446 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The period embraced in this chapter was remarkable, 

 above the previous years of the Society's history, for the 

 great number of rare, curious, and beautiful plants 

 introduced. The wealth of our greenhouses and hot- 

 houses in this respect was revealed by the exhibition of 

 1873, when Music Hall was wholly filled by the most 

 beautiful display of plants and flowers that had ever 

 been made on this continent. The Orchidacese were 

 during this period more largely represented than ever 

 before. The taste for agaves, cacti, sempervivums, and 

 other succulent plants, grew up during this period. 

 Equal activity was shown in the introduction of hardy 

 plants for the ornamenting of our gardens ; and the Deut- 

 zia crenata, the Viburnum plicatum, the Hydrangea 

 paniculata grandiflora, the new hardy varieties of the 

 clematis, and the Aquilegia chrysantha, novelties of this 

 period, are destined to find a place in every garden : 

 indeed the beautiful hybrid varieties of the clematis are 

 one of the triumphs of horticultural skill ; while the 

 almost innumerable forms of the aquilegia, discovered 

 or originated, are but an instance of the improvement 

 in flowers formerly known to us by a few types, or only 

 a single one. The many and beautiful new conifers 

 exhibited have attracted much attention, and, if but a 

 tithe of them prove adapted to our climate, they will 

 be most valuable additions to the beauties of our lawns. 

 The rhododendron show was not only an important 

 event in the history of the Society's exhibitions, but 

 will doubtless form an epoch in the cultivation of these 

 beautiful plants. 



The interest in native flowers, which, in the early 

 days of the Society, was intermittent in character, in 

 this period became, through the labors of several zeal- 



