November 17, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS* CHRONICLE. 



565 



suasion," that "if diligence and good husbandry had 

 been used, we might have had a reasonable good 

 wine growing in many places of this realme." Percy 

 Newberry. 



New or Noteworthy Plants. 



CROCOSMA AUREA VAR. MACU- 



LATA, Baked.. 

 Reference to our illustration of the typical plant 

 at p. .304 will serve to mark the difference between 

 it and its finer and handsomely coloured ally, which 

 we here pourtray (fig. 80), and which is in every 

 respect the finest form of the variable Crocosma 

 aurea that has yet appeared. A glance, too, at the 

 illustration of a bed of it at p. 305 shows what a 

 beautiful object it is under favourable situations. 



L.ELIA PERRINII (Lindl.) VAK. ALBA 

 (0' Br.), supra, p. 446. 



How joyful were we about Lxlia Perrinii nivea, 

 and how we delighted in Lajlia Perrinii irrorata! 

 This plant does not produce such an cmbarras de 

 richesse of flowers as does Lajlia anceps. And now 

 Mr. H. H. Measures, of the Woodlands, Streatham, 

 S.W., has most kindly sent two inflorescences, one 

 two, one three-flowered. These flowers are snow- 

 white without any purple or yellow marks, and they 

 remain snow-white. Prom Mr. R. H. Measures I 

 quote what follows : — 



Fig. 80. — cbocosma acrea vae. maculata : flowers orange, with a porplish-red spot. 



After a careful search amongst numerous specimens 

 from all parts of South and East Africa, and finding 

 nothing like it, Mr. J. G. Baker named and described 

 the plant in the Gardeners' Chronicle, p. 407, from 

 material supplied by its introducer, Mr. James O'Brien, 

 of Harrow-on-the-Hill, who had previously received a 

 First-class Certificate for it at the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. Mr. O'Brien informs us that it was in 

 bloom for over four months, and was still in good 

 condition. In habit it seems to be stronger than 

 the plain yellow Crocosma, and grows to a height 

 of 3 — 4 feet. Single stems cut with their graceful 

 leaves and placed in water for indoor decoration 

 open their buds for weeks in succession. The plant 

 is perfectly hardy in sheltered situations, and is a 

 fine subject for the cold frame, greenhouse, or con- 

 servatory. There is one peculiarity about C. aurea 

 var. maculata which should be noted, viz., the 

 stalked and incurved character of the perianth seg- 

 ments np to the blotches, as it seems to show that it 

 might possibly be a wild hybrid, 



" A plant was obtained by one of Mr. F. Sander's 

 collectors, and said to be absolutely white, but 

 neither Mr. Sander nor myself believed that. I 

 have grown it now for two seasons, and it flowers 

 from eight leading growths, forming a sight worth 

 taking a long journey to enjoy. The bulbs in 

 shape are identical with those of L;elia Perrinii, 

 but are pale green in colour. The leaf is much 

 broader and larger than in Lrelia Perrinii. It is, in 

 fact, identical with a well grown robust leaf of Ltclia 

 purpurata." 



To this I may add, that the lip is distinct from 

 that shown in any sketch or portrait from that 

 of any wild-grown or garden specimens I have heard 

 of in the genus Lrelia Perrinii. Those altogether show 

 remarkably well distinct side lacinire— Mr. R. H. 

 Measures' plant, on the contrary, has a three-lobed 

 lip, or even one which is rather confluent, hence 

 nearly rhombic. I have also the impression that 



the goitrous swellings of the ovaries are unusually 

 prominent. //. G. Echb. f. 



Decaschistia ficifolia, Mast., sp. no v.* 

 This handsome Hibiscus-like shrub was discovered 

 in Burmah by Mr. J. Bonham Carter. Seeds were 

 brought home by that gentleman, and the plant has 

 recently flowered in his garden. A flower was 

 obligingly forwarded to us for determination, when a 

 reference to our monograph of Indian Malvaceae, 

 published in Sir Joseph Hooker's Flora of British 

 India, and to the Herbarium at Kew, showed that we 

 had to do with a hitherto undescribed species. It is 

 well adapted for stove culture, being handsome alike 

 in foliage and in flower. The shrub is more or less 

 hoary, the leaves are light green above, hoary 

 beneath, wedge-shaped at the base, and dividing 

 above the middle into three oblong remotely toothed 

 lobes. The flower is nearly 4 inches across, and pro- 

 bably will become larger under cultivation. In colour 

 it is coppery-red merging into yellow, and with a rosy 

 spot at the base. The floral characters are those of 

 Decaschistia, a genus which differs from Hibiscus 

 mainly in having ten styles and a ten-celled ovary, 

 with one ovule in each cell. Most probably an 

 imperfect specimen collected at Rangoon by the late 

 Dr. Maingay, and preserved in the Kew Herbarium, 

 belongs to the same species, but this cannot at 

 present be asserted with certainty. M. T. M. 



The seeds of the plant in question were gathered 

 on August 6, 1887, on a plateau composed of a red 

 clayey soil, about 350 feet above the Irrawaddy, and 

 about 8 miles from Thabaitkine, on the road from 

 that place to the Ruby Mines. The plateau was 

 sparsely timbered with poor Teak trees, and the 

 scarcity of undergrowth was very suggestive of great 

 poverty or very small depth of soil ; indeed, besides 

 the plant under discussion, there seemed scarcely a 

 dozen other kinds, scattered at wide intervals, and 

 with not even grass or weeds between them. The 

 bushes from which I gathered the seeds were from 

 2 — 4 feet high, and seemed to have nearly done 

 flowering, as I saw only very few blossoms ; these, 

 however, were much larger and much brighter in 

 colour (though I should say much the same among 

 themselves) than the flower I sent you. J. Bonham 

 Carter. 



Vriesea Wittjiackiana, n. hyb. (= V. BarilletH 

 X Morreniana). 

 This nice new Vriesea is a line and interesting 

 acquisition. It was raised by Mr. Kittel, Curator of 

 the gardens of the Count Magnis, at Eckersdorf, near 

 Glatz, Silesia. The Gartenflora gives a coloured plate 

 (1283) of the new hybrid, as well as of the parents. 

 An idea of the plant may be obtained if the inflores- 

 cence of Vriesea Barilletii be taken, giving to it the 

 colour of V. Morreniana X . Mr. Kittel raised two 

 forms, which differ more or less in the cl ise arrange* 

 ment of the flowers. This plant is the more inte- 

 resting, as V. Morreniana is itself a hybrid, viz., V. 

 psittacina X carinata. V. Morreniana X has the 

 delightfully bright colour of the bracts, and so has 

 V. Wittmackiana X. The latter hybrid has also en 

 the upper half of the bracts the numerous red spots 

 of the female parent. Dr. Hammer. 



Leeds Horticultural Society— The Chry- 

 santhemum show of this Society, to be held on 

 November 21 and 22, in the Town Hall, Leeds, will, 

 it is said, be worthy of the district, judging by the 

 hearty support it has met with from exhibitors. 



* DecaschUtia ficifolia, Mast., sp. nov.— Fruticosa, cano- 

 tomeatosa; petiolis Jpoll. long.; stipulis Eequilongia linearl 

 subulatis slellato-pilosis deelduis ; foliiso X 4 poll. late obo* 

 vatis basi cuneatis 3-nervifs (nervis parura divergentibus), 

 antice fere ad medium 31obis,lobis sub;*-<|iialibussubparallelibus 

 oblongis obtnsis obscure deutatis basin versus angustatls, a 

 sese sinubusellipticis separates ; bracteolis 10 lineari-subulatls, 

 sepalis dimidio brevioribus ; calyee c.impanulato \ poll, long., 

 sepalis deltoideo-lanceolatis proniineuter 3-nerviis; corolla 

 diam. 4 poll, basi breviter tubulata superue patente ; petalis 

 imbricati- oblongis rubro-flavidis basi purpureis. Ccet. ut In 

 congeneribus. In Burmah detexit dom. J. Bonham Carter, 

 inde semina reportavit plantani'iue nunc priino florenten] 

 horto suo coluit. It, T. M. 



