TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 13 



where the experiment was tried, they stood the winter. The variety 

 L. speciosum has a pink and white frosted ground, finely spotted with a 

 deep crimson ; L. lancifolium album is a pure white ; each variety with 

 reflexed petals. Messrs. Hovey also exhibited fine specimens of this su- 

 perb Lily, and Mr. Wilder fine seedlings. 



Of the Camellia family, great additions have been made. The plants 

 bloom at a season when it is not convenient to make a display of them 

 at the Society's rooms ; but in visits to the various greenhouses in the 

 neighborhood, it may be observed that great improvements have been 

 made in many of the new varieties added to the collections ; some of 

 the most remarkable are included among the Seedlings raised by the Pres- 

 ident, the most conspicuous of which, are C. japonica var. Wilderii and 

 Abby Wilder, for which the Society voted a silver pitcher of the value 

 oi fifty dollars. 



The Verbena tribe has also been greatly increased and improved ; the 

 varieties are almost innumerable ; they have sported into every tint of 

 crimson, scarlet, purple, lilac and rose, to white, and now form, when 

 planted out in the border, the most brilliant ornaments of the garden from 

 June to November, and of the greenhouse through the winter and spring. 



This introduction would be too lengthy, should an attempt be made to 

 name the difl'erent varieties of Gladiolus, Achimenes, Gloxinias, and other 

 fine greenhouse plants that have been exhibited as new during the last few 

 years; they will be found recorded in the body of this work. 



Of the hardy flowers, no family of plants has received greater ac- 

 cessions than the Phlox. Beautiful Seedlings have been raised by Messrs. 

 Breck, Carter, Walker, and others, and many fine varieties have been im- 

 ported by Messrs. Wilder and Hovey. The old varieties, which, but a few 

 years ago, were considered indispensable in the garden, are now generally 

 discarded as worthless, and give place to those of much superior habit of 

 flowering, shape, color, &c. 



J. S. Cabot, of Salem, has exhibited improved varieties of Paeonia 

 arborea, some of them very costly and rare. The display made by the 

 President of this showy flower, in June, 1845, will not soon be forgotten by 

 those who witnessed it ; it consisted of 100 blooms of the Paionia arborea, 

 in fifteen varieties. 



Ranunculus. — Our climate has been considered unfavorable for the per- 

 fection of this very beautiful flower, on account of the severity of our 

 winters, and the extreme heat and dryness of the atmosphere. S. Walker 

 has, however, succeeded repeatedly in producing a splendid bloom from 

 more than five hundred varieties, embracing colors of every tint and shade 

 of crimson, scarlet, orange, yellow, purple, maroon, rose, white, and va- 

 riously diversified and variegated. 



We have seen improvements made, from year to year, in the Dahlia 



