202 Queries and Answers. 



Art. VII. Queries and Answers. 



CUT Flowers sent from Paris to London. — This is said to be the case, in the 

 Annates if Agriculture cle Lyon, vol. i. p. 259. These flowers are sent from 

 Paris in boxes hermetically sealed, and arrive at London, Vienna, Berlin, and 

 even St. Petersburg, as fresh as the moment when they were gathered. We 

 were not aware of this, and should be glad to know, from our correspondents 

 on the Continent, and our readers in London, to what extent it is true. We 

 know that, during the winter season, flowers are sent from Genoa to Milan 

 in this manner. — Cond. 



Art. VIII. The London Horticultural Society and Garden. 



July 11. 1838. — Exhibition at the Garden. This exhibition, the last for 

 the season, was attended by 6546 visitors, and was not less remarkable than 

 either of the preceding, for the number and beauty of the objects placed upon 

 the table. [The list of the awards will be found in our preceding volume, 

 p. 396.] 



July 17. 1838. — Ordinary Meeting. The following objects were exhibited : 

 from Mr. William Cock, jun., of Chiswick, a collection of 12 very fine Pelar- 

 goniums, of most unusual size and beauty. From A. B. Lambert, Esq., F.H.S., 

 a specimen of Pourretza rubicaulis, a large bromeliaceous plant with dull 

 purple flowers, native of Chile, now blossomed for the first time. From J. L. 

 Elliot, Esq., F.H.S., some finely grown cucumbers. From S. Faicker, Esq., 

 jun., F.H.S., specimens of the curious Stanhopea insfgnis, and a species of 

 Cirrhae v a, apparently not different from C. tristis. From Messrs. Chandler 

 and Co., of Vauxhall, a specimen of Zigadenus elegans, a rare and curious 

 North American herbaceous plant, with pale green and white flowers, in size 

 and form resembling those of an Ornithogalum arabicum. From John 

 Williams, Esq., C.M.H.S., of Pitmaston, near Worcester, specimens of 

 jDictamnus albus, in a monstrous condition. Mr. Williams stated, in a letter 

 which accompanied the specimens, that the plant producing them had previ- 

 ously borne flowers of the ordinary kind ; that in May it was freely watered 

 with a liquid the colour of coffee, taken from a tank receiving the drainage of 

 a stable-yard ; that in the July or August following it was again watered with 

 the same mixture, having about an ounce and a half of green vitriol (sulphate 

 of iron) dissolved in it, Mr. Williams having in a former experiment found that 

 this salt gave the leaves of the Hydrangea a very dark green colour, and caused 

 the production of some blue flowers. To this treatment of the fraxinella, 

 however, Mr. Williams did not assign the monstrosity in question, because the 

 two adjoining plants, which had the same treatment as to liquid manure, 

 flowered this year in great perfection. But the leaves, this year, of the plant 

 which produced the monstrous flower, were stated to be of a more yellow colour 

 than those of the two adjoining plants ; which was not the case the preceding 

 year. The sulphate of iron was broke into small pieces, and the ounce and 

 half mixed in a water-pot containing about three gallons ; it appeared possible 

 that the plant with monstrous flowers might have received the last portion, 

 from the bottom of the water-pot, more highly charged with the solution 

 of iron. 



This proved to be an instance of one of those monstrous formations some- 

 times found in plants, when the parts of the flower resume more or less the 

 state of leaves, and which thus explain the laws upon which flowers are con- 

 structed. It appears, from the observations of botanists, that a flower is a bud 

 the scales or rudimentary leaves of which are arranged in circles within each 

 other, and changed in form, colour, and even structure according to the offices 

 they have to perform in their altered condition. For this reason, however 

 different the calyx, the corolla, the stamens, or the carpels, of a flower may be 



