THE 



VOL. VI.] 



FEBRUARY, 1883. 



[No. 2. 



THE 



This interesting and valuable genus 

 of climbing plants is attracting much 

 attention both in Europe and America. 

 As the result of careful cultivation and 

 the crossing of different species we have 

 now some very beautiful and showy 

 varieties. These plants belong to the 

 natural order Crowfoots (Ranuncula- 

 cese), and are characterized by a valvate 

 coloured calyx, and by having the 

 carpels when ripe terminated by long, 

 feathery styles. In some of the species 

 the flowers are not as attractive as the 

 seed vessels are when plumed with their 

 long feathery styles. In England the 

 most common species is known as the 

 Traveller's Joy, Clematis vitalba, which 

 runs over the hedges in some parts of 

 the country, covering them with a 

 profusion of white blossoms, to be 

 succeeded by heaps of silky tufts. 

 Some of the species are fragrant. The 

 one known as Clematis jiammvla^ a 

 native of France, is exceedingly rich in 

 perfume. Until within a few yeara 

 the Clematis were chiefly used to cover 

 unsightly objects, though occasionally 

 C. viticella, a purple flowering species 

 introduced into Enghind from Spain, 

 was used as an ornamental climber. 

 In the year 1851 a large flowered vari- 



CLEMATIS. 



ety, known as C. lanv-ginosa was brought 

 fi'om China, about fifteen years after, 

 some English gardeners, notably Mr. 

 Jackman of the Woking nurseries, 

 conceived the idea of crossing these two 

 last named species. The result of this 

 crossing has been the production of a 

 race of hardy, free flowering Clematis, 

 with large, showy flowers, which make 

 a grand display either as climbers upon 

 pillars or lattice, or trained upon the 

 ground as bedders. These beautiful 

 flowers are mainly of two colours, purple 

 and white, of various degrees of in- 

 tensity and purity. The only variety 

 approaching a red is of a dirty brick-red 

 hue, by no means satisfactory to the or- 

 namental gardener. 



In the variety (Chmatis coccinea) 

 now presented to the notice of our 

 readers in the beautiful colored plate 

 which adorns this number, and for 

 which we are indebted to the liberality 

 of Messrs. V. H. Hallock, Son <fc Thorpe, 

 of Queens, N.Y., we have a very differ- 

 ent type of flower, quite unlike the 

 broad-petaled, showy blossoms of tho 

 Jackman group, but giving us that 

 much-coveted, brilliant, scarlet color so 

 entirely wanting in those hybrids. It 

 is not necessary to give any description 



