THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



■>03 



l f Mr. C. 



is* 



^^ «.f the most conspicuous flowers exhibited in going back as fai 

 than to tire the e ire lists, and in doing this «e j ^ vprv ^ vears I 



tfCaroiti in Scarlet Bisam-, Admiral Cur/, n. 



Lord Ratcliffe, and Bolin: broke, were in od 

 r«m«on B aarrss were very numerous and *• L 

 ym"nT B nc.n Jenny Lind. Owen Glendower, Black 

 JUTpaxlej's Qaeen, and :een of Trumps, were in ex- 

 TSJSSd. as were also Puxlej's Favourite, and General 

 TS havin? the be#t white in this < lass, and 

 -Z^vndT In Pink Bizarres May's Falconbridje stands 

 tJfT^jTurfe and well marked. The old but favourite 

 yft rpSLt J? rrince Albert, whs very fine, and had bur tew 

 *3.' 8ara"h Pajne, Tv rd Perfection, and Henry K rke 

 322; werealso shown . I a Purple Flakes, Beauty of Wo-d. 

 "SSi". Square Trow, Poins and P ,rftctio«» were t b e 



Miscellaneous. 



()/<wyc T J. — Workmen are ei at present in 



repair! the cas containing th Ovaii trees of the 



These trees are of great a tine 



as 700 years, sad the younj t 300. 



J very 20 years the earth in each case is i mged, and 

 daring the three following vears they apj r sickh 

 Tliey then acquire fr h rength, and throw out an 

 immense quantity of bh oms. It is this periodical 

 change of nourishment which has led to their Ion 



— Golignani. 



i those plants which tor sun \< 



keen the o: nient of our .;ivrii houses. 





'I 



Kcotees : tnese advance wwaruo jioikvm V u«,mv...u- — 



r»rnations : do. Foremost in the heavy rad.edg« 1 class 

 — . art Korman ; a full-steed variety, of first-rate properties, 

 Sit maintaining the optiJou we gave of it last season ; Prince 

 %i King James, H aith, and two of Mr. Fellow**' 

 SLrflinrs werti i good ; also an intermediate van between 

 ~AuI rose. Costar's Christab 1 is a neat pteasiiiff flower. 

 If rood properties, without the sli/htesr bar. Light r- d, 

 YnSrs Gem Duchess of Sutherland, Miss Ilolbeck, and 

 Swfll's Marj; the latier is good in size, and very evenly 

 narked Heavy purple, DodwelPs Alfred, Lord > son, 

 fartis Lady II. Moore, Prince Arthur, Viola, and Duke of 

 Sntisrid the latter a hue constant liower, were lu the best 

 ftShlft' order. In light-edged purple, Matthew's seedling 

 irts the best; it is a superb flower. In this numerous class, 



he following were f^ood : Ophelia, Ganymede, '* i Hough by, 

 Circe Jupiter, Juliet, and Fellowea' seedling 51. lleav 

 •nd scsrlet— the most attractive clas3 of all— wap represented 

 fey Venus, Green's Queen, Princess Royal, Karris' Victoria 

 Kegina, a bright fin- flower, and M arris' flr;. Durhnsr, a 

 flower similar to Pi incess lloval, but wider in the petal ; Ua- 

 peeted is a medium-si eed neat variety; and Jearmette ha* 

 ■ one petal, but is rather thin. Ugfct»e*ged rose; Mrs. Bar- 

 nard, as usual, stood at the head of this cli*ss ; and Couness 



(owe is a pleasing bright variety.— The meeting for 1832 will 



be held, we believe, at Norwich. 



On tfie Ckmrnder of tlie South Australian Flora in 

 genera! ; by Br. II. Behr. (Trandatal I tk< man 

 hi adal's Limum" Bd.xx.He.ft6; by RUhan 

 Kippis: I >br. L. £.) — The flora of South Australia, 

 and with it the physical character, may he divided i o 

 two widely separated forms, that of the Grass -land, and 

 that of the Scrub. In the hill-country, and the plains 

 lying to the westward of it, the Grassland prevails; yi 

 so that extensive trac , as well as small portions, of the 

 other form of vegetation, likewise occur commonly 

 enough. In t i ea , the Scrub predominates to an 

 extent that is only interrupted by the formation of th 

 fertile Grass-land in the flats (pastures) of the Murray, 

 and in the marshes of the lower part of its course, 

 t idler with those of its estuary. The Grass- Ian 

 resembles for the most part European pastur in its 

 physical character, as do also the individual plants which 



onstitute its turf resemble corresponding European 

 ones. A rather thick ir. .w-earpet is the I ssent 



haracteristic of these regions, with which is associated, 

 in most cases, a lis t park like forest of gigantic 

 Eucalypti, whose crowns, however, are never in contact 

 with each other. Th ir smooth ms, robl i of their 

 outer bark, Stand at measured, and often very regular 

 intervals ; so that the i \ involuntarily presents itself, 

 that the whole must both' rk of \ landed pi 



prietor, enthusiastically devoted to the quincunx of Cicero. 

 Where the soil is ooorer. Casuariams make their 



flo tires of $ooit& 



During the last few months a pile of good, bad, and 

 indifferent works has accumulated upon our table, of 

 some of which we must now give a short account. 



Among the good ones, we should in the first place 

 mention "Latham's Ethnology of the British Coto s 

 Dependencies" (l'2mo, Van Voorst), a highly 

 interesting and useful work, with which all well 

 informed persons, especially those interested in the 

 British colonies, should become acquainted. Dr. 

 Latham's object is to trace the origin of nations, to 

 show their ancestral connection, and to make out the 

 changes by which a common stock has branched into 

 ramifications of language, manners, or customs, now 

 bearing no evident relation to each other. Thus he 

 allows that the Germans in Germany are not Germanic, 

 that there are no absolute descendants of the ancestors of 

 the English in their ancestral country of Germany, and 

 that the Frisians are their nearest representatives. He 

 shows that Australia was certainly peopled from Timor 

 or Rotti, notwithstanding the "hasty but accredited 

 assertion of the Australian language having nothing in 

 common with those of the Indian Archipelago ;" 

 Iielooches (Bilueh) are shown to be Persians, not 

 Arabians, although they may be Arabites ; and so on 

 a rough above 250 pages. The subject of Dr. Latham's 

 L-arned volume is too foreign to our pages to justify us 



in mentioning it more at length. Much more popular 



in their subject, and better suited for the general reader, 

 are Messrs. Longman - cheap reprints, in shilling numbers, 

 under the title of the " Travellers' Library," where we 

 have admirable essays by Macaulay, M'Culloch, and 

 other first-class writers, reproduced in a form that 



renders them accessible to everybody. In the 



rank with the last, as cheap works of great utility 

 be named Knight's ■ Curiosities of Industry,'' one I 

 of which, nrice 6<2.. containing: Glass ami Iron, b 



same 



Dodd, is now before us : it adds another subject to the 

 ** Historical Half-hours'' "Pictorial Half-four*" and 

 similar good publications, which have given Mr. Knight 

 SO high a reputation among the purveyors of cheap 



literature. Under the name of " /* >ps of Watir" 



(Reeve and Co.), Miss Catlow has introduced to the 

 reader some of the common forms of animal life, which 

 can only be seen by the aid of a good microscope. The 

 ^ork is illustrated with characteristic figures of 

 remarkable animalcules, and will be found a useful 

 popular aid to young persons who desire to make leuca or Leptospermum. Reeds and brushw 



is poorer, 

 appearance here and there, whose brown-green crowns 

 contrast strangely in spring with the sap green of th 

 turf. They reach the height of 20, or at most of :n> 

 feet, and stand like twigs among the Eucalypti. The 

 ^ummiferous Acacias, retinoides and pyenantha, belong, 

 likewise, to this form of v< station. Acacia r inoUea 

 reaches the height of the Casuarinas, and grows in a 

 more isola 1 manner; Acacia pyenantha is usually 

 little above the h< ht of a man, yet of a very decided 

 arborescent growth. It forms an umbrella-like crown, 

 and often constitutes little forests. But few shrubby 

 species occur, and only where the poorer soil forms a 

 transition to the Scrub vegetation. Among the com- 

 monest plants is the Bursaria. One variety of the 

 Grass-land is the pit-land (" Bay-of- Biscay land ") con- 

 ing of undulating plains or gently inclined slopes, 

 which resemble a sea suddenly frozen during the beating 

 of the waves. The depressions are pit-forme<l, and 

 surrounded by circular elevations ; yet, even in the 

 most stronglv-marked form, the distance between the 

 bottom of the cavity and the level of the surrounding 

 ring scarcely amounts to 5 feet. The continual change 

 of level produces a very broken surface, which, however, 

 becomes effaced in the course of a few years under the 

 plo h. The flora of these districts has some peculi- 

 arities. Whilst in other tracts which I have visited, 

 Grass-land, destitute of trees, is comparatively rare, 

 these districts show a decided aversion to the elsewhere 

 almost universally prevalent Eucalyptus, which here 

 seldom occurs, except as a border to the ravine-like 

 water-courses, and even then only as a less robust 

 species, Eucalyptus odorata, Schldl. Casuarina is a 

 more common" shrub, but the commonest is Acacia 

 pyenantha, which here evinces an unusual tendency to 

 unite in groves. Bursaria is also characteristic of 

 these localities, together with the creeping Jmshes of a 

 fewjGrcvilleas. The generally treeless ground is pecu- 

 liarly rich in Syngenesious plants ; but, with the 

 exception of the Grasses, poor in Monocotyledons. 

 Orchideas it does not produce at all. A second variety 

 of the vegetation of the Grass land is afforded by the beds 

 of rivers when dried up in summer. The stems of the 

 Eucalypti on the banks attain here to incredible dimen- 

 sions ; trunks of eight feet diameter being by no means 

 uncommon. Crowded together in the actual bed of the 

 stream, is a flora of principally European forms, which, 

 hitherto retarded by the water flowing over them, first 

 rlovolnrko tlipir flowers when all others are withered. 



i 



geiift&al 

 impreesioii pi lueed by this strh is neverihele* iot 



an agi Able ene. Heath-like foliage, or rtically- 



placed lea s, crowd aboi motty compactly grown 



spher hushes, er but sparingly eonoeal the nakedness 

 of long r s which jut out from hideousl \ lanky boshes. 

 The prevailing < lour of lea s is a lead blue- 



green, but in this respect Nature lays little n no- 

 tion upon hem , the Uagodia beariiig whi leaves, 



r bushes brownish-red ; the Osost picuous, 



because in such company the most unnatural, being 

 the lively May-green of Cassia and Santaium. Pin- 

 nate or otherwise divided foliage is rar< : the only 

 example that I can remember is a species of Cassia. 

 In other respects, tin- greatest p<- Me vari< und 



among the rigid leaves, from rot undo- ovate, through the 

 lanceolate form, to the i:iere bristle : from the most 

 dense crowding, through every possible si. le, to the 

 bare leafless twig. Moreover, plants 1 longing to \ery 

 different families coin ie so i mph tely in habit, that 

 only flowers or fruit afford a safe cr rion. The bushes 

 ami trees of the Scrub regions are of very rent 



h ghts; many sjh es of Eucalyptus rivallh those of 

 tie fertile land. One i ariety of* these forest triets is 

 distinguished by the osknists under the nam- of * Tine- 



forosts.*' Ex pt tie requent recurrence in su< ii plaees 



of the Callitris (" Pin of the colonics), 1 t uld 

 scarcely be able to point out any characteristic which 

 would distinguish the ll^ra of the Pin forests from that 



of other Scrubs. The ( allitris itself n r forms a 

 wood ; it grows alwa singly, intermixed with the Scrub, 

 and I have never met with* it as the prod on ;iant tree. 

 The "hand-plains" are more evidently distinct from the 

 true Send.. The brush-weed of these d trii ts doesuot 

 reach to the height of a man, ; I although differing bat 

 little in habit from the other rub districts, it never- 

 theless continually afforded me new spooks. In the 

 hillsand in the western plains such tracts are very rare; 

 in the east they form a principal constituent of the 

 Murray Scrub. * It will readily bo understood thattraa- 

 sitionsare to he found I tween the two form gets* 



ticm that of the Grass-land and that of the Scrub ; for 



example, as above stated, there are bund intermimd 

 he forms usually occurring in the vegetation of dried- 

 ui) water- courses, as the seeds and rhizomes of <hfiVBS»t 

 regions are In • brought t the* by means of the winter 

 rams. In most cases, however, th iitferences are suffi- 

 cientlv well marked to strike the most inexperienced 

 cockney The same dichotomy which prevails locally 

 in the" approximating floras of the country, manifests 

 it If also with respect to time, in the change of seasons. 

 The names of the European seasons have, indeed, been 

 imported to South Australia, but there are in truth 

 only two, a dry and a wet, that can readily be distm- 

 mished. The gradual cessation of the rainy season can 

 as little be compared with our spring, as its tardy en- 

 trance with our autumn. The 1 aiming of the winter 



* assumed as April. 



rams 





i 



elicits from the soil, changed by the dryness of the sum- 

 mer months to ashes, its earliest green, which glimmers 

 forth from under the dead stems, and is only to be 

 readily perceived on the lands which have bean wsoted 

 by fire. Except the flowers of a few Eucalypti, which 

 are developed at this late season, the Grass-land shows 

 only the -terns, and the hard leathery leaves of its trees 

 and few bushes, its yellow haulms, or the ground wasted 

 by fire. Soon, however, under the influence of the winter 

 rains, the soil becomes covered with fresh juicy turf, 

 interrupted by larger or smaller pools of water. Beauti- 

 ful Droceras and the dwarf Oxalis cognata form tile 

 van<niard of a host of lovely flowers, which in the course 

 of a°few weeks emerge rapidly from the soil. The bv tit 

 gunny davs which now and then interrupt the rainy 

 eason, towards the end of August become more and 

 more frequent, and a profusion of flowers, which in many 

 places almost conceals the turf, is rapidly developed 

 upon the land, strengthened by the summer rest, and 

 fertilised by continued rains. The Orehidese, Melan- 

 thaceee, and Asphodelese, in equal variety and beauty, 

 anil rvfton disposed in figures resembling parterres, shine 



Stack- 



waters. We may take this opportunity of mentioning 

 that a costly instrument is not required for this kind of 

 study, nor indeed for any elementary inquiries in natural 

 history. A stand and tube, fitted with one good eye-glass, 

 and one objective magnifying 250 diameters, is amply 



sufficient for all preliminary purposes. u Gilbert's 



Visitors 1 Guide to London," tells a stranger as much of 

 our metropolitan maze, and as well, as can be ex- 

 pected for Is. 6d. In like manner '* " " * 



the transition to another 



that of those shady ravines, 

 which, during the whole year, are more or less supplied 

 with water. 



Here is found a vegetation whose herba- 

 ceous representatives generally remind us of Europe, 

 even more strongly than those of the dried-up creel 

 and of the remaining Grass-land ; but whose arborescent 

 and fruticose forms assume the habit of the Scrub land. 



forth pre-eminently trom the smiling green 

 housias fill the mild spring air with their honey-iike 

 scent, and creeping Kennedias, with glowing red bios- 

 oms, lurk beneath the overarching culms, above which 

 the fine-stalked Bell flowers swing, and Buttercups 

 wave their yellow heads. A crowd of European kinds 

 ntwine themselves in the series of genuine Australian 

 forms, just as the entire surface of the country, w ith its 

 >vood, hang- light park-like groves of Eucalyptus, reminds us of the 

 i the height meadows at home. Newformsarenowdev< oped in quick 

 form affords succe ion ; every week offers fresh flowers. The pools 



of Witter are dried up ; but clear rivulets and brooks 

 yet meander through the land, fed by the rain which at 

 this season still falls occasionally. The turf becomes a 



„.^. ., , . „».^y ^WWW.-n. w* 



the Crystal Palace are explained as well as they can 

 be explained in a summary manner, by Mr. Hunt's 





verse valleys of the upper course, seeds, rhizomes, &c, 



r ^ __. are carried down during the winter rains, and enrich the 



excellent " Hand-books," and Jerrold's "How to see the originally different flora of the ill-watered lower course. 



FfllUti**. j» rn,„*. tMm^mm «rt.^ 4«* rt «««* *i— 1~«« z~ Tlie Scrub differs from the above- described forms of 



vegetation by the utter want of a turf ; at least, I d 

 ot think that the most imaginative colonist coul 

 construct a turf out of the few scattered Stipas an 

 Neurachm . This almost entire want of herbaceous! 



That those who interest themselves in 



compelling the sun to furnish them with pictures, such 

 *s the human hand cannot produce, will find very 

 useful and complete information upon " Phot ic 

 &*ni piilaaion '' in Mr. Bingham's excellent little wor 



under that name (Knight a ; ons, Foster lane), which 



^e are not sumriswl in rpp has reached its "»:h ndition. 



luxuriant meadow, in which Syngenesious plants ot 



manv different species are produced, and form, as with 



us the last aer of the beautiful drama. The turf, of 



aott mmcoee lonns wmuum su* «»« us ui* ™~«. which the Stipaceas ; forms no small V^V^^ 



But as this flora occurs for the most part in the trans- | ripens its seeds, which, m conjunction with the P^ay 



• * - - i f nl [^ f Aeeena, put him, whom business or inclination 



leads through the tall-grown Meadow-Grass, to no trifling 

 inconvenience. The ground, which a little earlier had 

 been of a rich green, now resembles a ripe, but very 

 thinly-sown cornfield; and the number of plants -in 

 flower diminishes dailv, till, at last, all vegetable hie is 

 reduced to the peculiar form of vegetation of the now 

 dried-up rivers ami brooks. This epoch arrives at 

 diffi rout times in different localities ; but, as far as my 



plants is compensat 1, 1 wever, by an endless profusion 

 of bushes and small trees. Here' is the especial >urce 





