888 



THE GARDENERS 5 CHRONICLE 



Guernsey ? 'We who boast of victory over races as 

 rebellious as Orchids, Heaths, and Roses in pots ! 

 Surely not. We have only to make the attempt, 



and success must follow. 



Mas may be had in any quantity of the dealers 

 at Cape Town ; so may species of Babiana, Anoma- 

 theca, Sparaxis, Tritonia, and Gladiolus. And 

 nothing can better deserve a new trial. The last 

 genus, indeed, sufficiently shows how willingly these 

 southern plants lend themselves to domestication : 

 how well and how gracefully they wear their chains. 

 The Ghent Gladioli are the "glory of our autumn ;— 

 why should not the Ixias be the gems of our spring ? 



What is wanted in manauingthem is rapid growth 

 when growing, dryness and high temperature when 

 ripening, absence of frost, and plenty of fresh air. 

 It is the neglect of these conditions that has led to 

 failures, When bursting into leaf they are chilled and 

 checked ; as they slowly advance in the face of such 

 an obstacle they are cooped up in suffocated green- 

 houses, or put upon a shelf near the glass, to be 

 killed before they are half grown. As to air, that is 

 never thought of ; or if they chance to stand for an 

 hour or two, in a dried-up porous pot, in the dry 

 draught from an open sash, they are expected to 

 repay our barbarous treatment with smiles instead 

 of a shudder. Give them warmth and moisture 

 when growing, plenty of room for their roots, and an 

 ' ssant renewal of air ; give them when ripening 



length, and 8-10 inches in breadth the jinn* rather 

 disteo L horizontal, the lower ones broad, the upper 

 narrower,longer,and very evenly and eoo.picuo^^d 

 the lobes narrow, rounded at the apex, and there bear ng 

 each a single sorus, the reniform mdusmm ^of winches 

 placed just within the margin of the lobe Asome- 

 l TJT*\Lw* .rmo.tnve occurs in the Dicksoma abrupta, 



The 



— „ — , MIIV t terminate \s 



margin in club-shaped heads. The plant h*. 

 sparingly during the past summer in the m,l flh 



and covered with lance-shaped tawny scaled 



_ *__.., , terminate with^ ^ 



milar 



more heat, more light, more air, and less moisture, 

 till at last they sink to repose in absolute dryness, 

 and we shall treat these graceful strangers as nature 



treats them at home. 



What gives Guernsey an immense advantage over 

 England is, that in that favoured spot gardeners can- 

 do in the open air what can here be effected only 

 under glass. Frost is little known ; and greenhouse 

 plants are hardy there. Mr. Carr£ gives us the 

 following list of plants that passed the last severe 

 winter without protection of any sort :— Abelia 

 uniflora; Abutilon striatum and venosum; Acacia 

 dolabriformis (in bloom June 3), A. armata, A. ver- 

 ticillata, and tenella (against wall) ; Araucaria 

 excelsa and Braziliensis ; Azalea indica — many 

 varieties (in bloom from May 18) ; Aster argo- 

 phyllus ; Begonia Evansiana; Bletia hyacinthina; 



NEW GARDEN FERNS.— No. I. 



[Now that Ferns are becoming so very popular, and 

 cultivators of ornamental plants are learning to appre- 

 ciate the decorative capabilities, in many instances 

 exhibited by their graceful foliage — capabilities which 

 by contrast serve to enhance the beauties of those plants 

 which bear gorgeous flowers, it has been thought that a 

 brief notice of the recent additions to garden Ferns may 

 be useful to those who are forming collections of the 

 choicer of these plants. It is proposed, therefore, under 

 the above head to notice from time to time some of the 

 most interesting of the additions made to our collections 

 within the last few years. The importers of novelties 

 of this class are inviud to aid the writer in carrying 

 out this object. Thos. Moore, Botanic Garden, Chelsea.] 

 1. Nephrolepis davallioides, T. M. (Aspidium daval- 



~ d, f \ ^ETft Syn ' FiL 48 and 24 7 ; Hooker, Ic. 

 Plant, t. 395-6). 



F w™F^ 8esciile ' ** ^wer barren, 



lanceolate acuminate, obtusely serrate, the upper fertile 



narrower, and much elongated, de.piy erenatoloZe? the lobes 



This is a very handsome evergreen stove Fern, pro- 

 ducing graceful]/ pendent fronds, upwards gf 3 feet in 



Polypo^ 



of the Arthropteris group, abundantly differin^^ 

 slender rhizome and dwarf habit fmm *i *> "* 



habit 

 member of this section of the genus. 



from the 



m 





Benthamia fragifera ; Cactus hyb. between Eyresii 

 andoxygonus; Camellias (bloomed superbly during 

 the dry cold winds) ; Chamaerops humilis (showing 

 bloom) ; Cheirostemon platanifolium (only young 

 wood injured); Citrus decumana (against wall) ; 

 Chorozemavarium; Clianthuspuniceus (against wall); 

 Dacrydium Mayi and Franklini; Deutzia gracilis ; 

 Diosma uniflora (in full bloom June 1); Epacris 

 paiudosa ; Erica cruenta, cerinthoides, and inter- 

 media (scarcely protected) ; Erythrina crista galli 

 (10 feet high) ; Gnidia simplex ; Grevillea sulphurea ; 

 Habrothamnus fasciculatus and elegans ; Kennedya 

 inophylla ; Melia sempervirens ; Mitraria coccinea ; 

 Pinus filifolia; Polvgala Balmaisiana (injured where 

 expose! to the wind) and angustifolia (against wall); 

 Primula sinensis (in full bloom May 15), Rhodo- 

 dendron arbor, roseum (bloomed in perfection in 

 February). 



In such an island almost anything may grow 

 without assistance ; — and so may almost anything in 

 such a climate as ours with the aid of protection 

 assisted by skill. 



There is now to be seen in the Museum of 

 (Economic Geology in Jermyn Street a part of the 

 trunk of a Willow tree lately felled in Battersea ! 

 Fields, in the centre of which was found an aerolite, 

 or meteoric stone, of very large siz*, which seems to 

 have fallen on the tree many years ago and to have 

 embedded itself in its substance. It is a prodigious 

 curiosity, and well worth examination. 



Bory, a plant separated by Presl as a new genus under 

 the name of Leptopleuria, but the fructification of Bory's 

 plant is in reality that of Dicksonia, having the two- 

 valved indusium proper to that genus ; whilst in the 

 present plant, which is associated by some pteridologists 

 with that of Bory, the margin of the 'lobe is un- 

 altered, and the indusium is truly that of Nephrolepis. 

 It agrees with Nephrolepis, too, in the development of 

 a peculiar wiry stolonifei'ous scaly rhizome, to which 

 the fronds are adherent in fascicles. This very elegant 

 plant was introduced from Java by Messrs. Rollisson 

 in 1852. 



2. Platyloma Brownii, J. Smith. Hook. Journ. Bot., 

 . 160 (Adiantum paradoxum, 72. Brown, Prod.- Nov. 

 Holl. ; Allosorus paradoxus, Kunze ; Pteris latizona, 

 A. Cunningham, MS., in Herb). 



Fronds ovate pinnate ; pinnae few, oblong-ovate, or lanceolate, 

 falcate, stalked, rounded or snbeordate at the base; veins not 

 apparent; sori broad, linear, marginal; indusium narrow, 

 herbaceous ; rachis and pedicels puberulous, and as well as the 

 long stipes ebony coloured, and bearing a few narrow scales. 



This fine and rare greenhouse Fern is most nearly 

 allied to Platyloma falcatum,but it differs essentially from 

 that species in its long stipes and short broad fronds, in 

 the different form of the pinnae, and their fewness 

 (7-12), and in the nature of the scales which clothe 



VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY.— N . LXXV 

 322. Pr.ecocitas (Forwardness).— Amongst % ] Mfm 

 number of seedlings, plants are found endowed w2k 

 various qualities, without our being in the least <wZ 

 able to assign the causes from which such difl^E! 

 arise. These qualities may either be good orb? 

 according as they answer the purposes of the cult? J£? 

 and they may be considered as real maladies, acconfiJ 

 to the influence they have in promoting or ob&trncS 

 the main ends of vegetation. The condition before m 

 may have great influence on the produce of the pint 

 but can scarcely be called a malady. J n manycaaeait 

 is a quality highly beneficial to the cultivator, becaoa 

 it enables him to extend the period through which he 

 can supply a certain fruit or vegetable. He depend* 

 for instance, on particular varieties of Peaa, PoUtoei 

 Apples, Pears, Plums, &c, for early produce, and ooe 

 of his main efforts in producing new varieties is to pit. 

 duce such as will enable him to meet the demands of 

 the market a few days earlier than he has hitherto had 

 it in his power to do. In some cases, however, demit* 

 will be made upon his skill to ward off the evil effeefc 

 of a depressed temperature upon such early Ywietia, 

 and as precocity in budding or flowering is not new* 

 sarily accompanied by proportioned speed in maturing 

 the crop, however good may be the qualities of the 

 produce, in a cold climate like our own, subject to life 

 frosts and other external causes which prevent impreg. 

 nation, one of the worst qualities that such a variety en 

 have is a tendency to expand its blossoms and f 

 too early. A skilful cultivator will pay attention, there, 

 fore, to this point amongst others in the choice of the 

 varieties which he cultivates. All will depend upon tin 

 object he has in view. An early variety of Rhubarb 

 for instance, may afford him a crop at least a mosft 

 sooner than others, and such a variety will be extreaalf 

 valuable, while a fruit tree which has a disposition to 

 flower early may be ineligible because of its liability to 

 suffer from the usual inclemency of spring. 



323. This precocity is not confined to cultiotod 

 plants, but instances occur very frequently amongst fowl 

 trees, where nature has been left to take her own coom 

 without any interference. The Horse Chestnut in tat 

 garden of the Tuilleries, which outstrips all its com- 

 panions, has been noticed by many authors, and I haw 

 myself had an opportunity of observing its peato 

 forwardness. This, however, is scarcely a case in p«* 

 as the trees have all been brought to the spot, but t* 

 same thing occurs in natural forests. A particular UH 

 standing on the border of a wood in the parish of w 

 terstock, Northamptonshire, and conspicuous to every- 

 body who travels through the district, bas been notiejl 

 for many years in consequence of its peculiar iorwaw- 

 ness. The present season has given an excellent off* 

 tunity of observing its unvarying precocity. A mw 

 ago when the buds of other Oaks were alma* 

 dormant as in the midst of winter, this itree stooocj 

 from the rest, covered with luxuriant foliage , *** 

 is by no means a solitary example. 



324. This constitutional precocity, it ehouW 

 observed, is entirely distinct fr° m */* 

 which plants possess to retain old J 1 *™^ 

 transplanted into a new locality. This is 



tendency 

 whet 



transplanted into a new locaiuy. *u« •- . ^ 

 stance which makes many objects so f ™;™ ,,** 

 ration, because they do not ^commodate tn^ ^ 



new circumstances. The process of acclimj 

 very slow if it takes place at all, and m *en 



titk 





the stipes and rachis. It is a handsome species, growing 

 about 2 feet high, the fronds being lateral, and adherent 

 to a creeping rhizome. The cultivated plant, which was 

 introduced in 1853 by Messrs. Henderson, of the Pine- 

 apple Nursery, is reported to have been received from 

 New Zealand. It had been hitherto only known as a 

 native of New Holland. 



-* 3. Polypodium (Arthropteris) filipes, T. M. 



Fronds simple, elliptic-lanceolate, or oblong-ovate; or pinnate, 

 with about 13 pairs of small oblong obtuse pinna*, and a termi- 

 nal lanceolate-acuminate one several times larger; sori sub- 

 marginal ; rachis and stipes downy ; rhizome filiform, clothed 

 with spreading fuscous lance-shaped scales. 



This curious little plant, which has the appearance of 

 a creeping Ficua, was imported along with Platyloma 

 Brownii by Messrs. Henderson, of the Pine-apple 

 Nursery. Its fronds, which are articulated with the 

 creeping rhizome, are from 2 to 4 inches high, some- 

 times elliptic-lance-shaped and quite entire, or oblong- 

 ovate with a small lobe or two at the base, or distinctly 

 pinnate, with one, two, or three pairs of small obtuse 

 pinnae, and a terminal lanceolate-acuminate one many 

 times larger, obscurely crenate, and slightly hairy on 

 the veins beneath. The rachis and stipes are clothed 

 with short curved hairs ; the rhizome is very slender, 



very biow ji ii lo-tvea jjjo.^ »« *— > — varieties 



attained only by the production of r&* y» qj 

 new habits. Plants like Forsythia viridis5una,o 



themselves regardless as to temperature, o tf ; j, 

 s peculiar protection from climate or locau / • 



P 





MISTLETOE OF £ .THE 0^^- 

 Professor Schleiden, in a note m £ 



says, « The Mistletoe of the sout b .01 ^ 



Viscum of the ancients, is ™doub*d J ^ ^g 

 as that which grows Papally £ n \ avofXa *. ** 

 which Linnaeus named Loran thus JJ ^ F A ,^» 



plant however is not ^^Ut £ **£ 

 iL _ Mr-.i _* p—ope. ine odi; y 8t letoe, » *7T 



rts is the common M«£ J, M 

 e leaves, bark, and bern 



birdlime is obtained. Nearly -rf botarus ^ 



Viscum album L. is never ^ /of the Cel* J 

 whilst we know from the «ny*olo« ° ^the*** 



German nations ^^..O^gS *"*S5» 

 the only one regarded with ""«. An ^"j* 

 difficulty by no means easy to oke ^ f gw 

 of the name of Beaton states that neJghb oarb£ # 

 common Mistletoe on an Oak in iDg ,, jj > 



Ledbnry, and that he sne **A f * w , h +* 

 Oaks. It is possible that the ve r*A*f* 



. For noarty 50 years <^%ffi%&fc 

 boys in lato seasons to P"f »™ 6 »^ «od I **£$& *** 

 29th of May, to my .own kno«e g ^ nt ba cK 

 urnished its ontributton <nuing 





<i 



