STREPTOCARPUS 



raised by Mr. Charles Green, at that time gardener to Sir George Mackay, of 

 Pendell Court, Bletchingly, and is described in the Gardeners' Chronicle as of 

 tufted habit, bearing several leaves and pale lilac-blue flowers. This hybrid 

 apparently never became widely grown, and had nothing whatever to do with 

 the production of the present garden race. 



The initial step which led to the formation of the beautiful forms now in culti- 

 vation was taken by the Curator of Kew, who raised the hybrid Streptocarpus x 

 *Kewensis by crossing S. Rexii with the pollen of S. Dunnii. Before the intro- 

 duction of S. Dunnii some had been raised at Kew by fertilizing S. parviflora 

 with the pollen of S. Rexii, and to the most distinct of these the names White 

 Pet, S. R. multiflorus, and S. R. albus were given. A coloured plate of these 

 appeared in The Garden for May 22nd, 1886, and it is interesting to compare 

 the present wide range of colour in the modern varieties with the limited area of 

 that day. 



The flowers produced by Streptocarpus x Kewensis were 2^ in. long with a 

 spreading limb 1^- in. in diameter, and bright mauve-purple in colour striped 

 with brownish-purple in the throat. 



Another hybrid, flowered in 1887, raised at Kew by crossing Streptocarpus 

 parviflora with the pollen of S. Dunnii, received the name of t S. x Watsoni, 

 after Mr. Watson by whom it was raised. It has several tufted leaves and 

 numerous flower-stems, each bearing ten to sixteen flowers 1J in. long by 1 in. in 

 diameter, bright rose-purple with a white throat and brownish-purple stripes ; 

 like others, this hybrid fails to produce seed, but the pollen is potent when used 

 on others. 



In 1887, the two hybrids Streptocarpus x Kewensis and S. x Watsoni were 

 crossed with each other and with their parents in all possible combinations, and a 

 host of seedlings resulted. These showed a marked deviation amongst themselves 

 in colour, size and form of flower, many decidedly attractive. A selection of 

 these was obtained from Kew, and came under the care of Heal, who again 

 crossed them amongst themselves and with the red-flowered S. Dunnii, obtaining 

 many seedlings now known in gardens as Veitchs' Original Hybrids. These 

 hybrids are remarkable for the abundance of bloom, the continued succession 

 with which the flowers are produced, and for the long time the individual blooms 

 remain in perfection ; the flowers trumpet-shaped, widely open at the mouth, 

 measure If in. in length. 



A coloured plate, prepared from plants growing at Chelsea, appeared in The 

 Garden for February 6th, 1892, p. 843, and may be compared with one published 

 in 1886. The influence of Streptocarpus Dunnii in the production of the rich and 

 varied colours of the modern varieties is very obvious. 



By crossing the finest and most highly coloured varieties selected from Veitchs' 

 Original Hybrids with the beautiful species from South Africa, a new race has 

 been created, which for distinction and delicacy of shading are amongst the 

 most valuable of modern plants for the decoration of conservatories or the cool 

 greenhouse. 



A variety of Veitchs' Original Hybrids, having magenta flowers with a deep 

 blotch on the lip, was crossed with the red-flowered Streptocarpus Dunnii, and 

 from this cross the strain known as gratus was derived. The flowers of many 



* Gard. Chron. 1887, vol. ii. p. 247, fig. t Gard. Chron. 1887, vol ii. p. 215. 



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