178 Notes and Gleanings. 



TuBEROas-RODTED Tropceolum {Ysaiio. — Tropocoluvi tti.berosnm'). — This 

 is a perennial plant from Peru, and deserves mention as a recently-introduced 

 esculent. It produces an abundance of handsome yellow and red tubers, about 

 the size of small pears, the taste of which is not. however, very agreeable. On 

 this account, a particular mode of treatment has been adopted in Bolivia, where, 

 according to M. Decaisne, they are treated in the following manner : — 



The tubers designated "Ysano," at La Paz, require to be prepared before 

 they are edible. Indeed, when prepared like potatoes, and immediately afier 

 being taken up, their taste is very disagreeable. But a mode of making them 

 palatable was discovered in Bolivia ; and the ysano has there become, if not a 

 common vegetable, at least one which is quite edible. The means of making 

 them so consists in freezing them after they have been cooked ; and they are 

 eaten when frozen. In this state it is said that they constitute an agreeable 

 dish, and that scarcely a day passes at La Paz without two lines of dealers being 

 engaged in selling the ysano, which they protect from the action of the sun by 

 enveloping it in a woollen cloth and straw. Large quantities are eaten sopped 

 in treacle, and taken as refreshment during the heat of the day. 



Propai^ation and Ctdture. — The plant may be propagated by pieces of the 

 tubers in the same manner as potatoes, an eye being preserved on each piece. 

 The sets should be planted in April or May, according to the season, about four 

 feet apart, in light, rich soil. The stems may be allowed to trail along the 

 ground, or pea-sticks may be placed for their support. In dry soils and sea- 

 sons, the former method should be adopted ; in those which are moist, the lat- 

 ter. The tubers are taken up in October, when the leaves -begin to decay, and 

 stored in sand. — F. Burr, Jun. 



"The Floral Magazine" for June figures — 



Auricula Peter Campbell. — A fine florist's variety, with a bright-green 

 edge, and dark crimson-brown ground- color. 



Early Tulips {La Plaisante and Van Spaindonck). — The former, golden- 

 yellow, barred at the sides with crimson, and a broad flame of crimson-lilac 

 in the centre of each petal ; the latter, cream-color, slightly stained with green, 

 flamed and barred with lilac-crimson. 



Odentoglossum Alexandra. — One of the loveliest of the cool-house 

 orchids, which thrives under the same treatment as its congeners ; requiring an 

 abundant supply of water when growing freely, the soil never being dry. In 

 summer, they should be carefully shaded from sunshine, and a moist tempera- 

 ture maintained; the night temperature being then 15° or 20° lower than the 

 day temperature. In winter, little or no water should be given, and the atmos- 

 phere be kept as dry as possible. The temperature in winter should be about 

 50°, and in summer from 60° to 80. 



HiPPEASTRUM pardinum. — A remarkable addition to this portion of tl;e 

 Amaryllis family, sent from Peru to Messrs. Veitch. The flowers are from six 

 to seven inches in diameter, very spreading and open, spotted all over with dark 

 crimson-red dots on a cream-colored ground. The plant is peculiar in expan- 

 sion, in color, and in marking. It flourishes under the usual modes of culture 

 of the family. 



