EEPORT OF COMMITTEE OK GARDENING. 131 



son, the King of Hoses, Star of Fire, Renown, Vesuvius, Coleshill, 

 Sir diaries Napier, Kingcraft, Bonfire, Douglas Pearson and Wel- 

 lington. For violet, Madame Mezard; for pink, May Queen; for 

 golden tricolor, E. R. Berryon, Sir Robert Napier and Mrs. Grieve ; 

 for bronze zonals. Black Douglas and Earl of Rosslyn. These, Mr. 

 Gray thinks, stand in advance of any he has yet tried, and their 

 addition to our flora is very desirable. 



The noble specimens of subtropicals, the Tree-ferns and Pampas- 

 grass, &c., being well disposed, elicited the greatest admiration. 

 The grove-loving Alsophilia australis had stood through the sum- 

 mer, plunged in the lawn, in' the open air, exposed to the sun, and 

 had triumphantly endured the trial. Its fronds having been cut 

 off in the autumn, it was then kept in the greenhouse until spring, 

 when the tub was plunged again for the season. It was found, 

 however, that the Dicksonia antarctica would not bear such 

 exposure to sun. 



Your Committee cannot close their report without further allu- 

 sion to the magnificent Papyrus antiquorum, exhibited b}^ Mr. Gray. 

 By furnishing his plant with the richest alluvial soil, and watering 

 it thoroughly twice each day, he produced stems eight feet high, 

 with tops finely expanded, and having a profusion of narrow 

 leaves springing from a reflexed involucrun, gracefully dependent. 

 This specimen, probably, has no superior in this country. 



It has been stated as a singular fact, that when a papyrus was 

 wanted for the great Egyptian Exhibition at Cairo, a short time 

 ago, not a plant could be obtained from the banks of the Nile ; 

 and the Directors were obliged to procure one in Berlin and trans- 

 port it to its native land ! If this is true, where would a Pharaoh's 

 daughter now find such bulrushes for a Moses ? Perhaps even the 

 Delta would not furnish them ! 



His Pampas Grass {Gynerium argenteum), exhibited the same 

 perfection as before, and was, indeed, the most conspicuous object 

 seen, being twelve feet high and thirty-six feet in circumference, 

 with flowers surrounding it. 



A full description of Mr. Graj^'s method of annotation, and rec- 

 ord for flowers has been fully reported. But your Committee beg 

 leave to recommend the same again, as it deserves to be better 

 understood and more generally adopted. The same system of 

 check marks and dates of flowering has been pursued during the 

 past season, and he has thus obtained much valuable information* 



