in 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Octobee 27, 1S88. 



Bown in August last are yet of a dark green colour. 

 A house with a temperature of 50° to 55° at night 

 suits these very well, and just enough water should 

 be afforded them to prevent the soil becoming too 

 dry ; in fact, if these young plants get a liberal 

 supply of water during winter the bulbs get into 

 such bad condition by the time they have to be 

 repotted that many of them will not live, and the 

 remainder will make no satisfactory progress. 



The Calceolabia. 



The winter season is a season of growth for this 

 plant. The Calceolaria does best in mild winters, 

 being rather impatient of artificial heat, and grow 

 healthy and quickly when the leaves show tiny dew- 

 drops round their margins in the early morning. 

 What they do suffer from is the drying frost winds 

 by day, and artificial heat by night, which sometimes 

 becomes necessary to keep out the frost. 



Great attention must be paid to attacks of aphis, 

 which will often occur after weakening periods of 

 hard weather and the consequent excessive firing. 

 Repot the plants when they require it, but not before. 

 In repotting any plants at this season it ought to be 

 done carefully. The potting soil ought to be in a 

 medium state of dryness, as also the roots, and after 

 the plants are repotted they should not have any 

 water for a week at least ; by that time the roots 

 will have penetrated the new compost, and be in a 

 state to take up moisture. The plants should be 

 placed near the glass roof now, as full light is neces- 

 sary to promote a healthy development of the leaves 

 and a short-jointed growth. 



The Cineeaeia 

 requires very much the same treatment, but it is not 

 so hardy as the Calceolaria, and a very few degrees 

 of frost will kill it. It is sensitive to cold, drying 

 winds, and the brittle leaves, downy "on the under 

 side, soon show the effects of having been exposed 

 to such winds. I grow most of my plants now from 

 offsets, which are obtained by breaking up the old 

 plants after they are cut down and have again started 

 to grow. These make quite as good plants as seed- 

 lings. The potting soil for these, and also for the 

 Calceolarias, is of decayed turfy loam, a fourth part 

 of decayed manure, and as much of leaf-mould and 

 sand. In order to have good specimens, the point 

 of the rising flower-stem should be pinched as soon 

 as it is perceived, which will cause the plant to 

 throw out branches from the crown, and as it con- 

 tinues to grow these should be tied out so as to form 

 a spreading head of bloom. J. Dour/las. 



Pink Loed Lton. 

 This is the true name of the fine early flowering 

 Pink, which Mr. Douglas so strongly commended a 

 few weeks ago. It was named by the raiser, the late 

 Mr. James Clarke, of Bury St. Edmunds, after the 

 Derby winner, Lord Lj'on, and not after the cele- 

 brated Admiral and Ambassador Lord Lyons. Mr. 

 Douglas states, and rightly enough from his point of 

 view, that pipings should be struck in a gentle 

 bottom-heat ; but as it is a Pink deserving to be 

 widely known and grown, and therefore by very 

 many who have no command of bottom-heat, the 

 question arises, How can it be propagated without it ? 

 I do it in two ways— 1st, by placing a few pipings in 

 pots of light sandy soil as early in the season as I 

 can get the cuttings, and plunging the pots up to 

 the rims in a bed of cocoa-fibre under the shade of 

 a wall. It is a slow process, but I get some of the 

 pipings to root. It is necessary to do it early in 

 the season, so as to give time for the pipings 

 to root and grow into size. I can also extend 

 my stock by dividing the plants at the end of the 

 summer ; it is of a free growing character, and stock 

 can be increased in this way. I remember once 

 calling upon Mr. Clark at Bury St. Edmunds, and he 

 showed me his method of striking Pink cuttings 

 He simply made up a bed among his Goose- 

 berry trees, put the pipings into it and covered 

 them with an ordinary handglass, and experienced 

 but few failures. Those who strike Pinks from pip- 



ings will find a handglass very useful for the 

 purpose. A kind of homely frame can be made by 

 taking a wooden box 6 or 8 inches in depth, making 

 a bed in it for pipings, and when filled laying some 

 putty along on the rim of the box, and a piece of 

 glass over it, pressing it down firmly on to it. Many 

 can be 6truck in this way, but it is not so convenient 

 as the ordinary handlight. I always flower a few 

 plants of Lord Lyon in pots to have some early 

 bloom. As soon as the beauty is over tbey are 

 turned out of the pots and placed in the open ground 

 to perfect their growth, placing some good light free 

 soil about the roots, and giving occasional top- 

 dressings. I can bear testimony to the statement of 

 Mr. Douglas, that it is the best purple Pink in 

 cultivation. E. D. 



Plant Notes. 



BROMELIADS. 



Some kinds of these may always be seen in flower 

 at Kew, and many of them deserve to take rank with 

 the very first of stove flowering plants ; others are 

 too large for ordinary houses, but where space can be 

 afforded them they make a great show. Amongst 

 the large kinds now flowering at Kew are two 

 splendid species of Karatas. K. Legrella?, in the 

 Victoria-house, has rigid green leaves, 3 feet long, 

 2 inches broad, channelled with stout hooked spines 

 on the margins. The inflorescence is central, and is 

 in the form of a thick cone, from which spring about 

 twenty coloured leaves, which vary in length from 

 2 feet to 3 inches ; they are similar in shape to the 

 ordinary leaves, but their colour is a shining brilliant 

 scarlet. K. antiacantha is in the Water Lily-house ; 

 it is similar to K. Legrelta, but larger, the leaves 

 brownish at the base, and those on the flower-head 

 are a deeper shade of scarlet. Travellers say that 

 in the Brazilian forests these plants may be dis- 

 cerned by their flowers a great distance off, and it 

 has been suggested that they must be intended to 

 attract humming birds, &c, which assist in fertilisa- 

 tion and in the after dissemination of the seeds, for 

 the coloured leaves remain till the seeds are ripe. 



jEohmea fulgens. 

 This and its variety discolor are very handsome 

 when in flower, and they last about two months in 

 perfection. The type has leaves about 1 foot long, 

 channelled, smooth-edged ; the inflorescence springs 

 from the centre of the rosette formed by the leaves, 

 and is 18 inches high, branching, in the upper half, 

 and bears from seventy to a hundred flowers, each 

 of which is half an inch long, egg-shaped, and 

 coloured a brilliant coral-red, tinted with purple at 

 the tip. The variety has a similar inflorescence, 

 but differs in the foliage, which is longer, deep 

 olive-green, with grey bands, purplish on the under 

 side. Certainly these two plants deserve to be grown 

 in every collection of stove plant. 



PuTA LANUGINOSA, 



noted a short time ago, is still very handsome. 

 The scape is now over 4 feet long. 



BEOCCHINIA COEDYLIN01DES. 



This is also in flower. It is a giant, but the 

 flowers are of no horticultural value. 



Hillia longifloba. 

 This a stove shrub which does not appear to be 

 known in English horticulture, although it was in 

 cultivation here at the beginning of the century. It 

 is Rubiaceous, a relation of Luculia and of Bouvardia, 

 but very unlike either. The habit and appearance 

 suggest iEschynanthus, the leaves being ovate 

 acuminate, 4 inches long, shining green, in pairs on 

 every part of the plant, which is 2 feet high and 

 freely branched. The flowers are solitary on the end 

 of the branches, and they are 5 inches long, the tube 

 beiug narrow and stalk-like, and the limb six- 

 spreading segments, each 2 inches long, narrow, 



radiating, suggestive of a Strophanthus, or, if you 

 like, an octopus. The whole flower is creamy-white, 

 very fragrant, and it lasts about a fortnight. The 

 plant is well worth growing in representative collec- 

 tions of stove plants. There are five species of 

 Hillia, all of them natives of the tropics of the New 

 World, where they are said to be epiphytic on large 

 forest trees. H. longiflora is in flower. in the stove 

 at Kew. W. Watson. 



Orchid Notes and Gleanings. 



ORCHIDS AT SUMMERFIELD HOUSE, 

 LAWRIE PARK. 



It is about two years since I last had the pleasure 

 of looking over the collection of Orchids of Augustus 

 Sillem, Esq., at Sydenham, Kent. ■ When so long a 

 period has elapsed a single glance will tell whether 

 there has been improvement in the condition of the 

 plants, or the reverse. In this instance it is our 

 pleasant task to report a decided advance in this 

 respect ; and especially as regards the Phatenopsis, 

 which reflect great credit on the gardener, and re- 

 mind one of the grand plants at Mr. Partington's at 

 Cheshunt. The planes are grown in baskets of Teak, 

 suspended near the roof, and the growth made during 

 the present year is beyond anythingl have previously 

 observed, Por instance, s, plant of P. grandiflora 

 has made six large leaves during the present year ; 

 two of P. amabilis have made four large leaves each. 

 As is usual, the largest leaves are on P. Schilleriana, 

 and one of the largest, measured 11 by 5 inches, 

 another fine leaf was 15 inches long; P. Sanderiana 

 had leaves, or at least the largest leaf was 5J- by 12 

 inches — a wonderful growth. The plants are now 

 showing spikes in proportion to the size of the leaves ; 

 P. amabilis had a good spike, with the first flowers 

 (few) open ; P. violacea has very pretty yellow and 

 rosy-purple flowers ; a plant of P. Esmeralda had a 

 spike about 2 feet long, well furnished with flowers 

 of a rich amethyst colour. 



Cypripediums, though few, are well grown here, 

 and especially C. Spicerianum, of which about half- 

 a-dozen plants were producing in the aggregate fifty- 

 four flowers ; and amongst them one very handsome 

 form. C. Haynaldianum had two vigorous spikes with 

 four flowers on each ; the flowers are of the C. Lowii 

 form, and the plant, although its flowers are quite 

 distinct in colour, may be only a variety of that 

 species. The elegant little C. caricinum (Pearcei) is 

 quite distinct in its sedge-like growth and creeping 

 rhizomes. One plant of it had continued to produce 

 its pale greenish-yellow flowers for the last three 

 months. 



Among the Cattleyas I observed a few good things 

 — a Lrclia pra?stans, with remarkably large and bril- 

 liant flowers, 4.} inches across, the width of petals 

 being li inch ; Cattleya marginata was also in 

 flower, and is very pretty. It will be known to most 

 orchidists that these dwarf Cattleyas and Lailias 

 have now been brought under the specific name of 

 LaiHa pumila — a plant figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine, plate 3(156, under the name of Cattleya 

 pumila. 



Cymbidium giganteum was a very prominent plant, 

 with two good spikes. It is, when well grown, a 

 noble plant, and should be more common in collec- 

 tions. The flowers are of large size, and the sepals 

 and petals yellowish-green with distinct, brownish- 

 purple stripes; the lip is yellow, irregularly spotted, 

 and blotched round the margin with crimson. The 

 flowers last in good condition a long time. 



Odontoglossum Insleayi splendens, true, was in 

 flower. It is an uncommon plant. The flowers are 

 large and very handsome, with a rich yellow lip 

 edged with crimson blotches ; the sepals and petals 

 brown and gold. 



Miltonia Candida grandiflora, better known twenty 

 years ago than it is now, is a handsome form of this 

 species, and quite distinct ; the lip is white, with a 

 delicate rosy flush at the base ; sepals and petals 

 yellowish-white thickly blotched reddish-brown. 



