GENERAL REVIEW. 



female plants can be procured, this plant being one of the most 

 beautiful of all evergreen hardy shrubs. 



Garry a Thuretii (see 'Revue Hort.,' No. i, 1869) is an 

 hybrid plant raised from the seeds of G. MacFaydiana fertil- 

 ised with pollen from G. elliptica. The seeds were saved in 

 the late M. Thuret's garden at Antibes, and these were sown 

 in 1863, the seedlings being planted out in the open air in 

 1864; and of the two plants raised, one is a female and the 

 other a male, and both are vigorous. G. elliptica is a beautiful 

 shrub, but rare in gardens a circumstance partly owing to the 

 absence of the female or seed-bearing plants, and partly to the 

 difficulty which attends its propagation by cuttings. It has 

 been suggested (see ' Revue Hort.,' 1870, p. 260) that seeds 

 might be obtained by fertilising G. macrophylla, female plants 

 of which are not uncommon, with pollen from G. elliptica, and 

 in this way some new varieties might possibly be originated. 

 Garryas may be propagated by layering in the autumn. 



THE GENTIAN FAMILY (Gentianacea). 



A widely-distributed group of very beautiful herbaceous or 

 evergreen herbs, represented in our gardens by many European 

 species. The most showy plants in the order are the Gen- 

 tians, and one or two species of Chironia and Erythrcea. The 

 Gentians are found scattered on the mountains of both hemi- 

 spheres, and are very interesting, since there are but few genera 

 which vary so much in colour as does this, in which we find 

 red, blue, yellow, white, orange, purple, lilac, and several other 

 shades. G. acaulis, G. verna, G. Andrew sii, and others, are 

 well known in our gardens. Gentians are readily propagated 

 by division or by seeds, which should be sown as soon as ripe 

 in pans of light moist earth, and placed in a cool frame. The 

 seeds do not germinate freely if allowed to become hard and 

 dry. Several kinds of Gentians are known to be natural 

 hybrids ; and G. luteo-purpurea, a hybrid between G. lutea and 

 G. purpurea, was discovered on one of the mountains in Savoy 

 by MM. Guillemin and Dumas as long ago as 1849. 



THE CRANE'S-BILL FAMILY (Geraniacea). 



A family of herbaceous plants and shrubs widely distributed, 

 a large proportion being found at the Cape of Good Hope, these 

 being chiefly species of Pelargonium ; while the species of Ero- 



