. 



