THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
197 
these, the outer florets of the head sacrifice them- 
selves in “ane that all their energy may go to 
lose > reproductive orgaus, pro- 
head then assumes the familiar aspect of a golden or 
jark-coloured nucleus of fertile florets, surrounded 
by fat rays, gaily tinted ar yellow, red, or violet, 
or as in the Daisy, pure wh 
Reference is made seg of course, only to 3 
which the art of ma from thei 
natural shape. In double blossoms of the Com idi 
order, like Chrysanthemums, double Daisies, and 
double Pyrethrume, all the florets have been forced 
to surrender their fertility, in order to add to the 
sbowiness of the flowers. In double flowers of other 
orders, such as Carnations and garden Roses, culti- 
Fesrvary 16, 1895. | 
SEE 
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vation has been directed to alter the organ of 5 5 
duction, the atamens tan anthers, into peta 
2 
be | 
are, knew something about 
ree makes . in = Winter's Tale, 
e about them thus : 
The Diaa: flowers o' the season 
Taa Crain, and streak’d Gillidowers, 
Our some 's bastards: of that kind 
To get alipe of trae is Mason; spb meen t 
Tu n ot put 
Tonite in earth. to set one slip of them ; 
» were I inted, Iw 
82 would say, earns well,” 
ù 4 oe fertility, the flowers are also 
ica being Oney-gland, for the visits of living 
8 beneficial to plants from the part 
ti 
wou ld wish 
and sometimes increase t 
Now, in order to show that the truths of science 
are no whit 
ount of the 
years ago an 
Italian botanist ed in the a of 
Sumatra a gigantic Aroid, a plant of the same 
family of the Lord-and-Ladies of our hedgerows posi 
the beautiful Ethiopian Lily of our greenhouse. 
The tuber was so large, measuring many feet in cir- 
mference, and emitted such an overpowering odour, 
hardly persuade men the labour of 
owey 
he directed to be placed ona 
for transport. The bearers turned sick with the 
stench, and whether by accident or design, both of 
the enormous bulbs were lost over a precipice. The 
botanist sent home a description of the plant, which 
Fic. 28.—xaNTHOCERAS SORBIFOLIA, IN THE GARDEN OF 
M. VAN DER RINDERE. 
was 80 pa as — receive Me i a acceptance 
among men nee, Tra rs tales, the 
thought, for sie e were gor to be 10 feet 
— and the leaves nearly 50 feet in Soe 
he spadix of the metered that is the pore colum 
— out of the _ m 6 feet ela 
No such Aru ver known. Luckily for the 
traveller's pant 2. sent some seeds home 
to Europe; they were red, and about the size of 
lives. Some of these were sent to Kew Gardens, 
they were sown in a high 
rature, They grew 
pene one place — of holding the plante—the 
Victoria Regia-house, Finally, great excitement in 
the scientific world was caused when, in 1892, one reed 
them showed signs of flowering. The signs 
fulfilled; the great spathe expanded, ait iio 
monster spadix, and disc overpowering 
nch. Amorphophallus titanum stood revealed, 
— the good faith of the Italian was 
ndicated, Herbert Maxwell, [For figures of this 
see Gardeners’ Chronicle, Oct, 2, 1886, p. 433.] 
2 GRASS TREE. 
debted to our o ld valued corre- 
Australian da 
Xanthorrhæs, which belongs to the Liliaces 
togetber by the bro 
the stem. The stems are often 
eee by — fires. The developed 2 are 
pig forming a thick crown at the to 
ornamental character of the plant. Unfortunately, it 
is not 
PROPAGATION OF FICUS 
ELASTICA FROM CUTTINGS, ~ 
As the propagation of the above 32 will soon 
be taken in hand, a few remarks as 
to obtain sizeable plants in a short = Fe of wr 
which = be useful for furnishing, will not be o 
oc e that 
the leaves do not suffer from damp, = which time 
they will be well calloused. Some 44-inch pots 
should now be crocked, a little rough soil put into 
the bottom, and on this a good handful of cocoa-nut 
fibre, on which substance the base of the eu tting 
wW 
ering If it is not convenient to put them back 
nto t the case or hand-glass, they can be atood on the 
the same house, and the leaves which were 
they will all get up, which is an unmistakable sign 
e plants may 
h safety. Plants thus obtained vy be large 
enough for use in five or six weeks, and as they are 
much employed for filling small vases, they should 
kept in the small pots they were struck in; 
there is no need to pot them on, unless large 
mens ar uired, for if fed 28 with a little 
Clay’s Fertiliser, they will keep of a good 
and attain a height of 3 to 4 feet in one season, ¥ 
the tops will come in again for the same use in the 
following season. W. Sharpe, Highwood, 
ooo 
ANT ee SORBIFOLIA. 
We n various occasio 
beautiful Chinese Sapindaceous 
much less known than it should be. It is a —— 
plant for foreing, but its 0 fares 
autiful inflorescence give it a place * — 
most ornamental of Moreni d amk or n 
illustration of the plant as growing 
the open air in Belgium (fig. 28), we are indebted 
to the kindness of M. Van der Rindere of of Uccle. 
* 
