330 GENERAL REVIEW. 



(1875), Mr Cooling, of Derby, stated that he believed the first 

 variety of this class was raised forty years ago, and distributed 

 under the name of P. Willoughbyanum, and that it had been 

 bred from the ordinary varieties of the period, mentioning, 

 among others, Moore's Victory and Fair Helen. 



Ivy-leaved Varieties. The Ivy-leaved section of this genus 

 has originated from P. peltatum, which was raised in the 

 Duchess of Beaufort's garden in 1701 from seeds brought from 

 the Cape, and soon became a general favourite, on account of 

 its elegant ivy-like habit of growth. P. L? Elegante is a white 

 variegated variety, the edges of the white leaf-margins turning 

 a delicate carmine if starved in a pot and fully exposed to the 

 sun. There is also a distinct variety having a dark zone in the 

 centre of the leaf. 



Mr John Wills, to whom we are indebted for the race of 

 "bronze zonals," was, I believe, the first hybridist who effected 

 a cross between the ivy-leaf (P. hedercefoliuni} and Zonal (P. 

 zonale) sections of this genus ; and the results of this cross were 

 the two distinct forms known as Willsii and Willsii rosea (sent 

 out about 1867-8), and Lady Edith. A few years later a sin- 

 gular chance seedling made its appearance on the Continent, 

 and we find it thus described in the ' Gardener's Chronicle ' at 

 the time of its appearance : " It is believed to be an accidental 

 cross between P. hedercefolium and P. zonale, and, what is more, 

 it freely bears seed. M. Jean Sisley describes it as near P. 

 hedercefolium in its prostrate habit of growth, with leaves more 

 like those of P. zonale. The- flowers are of a dazzling red, and 

 there are from fifteen to twenty in each truss. It was found in 

 a garden at Nice, in a bed planted with several varieties of the 

 zonal section, and a lilac-white variety of P. heder&folium. M. 

 Sisley considers it a great acquisition, mainly, it appears, on 

 account of its fertility a quality not possessed, he says, 

 by Willsii* Willsii rosea, Emperor, and Dolly Varden. He 

 thinks it may probably give birth to a distinct new strain, in the 

 hands of a clever hybridiser." 



P. peltatum was figured a hundred years ago (see ' Bot. Mag.,' 

 t. 20), and it is curious to observe how little a century of culture 

 has altered this fine old species. 



One of the most recent additions to the ivy-leaved garden 

 varieties is a double-flowered form named Konig Albert. This 

 was raised by M. Otto Leibmann, and was first exhibited in 



* Mr Laxton is said to have obtained a few seeds of Mr Wills's P. zonale- 

 hedercefolium hybrids, which exactly reproduced the mother plant. It is 

 also curious to observe that Madame Vaucher, Christine, and other varie- 

 ties, reproduce themselves with tolerable certainty from seeds. 



