320 



THE GARDENERS 9 CHRONICLE. 



[May 11, 19 12 . 



International Horticultural Exhibi- along the base of the great glacier. It appears to 



tion.— Ihe cup given by H.M. The King (see 

 fig. 157) will be awarded to the most meritorious 

 exhibit in the show. Mr. W. Duncan Tucker 



has presented 

 which will be 



the 



cup 



illustrated in fig. 



158, 



awarded as the 2nd prize in the 



class for the best and most varied group of 

 Orchids arranged in a space not exceeding 500 

 square feet. The cup shown in fig. 159, pre- 

 sented by Mrs. H. D. Greene, has been selected 

 the 2nd prize in the class for a group of 



as 



Alpines arranged in a space of 100 square feet. 



The cup presented bv East Suffolk (see fig. 



be 



presented 

 like all 



by 



the 



cup 

 160) will, like all the " County " cups, 

 awarded at the discretion of the Council. 



A New Flower Pot. 



Under the heading of 



" New Invention," on p. 265, we referred to a 

 flower-pot in which the base of the pot was 

 dome-shaped, and the lower half of the dome con- 

 tained a number of holes for drainage. It appears 

 that a similar pot has been manufactured by 

 Messrs. Richard Sankey & Son, Ltd., Royal 

 Potteries, Bulwell, Nottingham, for a great num- 

 ber of years. Therefore it may be assumed that 

 the device has proved useful. 



Publications Received. — A Critical Re- 

 vision of the Genus Eucaly r tus, by J. H. Maiden. 

 Vol. ii. f Part 4. (Sydnoy : William A. Gullick.) 



Price 2s. 6d. 



PRIMULA VING/EFLORA AND P. 



PINNATIFIDA. 



(See Supplementary Illustration.) 



Of the many fine species of Primula claiming 

 the Alps of N.-W. Yunnan as their home, 

 Primula vincaeflora possesses exceptional beauty 



_.nd interest. 



The flowers are solitary, of good size and sub- 

 stance, and are borne on long, stout scapes, 

 9 to 15 inches in height. P. vincaeflora is by far 

 the finest of the three species which, found in 

 those regions, are included in the peculiar section 

 Omphalogramma, the two others being Primula 

 Delavavi and P. Franchetii. Some time 



the early 

 covered 



by 



'eighties 

 Pere 



P. vincaeflora was 



in 



dis- 

 Delavay, growing on the 

 dividing range between the Langkong and 

 Hoching Valleys, at an altitude of 9,000 to 

 10,000 feet, but is much more abundant on parts 

 of the eastern flank of the Lichiang Range, and 

 at much higher altitudes, where the photograph 

 was secured. There it forms fair-sized colonies 

 in sheltered, grassy openings in Pine forests, 

 the favourite situations generally having a 

 northern exposure. The plants are most often 

 massed in clumps of 20 to 30 specimens, a fea- 

 ture which I have never noted in Primula Dela- 

 vayi or P. Franchetii. 



The flowers are a rich indigo-purple, the tube 

 narrowly cylindrical and yellowish at the base. 

 The corolla is normally six-lobed, and invari- 

 ably the two, or, occasionally, the three upper 

 segments are reflexed on the tube. This pecu- 

 liarity is not mentioned by Franchet in his 

 original description, and excusably so, as it 

 is not so noticeable in dried specimens ; never- 

 theless, it is constant. Few members of the genus 

 surpass in beauty this magnificent species as seen 



in its favourite habitat, with a background of 

 vivid green. 



Towards the end of the season, the plants 

 form extremely large, underground, resting buds, 

 some which I measured being fully 1£ inch in 

 diameter. They are formed of thick, fleshy, 

 scale-like leaves, of a light creamy-yellow colour, 

 in substance and shape strongly resembling a 

 small, loosely-formed Lilium bulb. There can 

 be little doubt as to the hardiness of the species. 



Primula pinnatifidia was also first dis- 

 covered by Pere Delavay, some time in the 

 'eighties, on the eastern flank of the Lichiang 

 Range, at an altitude of 11,000 to 12,000 feet, just 



be quite local ; for, though I found it on many 

 parts of the range, I never saw it elsewhere. It 

 is a charming, hardy little Alpine, appearing al- 

 most immediately on the melting of the snows, 

 and, in conjunction with Primula secundiflora, 

 and a beautiful dwarf form of P. sikkimensis, 



At that altitude, one of its early companion* 

 (Primula sikkimensis) had been outstripped the 

 other, P. secundiflora, almost so; but, in place 

 of those, it had two others, namelv, P. drvadi 

 folia Fr., and the dwarf but exquisite little \1 

 pine, P. bella Fr., all three growing on stroris* 

 peaty pasture, and on huge limestone screes al- 

 most at the limit of vegetation. 



Like most of the Alpine Primulas from the- 

 same region, P. pinnatifida should prove a free 

 grower in this country, once it becomes properly 

 acclimatised; but it must always be borne in 

 mind that there is one of the annual conditions of 

 those plants we cannot supply— the long resting 

 period, from October to May, when, in their 

 natural habitats, they are buried under manv feet 

 of protecting snow. G. Forrest, Rangoon, 

 Burma* India. 





w 





■ 







FlG. I57. — ROYAL INTERNATIONAL HORTI- 

 CULTURAL EXHIBITION. 



(Cup presented by H.M. The King.) 



carpeting large tracts of the Alpine meadows. The 

 species has a much greater range of altitude than 



On the lower slopes, at 



where it first 



was at first supposed. 



about 11,000 to 12,000 feet, 



appears, the plants average 



in height, with the flowers in large heads, and 



of a pale purplish-blue. As the season advances, 



a succession of specimens appear ranging up to 



15,000 feet altitude. There the plants averaged 



DAMAGE BY FROST IN SOUTH DEVON 



AND CORNWALL. 



The frost in the early days of February was 

 the most severe ever experienced in the south- 

 west within the memory of man. Here, at 

 Kingswear, at the mouth of the River Dart, 

 12° was registered, the greatest amount I have- 

 known for 30 years. Probably what did most 

 harm was the fact that the day after this hard 

 frost was very sunny, the sun shone uninter- 

 ruptedly from its rising until its setting. The 

 frozen foliage was thus exposed to the sun's ravs 

 with disastrous results. I have lost a large num- 

 ber of tender plants, hardly any of which were 

 protected. A fine bush of the South African 

 Diosma ericoides, 2 feet high and over 3 feet 

 through, was killed, as was the Australian Can- 

 dollea tetrandra, a pretty little bush with yel- 

 low flowers. A shrub of the South African 

 Euryops virgineus, 6 feet in height, was killed, 

 as was Hermannia candicans, w T hich was bearing, 

 its yellow blossom until October. Grevillea alpina 



4 



FlG. I58. — ROYAL INTERNATIONAL HORTI- 

 CULTURAL EXHIBITION. 



(Cup presented by Mr. W. Duncan Tucker.) 



no more than 2 inches in height, with the foliage 

 much dwarfed. The blooms, however, though 

 fewer in number in the head, were individually 

 much larger, and exceedingly rich in colour, of a 

 deep Tyrian purple, and exceptionally fragrant. 



7 to 9 inches was also destroyed, and is evidently far more 



tender than G. sulphurea, which, though growing 

 hard by, was not injured. They doubtless inhabit 

 different districts and sites in Australia, but the 

 horticultural dictionaries give no information as 

 to their habitat. Tacsonia quitensis, which had 

 made enormous growth, flowered profusely all 

 last summer and well into the late autumn, and 

 bore numbers of fruits, was also slain, and shows 

 no sign of breaking from the base. Psoralea pin- 

 nata, a very tender plant from the Cape, was 

 killed, although protected, and will evidently not 

 stand any more than a very few degrees of 

 frost. The Australian Chorizema flava was de- 

 stroyed, although it was planted against a wall 

 and a light placed above it. 



Brachysema acuminata, also a native of Austra- 

 lia, was killed, as was the South African Leono- 

 tis Leonurus, popularly known as the Lion s 

 Ear, this being a fine specimen 7 feet in height 

 and 8 feet across, which was a glorious sight last 

 September, when crowded with countless great 

 orange-scarlet whorls of flowers. Years ago it 

 was grown as a bush in the open and during ont 

 severe season was nearly killed. For the last 

 two vears it has been grown against 



beautiful Solanum aviculare is 

 more tender than most New Zealand 

 plants. It was grown in a corner between 

 two walls, lights were placed around it, and it 

 was covered by an Archangel mat, but in spite 

 Ol this it seems to be dead. Mutisia Clematis 

 from New Granada is dead, but M. decurrens, 

 though not looking strong, is yet alive. Enoste- 

 mon buxifolius was killed. It appears far moie 

 lender than E. myoporoides, which was unharmea 

 in some Cornish gardens, though quite unpro- 

 tected. Clethra arborea was very badly damaged, 

 but still has a few leaves left, and is giving sign 



years 

 wall. The 

 much 



of breaking along the branches, so that it ma^ 

 eventually recover. The rare Philadelphus me^ 

 canus w r as badly served and lost every 





