July 14, '. 



THE GABDENEBS' CHRONICLE. 



37 



thin-branched veins, and the tunnel formed by the 

 arched styles and the (from side to side) concave 

 claw of the fall, from the intense colouring of the 

 " signal " (or coloured blotch at the base of the blade, 

 which shows the insect the right way to the nectar) 

 on the latter looks like the mouth of a dark but 

 beautiful cavern, in the depths of which the anther 

 shimmers. 



Within the limits of the species the lesser cha- 

 racters vary a good deal. In the form originally 

 described by Regel and figured in Gurtcnflora, 1873, 

 s. 225, t. 766, the falls, 'relatively narrow, are of a 

 general olive-green colour, caused by olive-green 

 brown veins and a like coloured " signal " on a 

 creamy-white ground which has a greenish tinge. 

 I have in my garden a plant which I owe to the 

 kindness of my generous friend, Mr. Max Leichtlin, 

 of Baden, absolutely reproducing the figure in the 



Not having seen the flower itself I can say little more 

 about it ; it might be called var. venosa. 



I have another variety in my garden, also the gift 

 of Mr. Max Leichtlin, which reproduces the type, 

 save that the olive-green brown is replaced by violet 

 or puce ; this might be called — if a name is really 

 necessary — var. violacea. 



Lastly, I owe to the great kindness of Dr. Regel, a 

 rhizome, which, sent under'another name, turned out 

 to be a very distinct variety of I. Korolkowi, cha- 

 racterised by much broader, more obtuse segments, 

 in which the venation is almost wholly obscured by 

 a general violet or purple colour. This form cer- 

 tainly ought to have a name, and I propose to call it 

 var. con color. 



In all probability there are other varieties yet to 

 come to light, to say nothing of the new features 

 which cultivated seedlings may show. 



Cultural Memoranda. 



Fl8. 3.— IBIS KOKOI.KOWll : GBBY-IILAC WIIH PURPLE VEINS. 



Gartcnflora. This, on historical grounds, should In- 

 considered as the type. 



A few years ago Mr. Max Leichtlin received, and 

 has since distributed, a very beautiful form, in which 

 the falls and standards are nearly pure creamy-white, 

 with tender unobtrusive veins, and in which the 

 "signal "is of the deepest — almost black purple. It 

 is to my thinking one of the most beautiful of all 

 Irises. It was fairly well figured in the Garden 

 (November 7, 1885). If this variety must have a 

 name it should be called var. Leichtliniana. 



The flower sent this spring to the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society from Kew (see our issue for June 2, 

 1888, p. 695) and shown in the accompanying illus- 

 tration (see fig. 3), though the figure unfortunately 

 gives only the flower, as shown, omitting many 

 essential characters of the plant, is obviously 

 another variety of I. Korolkowi, distinguished, as the 

 woodcut shows, by the obtrusiveness of its reining. 



As to culture, I will only say, that those who 

 can grow I. Susiana without artifices can grow 

 I. Korolkowi in the same way. For myself I 

 am obliged to roast it in summer (June, July), 

 by putting a temporary light over it. When I 

 do this I produce rhizomes which meet with 

 the praise of my friend Max Leichtlin. If I 

 do not do this the plant gracefully waves its 

 hand and vanishes. It seems rather to enjoy than 

 otherwise the buffets of an English winter, and 

 for soil appears to like a gritty, sandy, but still 

 stiff loam. M. Foster. 



Lily of the Valley Poisonous to Fowls. 



— The Rcvuc Horticolc publishes an account of the 

 poisoning of a brood of fowls by the decaying flowers 

 of this plant. Only the parent birds survived, and 

 one out often chickens. 



TOXICOPHLiEA SFECTABILIS. 

 This plant is of branching habit and produces 

 large clusters of white flowers from the points of the 

 shoots and the axils of the leaves during the sum- 

 mer months. Cuttings of the young growths taken 

 off any time during the spring and summer months 

 and inserted in small pots filled to within half an inch 

 of the rims with peaty soil, and having a surfacing of 

 silver sand, placed in a hotbed or anywhere in heat, 

 watered, shaded, and kept close for a few days, will 

 soon root. They should then be potted off singly 

 into 3-inch pots, returned to heat, watered and lightly 

 shaded from sunshine until the roots have taken to 

 the soil, when shading should^ be discontinued. As 

 the shoots grow, pinching the points should be done 

 to make them branch out, and a shift should be 

 afforded them as soon as the roots touch the pot 

 sides, the final shift into their flowering-pots being 

 early in September. 



TaBERN.T;MONTANA CORONARIA l-'LORE-PLENA. 



No collection of sweet flowering plants that does 

 not include this popular plant is complete. It is 

 of free growth ; the flowers, which are pearly- 

 white, appear on the points of the young shoots. 

 As the flowers wire well, they are very useful 

 for buttonhole and boucmet work. Cuttings in- 

 serted in 3-inch pots filled with peaty soil and 

 sand, put into a warm frame or pit, watered, and 

 kept close, will become rooted in a few weeks, and 

 should then be potted off singly into the same size 

 pots as they are rooted in, putting them back in 

 heat, giving water at the roots, and shading from 

 bright sunshine for a few days until the latter 

 have pushed into the new soil, afterwards stopping 

 the shoots, and giving more room at the roots by 

 shifting into larger pots when necessary, using the 

 peat in a rougher state each succeeding shift. 



Spring- struck Carnations. 



These should now be fit to put into their flowering- 

 pots, using five-sixths of good fibry loam and one- 

 sixth of swe Q t leaf-mould, witli a little sharp sand 

 added, potting firmly. Support the flower-spikes by 

 small sticks, and stand the plants on coal-ashes in a 

 sunny situation; and after the roots have pushed 

 well into the new soil, weak lii[uid-nianure should 

 be supplied to them two or three times a week. 



Herbaceous Calceolaria. 

 A pinch of saved seed should be sown next week, 

 and again in a fortnight afterwards. Fill well-crocked 

 shallow pans to the rim with a compost consisting of 

 sifted light loam and leaf-soil — about three parts of 

 the former and one of the latter — pressing the same 

 firmly together. Then immerse the pan in soft- 

 water for a few minutes, and half an hour later sow 

 the seed thinly over the surface ; cover with a 

 sprinkling of silver-sand, and place the pan under a 

 small handlight in a shady corner in a cool green- 

 house, or out-of-doors, previously placing a square of 

 glass with a covering of moss over the seed-pan. 

 The latter should be removed as soon as the seed- 

 lings appear, in the course of a fortnight or three 

 weeks from the time of sowing. The young plants, 

 when large enough, should be pricked out at 2 inches 

 apart in similarly prepared pans, be placed in hand- 

 lights, watered through a fine rose, and shaded from 

 sunshine until the roots have taken to the soil. In 

 due time they should be potted off singly into small 

 60s, 48's, 32's, and 24's. 



The Cyclamen*. 

 A sowing of Cyclamen persicum in variety may 

 now be made, using shallow pans filled to within an 

 inch of the top with a mixture consisting of three 

 parts light sandy loam and one of leaf-mould, making 

 it moderately firm with the hand before sowing the 

 seed, which should be covered lightly with some of 

 the same description of sifted soil. Water through 



