62 Edwards'' s Botanical Register. 



son. — Maha *purpurata. A handsome cut-leaved perennial from the 

 Chilian Andes to the Horticultural Society, by Mr. M'Rae, in 1825. 



N'o. IX. for November, contains 



1363 to 1369. — Banksk *littoralis. Not uncommon in our conserva- 

 tories, but rarely in flower. The drawing for the magnificent figure in the 

 Bot. Reg, was made from a plant in the Syon conservator}', in March last. 

 • — (Sisyrinchium *grandifl6rum. A beautiful little herbaceous plant from 

 the Columbia River, by Mr. Douglas to the Horticultural Society, in 

 1826. It has deep purple striated flowers in May and June ; but is at pre- 

 sent exceedingly rare, only two or three seeds having grown, and the plants 

 from these increasing very slowly. — iSpiraj^a *ffriaef6lia. A handsome 

 hardy shrub from the north-west of North America, to the Horticultural 

 Society as before. White flowers in June and July ; quite hardy, 9 or 

 10 ft. high, and easily increased by cuttings. — Azalea calendulacea var. 

 *subcuprea. A. nudiflora var. thyrsiflora. The flowers of the former are 

 few but very large, and of a somewhat copper-coloured orange j of the lat- 

 ter, numerous, smaller, and of a deep scarlet. These, and upwards of 30 

 other hybrid varieties, the names of which we have selected for the Sup- 

 plement to our Hortus Britannicus, are " the results of some extensive 

 experiments instituted at Highclere, the seat of the Earl of Caernarvon, 

 for the purpose of improving the colours of the American azaleas by 

 cross impregnation. Mr. Gowen, under whose direction the intermixture 

 v^as made, has favoured us with the following particulars of these experi- 

 ments, which may also throw light upon some physiological questions in 

 which the world is much interested, but which cannot be satisfactorily 

 settled without nmltiplied observations conducted with the utmost precision. 



" I have much pleasure in giving you the history of the beautiful seed- 

 ling azaleas which flowered last season in the garden at Highclere, Lord 

 Caernarvon had long been desirous of raising seedlings from crosses between 

 the light-coloured and late-flowering varieties. To effect this object, I 

 selected for mother plants the Azalea coccinea var. minor, A. coccineavar. 

 major, and a late-flowering variety, called by some of the nurserymen A. 

 rubescens, by others A. autumnalis rubra. The two first-mentioned varie- 

 ties are, in the climate of Highclere, and perhaps throughout England, 

 very unproductive of pollen, rarely seeding when unassisted by art. A. 

 rubescens is somewhat more prolific, but, unaided, may be reckoned a shy 

 seeder also. 



" The tv^o A. coccineae were dusted with the pollen of a late-flowering 

 A. pontica for several successive mornings : no care was taken to deprive 

 the plants experimented upon of their anthers, their deficiency of pollen 

 having been ascertained. Many pods swelled, which were found to contain 

 heavy seed ; these were gathered at the approach of winter, kept in a drawer 

 some weeks, and sowed in the first week in January. Of numbers which 

 vegetated, about four hundred seedlings were raised. The A. rubescens 

 was impregnated with the pollen of A. calendulacea var. triumphans, and 

 from this cross about a hundred were raised. Of the first-mentioned four 

 hundred seedlings, perhaps three fourths are, in foliage, inflorescence, and 

 habit, so like their father A. pontica, that, though varying much in the tints 

 of the corolla, any person not aware of their origin would reckon them 

 mere seminal varieties of that species, so greatly does its type predominate. 

 Some are very lovely, especially one possessing extraordinary merit, which 

 we have named A. pontica versicolor. Generally speaking, they run through 

 many intermediate shades, from orange to the lightest cream colours, 

 suffused with pink in A. pontica versicolor, and are very fragrant. The 

 remaining fourth part of these seedlings take after their mothers in habit, 

 but their foliage is on a larger scale. The inflorescence preserves little 

 trace of A. pontica, yet varies considerably from that of either of the varie- 



