332 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[May 18, 1912. 



foreground, and wise ' 'Solomon's Seal" appropri- 

 ately retiring in the background. These may be 

 taken as typical of several other garden subjects 

 in the present exhibition. There are some ex- 

 cellent studies of wild flowers in their native fields 

 or woodlands, notably " Cowparsley " and " Blue 

 Bells in the Copse/' by C. W. Johnson. A 

 charming little landscape entitled " Noontide 

 Rest," by Chas. W. Norton, and another of 

 poetic feeling and twilight beauty entitled " The 

 Castle of the Scropes," by Frank E. Home. 

 These and " The Margin of Maelog," a study of 

 an Anglesey lake and its tall brown reeds, by 

 George Cockram, should not be missed ; to lovers 

 of Nature they will appeal as among the best 

 things in the exhibition. " The Botanist," by 

 Lexden L. Pocock, an original and really 

 beautiful rendering of a tangle of sweet grasses 

 and wild Mint and Meadow Sweet, athwart 

 which, upon an old gnarled tree, sits a girl gradu- 

 ate in botany, with her microscope and wallet, 

 examining specimens for her collection. A true 

 touch of Art meets Nature in the light on the 

 little stream which meanders in the background. 

 Of M Pictures of the Year," by doyens of the 

 Royal Academy and others, much has been said 

 elsewhere, and so it is unnecessary to enlarge 

 here upon merits or demerits, except to em- 

 phasise the fact that among the most important 

 pieces of pictorial realism in the show are Mr. 

 La Thangue's Rustic Boy and Red Calf, 

 which he calls " A Sussex Down," and Mr. 

 F. L. Emanuel's "Kensington Interior," and, 

 above all, to say that the President of the Royal 

 Academy in various examples of his skill as a 

 painter of trees might be studied with advantage 

 by those shirkers of detail who conceal incom- 

 petence beneath a too broad mantle of so-called 

 Impressionism. Mary L. Breakdl. 



NURSERY NOTES. 





WILLIAM 



The great winter garden in the nursery esta- 

 blishment of Messrs. William Bull & Sons, King's 

 Road, Chelsea (see fig. 164) with its lofty Palms, 

 Tree Ferns, and variety of foliage plants, is ad- 

 mirably adapted for the holding of a flower show, 

 and annually, in the month of May, Messrs. Bull 

 arrange a special display, to which all interested 

 in horticulture are invited. 



The show this season, which opened on May 13, 

 is equal to those of former years. The broad 

 central walk is bordered with groups of vari- 

 ous kinds of Lilies, Roses, Carnations and other 

 flowers, forming a suitable setting to the Orchids 

 and fine Hippeastrums, which are the great at- 

 traction in the show. 



The specimens of Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) are 

 of the best modern type, large-flowered and with 

 broad segments. The colours range from pure 

 white with a few red lines to deep crimson. 

 Comet is a brilliant scarlet flower; Norah has 

 white petals veined with red; Beryl, a large, red 

 variety, has a greenish-white central star; In- 

 vincible is a large, light -red flower of fine shape. 



One pretty, 

 lines 



rose 



is 



fragrant white variety with deep- 

 a great improvement on the well- 

 known H. vittatum. 



The choicest of the Orchids is a fine set of 

 blotched forms of Odontoglossum crispum raised 



seeds 



They equal the best of the blotched 

 0. crispum in size and shape, and a 



The best 



unusuallv dark blotchings. 



flower of 



strongly, 

 imported 

 few have 



of those noted were 0. c. " The Marvel," a 



large size and good substance, with 

 big, dark -purple blotches on the inner parts of 

 the sepals and fringed petals ; 0. c. Mabel, an 

 equally good form, with redder blotching, the 

 greater part of the lip being dark -brownish red ; 

 0. c. Coronet and some which showed traces of 

 mixed parentage. A hybrid of 0. ardent issimum 

 bore a grand spike with 11 branches. We also 

 observed good typical forms of Odontoglossum 

 crkpum and various other Odontosrlossums. some 



pretty Cattleya Mendelii, and C. Mossiae ; a num- 

 ber of Lselio-Cattleya Baden Powell varying in 

 the tint of the blossoms; good forms of L.-C. 

 Aphrodite, the variety Queen Mary (white with 

 violet-mauve front to the lip) being the best; 

 several hybrids between Cattleya Schroderse and 

 L.-C. Warnhamiensis varying from pale yellow to 

 pink with purple lip. Two very pretty designs 

 are made up of forms of Dendrobium nobile 

 with the elegant lavender, purple spikes of a 

 hybrid Odontoglossum from 0. ardentissi- 

 mum and 0. Edwardii, and a group of Odon- 

 tiodas in which the rose and white forms of 0. 

 chelsiense raised by the firm are the principal 

 features. __ 



the seed taken out, the residue mixed with 



meal and made 



tough, 



into a kind of porridge, 

 and is used 



for i.^kin 



wood is 

 handles. 



The order Boragineae is represented by 

 species, and the only one which 

 to be of use is Ehretia 

 which Mr. Swynnerton 

 note : — Trunk much 



The 

 hoe 



four 



ing 

 rendering 



appears 



divaricata, on 



writes the follow - 



gnarled and fluted 



subject for the 



NOTES ON THE ECONOMIC FLORA OF 



6AZALAND. 



(Concluded from p. 322.) 



The most important economic plants in the 

 Loganiacese are the species of Strychnos. S. 

 mitis is a new epecies, the yellow fruits of which 



it a poor suDject/ ior ine sav. 

 But in view of its remarkably handsome dark- 

 brown grain it might well prove useful for cabinet 

 work. In the Bignoniaceae, only two species 

 of Markhamia, namely M. acuminata and M. 

 lanata, are referred to as having any economic 

 application. The timber of the former is stated 

 to be durable, and used for rafters, while that 

 of the latter is a favourite with native bowvers. 

 In the Pedalineae the well-known Sesanium oil 

 plant of the tropics (S. indicum) finds a place. 

 In the order Verbenacese — important from a 

 economic point of view on account of its valu- 

 able timbers, including the teak — two species 



Fig. 164.— view in the conservatory at Messrs. w. bull and sons' nursery, chelsea 



only are noted, namely, Lippia aspe rifoli a and 



are said to be eaten by birds, squirrels and 

 monkeys. The forest Touracos (Turacus Living- 

 etonii) are particularly fond of the berries, which 

 are borne very abundantly, and a dozen of these 

 creatures may be seen at a time feeding among 

 the branches. S. Burtonii is a large tree, with 

 edible fruits ; they are large, spherical, hard and 

 of an orange-yellow colour, and contain a rather 

 solid yellow pulp, surrounding numerous seeds. 

 The pulp, though pleasant, is somewhat taste- 

 less, but is used by the natives in times of scar- 

 city. It is dried, ground, mixed with honey, and 

 made into a pulpy food, which, however, does 

 not appeal much to the European palate. 



S. spinosa, known as the Kaffir Orange, is a 

 large shrub, with a spreading crown. The fruits 

 are about 5 inches in diameter, globose, and, like 

 the former species, contain a quantity of pulp, 

 in which the seeds are buried. This pulp is much 

 relished by the Kaffirs, as well as by baboons 

 and pigs, the two former breaking the hard outer 

 covering with stones or by throwing the fruits 

 on the ground. The pulp, which has a some- 

 what bitter taste, is first beaten up with water, 



Vitex Eylesii. The leaves of all the MnshMj* 

 -or Lippias-are used as a remedy for indig£ 

 tion, being chewed, or ground and mixed 

 water, and drunk by the natives. They are. 

 used as a disinfectant after i the handling w ^ 

 fected or decaying substances. To \ itex £> 

 attached the following note :-" A smallish j«e, 

 with black edible fruit. Leaves dried, pui«r £ 

 and scorched are used by natives M » 8 j nth e 

 cases of sore throat or cold in the head, 

 important order Labiate, in which no te^er . 

 11 new species are described, one only, J* . 

 mollissima, is noted for its economic uses, 

 leaves being used as a cattle medicine, and a „ 

 of the constituents of an antidote to snaM • 



A useful plant is Piper capense, a strag 

 shrub, some 6 to 9 feet high, very plentu 

 some parts of the forest, the fruits ol ww y 



an excellent aromatic flavour, and are ir 4 _ 

 used by the traveller for making soups an l eS 



The most important plant m the r d ^ crihei 

 appears to be Faurea saligna, which is -^ 

 as one of the larger trees of the op« 



