368 



THE GARDENERS 7 CHRONICLE. 



[June 1, 1912. 



In the 



of 



place 



In Borne 



this plant 

 old 



HOYA BELLA. — 



H. Paxtonii is often grown. in some old gar- 

 dens it may still be found, and I should be 

 greatly obliged for cuttings. Compared with 

 H. Paztonii it has smaller, rounder, thicker, 

 more fleshy, darker green leaves, and the flowers, 

 though very similar, have a centre of a different 

 colour. No doubt they are very closely allied, 

 but they are different. I wish to have them 

 growing together. R. Irwin Lynch, Botanic 

 Garden, Cambridge. 



various names as distinct species. Echium can- 

 dicans was introduced into cultivation in 1777, 

 and is therefore an old inhabitant of gardens. It 

 grows several feet high, and bears terminal 

 panicles of blue flowers, from which protrude the 

 long pink filaments, giving it a singular but 

 pleasing appearance. The stems and leaves are 

 covered with white hairs. The variable charac- 

 of this plant has led to much confusion of names 

 and specimens exhibited at the meeting of the 



-> 





I 



■ 





Fig. 179. — echium candicans : flowers blue 



(Received R.H.S. Award of Merit on April 30 last.) 



ECHIUM CANDICANS (TRUNCATUM). 



Many of the plants of the Canary Islands are 



remarkable for their shrubby development, 



more especially certain genera of Crassulaceae 



such as Sempervivum and Crassulae. The 

 Echiums also show a marked difference in habit 

 f: 



Royal Horticultural Society on April 30, when 

 it obtained an Award of Merit, were shown 

 under the name of E. truncatum. The plant has 



name at Cliveden, the 

 * for the rj£Rst 15 



been grown under this 

 residence of W. Astor, 



E. fastuosum is 



years 



often confused with E. 



till 



those which are found in this country and 

 in other parts of Europe. E. candicans (see 

 fig. 179) forma a shrubby plant, with straggling 

 wide-spreading branches, in Madeira, where it is 

 •aid to grow in the crevices of perpendicular 

 recks. It is one of several having a similar 

 habit, all bearing a close resemblance to one an- 

 other, and all of which have been described under 



Esq., for the past 

 a closely allied species 

 candicans. They both 



SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL. 



Scientific Committee, 



May 



F.E.S. 

 W. E. 



14. 



-Present: Mr. E. A. Bowles, M.A. 

 (in the Chair) ; Dr. A. Voelcker, Messrs' 

 Ledger, J. T. Bennett-Poe, W. Fawcett, 

 W. Hales, J. O'Brien, J. Fraser, C. E. Shea' 

 R. H. Curtis, W. B. Hemsley, and F. J. Chit- 

 tenden (hon. sec). 



Irises. — It was reported that the Council had 

 awarded a Certificate of Appreciation to Mr. R. 

 Dykes for his work with the Irises which he 

 exhibited at the last meeting of the Committee. 



Arsenical poisoning. — Dr. Voelcker said 

 that he had ascertained that the source of the 

 arsenic in the water referred to at the last meet- 

 ing was weed-killer. 



Tulips with fimbriated edges. — Messrs. J. R. 

 Pearson & Sons, Lowdham, sent two Tulips 

 having the perianth segments much cut along 

 the edges. The abnormality occurred among 

 T. Gesneriana and " Margaret." The plants had 

 been marked so that their behaviour next seasoD 

 may be ascertained. One or two other similarly 

 cut-petalled plants have been reported this season. 



Hybrid Orchid. — Mr. J. O'Brien showed 

 from Mr. E. F. Clark, of Evershot, Dorset, a 

 flower of an Orchid raised by crossing Laelia 

 cinnabarina and Laelio-Cattleya x M G. S. Ball." 

 The latter is a hybrid between Lselia cinnabarina 

 and Cattleva Schroderae. The flower was an im- 

 proved Laelia cinnabarina, large and more open 

 in the lip, but four of the pollen masses were 

 large and four not quite so large, thus differing 

 from both Lselia and Cattleya. Mr. Clark pro- 

 posed to name the hybrid Laelio-Cattleya x 

 Cinnabal. 



Primulas. — Professor I. Bayley Balfour, 

 F.R.S., showed the following Primulas: P. 

 Faurei (Franch.) from mountains of Japan, a 

 plant with rose-coloured flowers freely pro- 

 duced, and leaves with golden farina below; 

 P. tibetica (Watt), a dwarf plant with rose 

 flowers allied to P. involucrata and native of 

 the Tibetan highlands; P. Reedii (Duthie) 

 (Botanical Magazine, 6961), a fairly well- 

 known and beautiful pale violet species, not 

 quite hardy, from Kumaon, introduced in 1885; 

 P. malvacea (Franch.) from Yunnan, allied to 

 P. cortusoides and having mauve flowers in two or 

 three superposed umbels ; P. deflexa with bluish- 

 lilac flowers, rather small but in dense clusters 

 and very sweetly scented; P. membramfolia 

 (Franch.) with violet-coloured flowers, a native 

 of Yunnan; P. uniflora (Klatt) with very pale 

 violet flowers (with a two-flowered scape in this 

 instance) from the Sikkim Himalaya; P. pul- 

 chelloides (Balfour), with rather large, beauti- 

 ful, violet-coloured flowers, similar in appearance 

 to P. pulchella, but nearly allied to P. nivalis, a 

 native of China; and P. Beesiana X P- 

 Bulleyana, a beautiful hybrid with salmon 

 coloured flowers. Botanical Certificates were 

 recommended to the last five plants. 





HOBTICULTUBAL CLUB. 



"TRAILS OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES." 

 Mat 14.— The usual monthly dinner of the 

 members of the Horticultural Club was held on 

 this date. The President, Sir Frank Crisp, pre- 

 sided. There was a large attendance, the com- 

 pany including many ladies. After the dinner 

 an extremely interesting lecture was aeliverea uy 

 Mrs. Henshaw, the hon. secretary of the Aip ne 

 Club of Canada, on "Trails of the Canadian 

 Rockies." The lecture was illustrated by a larfe 

 number of beautifully-coloured lantern slides, de- 

 picting manv of the most interesting member. , 01 

 the flora and fauna of that little-known region, 

 and a number of striking views of the mountain 

 chain which is a continuation of the r» b 

 stretching uninterruptedly from Mexico nor" 

 wards to the Arctic regions. Many thousands o' 





often confused with E. candicans. They both square miles ot this domain si*** *« " for the 



have blue flowers, but in the latter plant the fila- visited by white men and it .P res ^ ; The 



most part, a virgin field for the explorer 

 lecturer gave a graphic description otescn 

 presented and of the circumstances att ^" h ° ber 

 production. She carried her audience w it 1 

 through the vast panorama of snowy Aip n ^ 

 tudes and beautiful lakes, fed by glaciei 

 streams, and surrounded by magnihcenx b 



ments are nearly white, while the leaves are not 

 so hairy. It is stated by an authority on plants 

 of the Canary Islands that E. fastuosum is found 

 on the coasts, while E. candicans grows at higher 

 elevations on the mountains. This difference of 

 habitat probably accounts for the slight varia- 

 tions in the two plants. W. 7. 



tion 



The great glaciers were trav 



