422 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
eee 
e 
[APRIL 6, 1895, 
(syn. N. rubra), the Egyptian Lotus, with a red 
or white flower, It would appear that the red 
N mphæa is only a variety of the white, or 
vice vers; and N. stellata, with blue flowers, 
from tropical Egypt. 
The plant given by Prof, Maspero is D edly 
Its fruit is very char cteristic, and 
vol. v. p. 345 (Nelumbium speciosum), says, Sculp- 
tured representations o abound among the rui 
of Egyptian temples, and many other circumstances 
prove the veneration me to this plant 
votarie es of Lei. cers yle alludes to the 
it in a ball 
the water, as alt still tig 
And under Nymphæa, Dr. Watts say h 
allusions to the Saer eA Lotus in ieith Hindu 
literature appears to refer equally to different kinds 
of Nymph as to 
and the mention of i 
red, and blue — suggest Nymphæa rather than 
Nelumbium.” 
Here is a nice bit of confusion which has been 
probably generated by the worda “Sacred Lotus” 
and “Egyptian Bean.“ From all this there arises an 
interesting question, or series of questions, Was the 
Nelumbium ever a Nile plant? it was, how hai 
a plant that is so easily reproduced from seed and 
„ extinct? Was it because the Egyptians 
acta: seeds and ate them as ape Bat resid 
ate also the seeds of the those a 
Can it be that nne in Egypt there 
still there. 
were the white and blue N a and also the 
red Nelumbium, and that ig fatter eventually 
became extinct there, and the white Nymphea 
afterwards produced the pink variation which may 
have led to this confusion, so that now there are 
only the rs white, and blue Nymphæas, and no 
Nelumbium 
It does not follow that cae the nuts of the 
Nelumbium were called Eg n Bean, that the 
plant ever grew there. All eo er the Levant the 
Maize is called Grano Tarco”; t it is no 
more Turkis a 
Similarly: one of the close- 
Orange all over the Levant 
is called “ Portugal”; but it came originally from 
China, 
Herodotus may have never seen the Nelumbium 
va the Nile, otherwise such an observer would have 
“half an eye” that the fruit was an exact 
of the 
still i 
Egypt and Asia must, at 1 
The 3 invade d Fay and the E ais 
; eyptians 
invaded Asia, and inter arriages were brought 
Aypt, a 
library of cuneiform bais was discovered not long 
ago; it was thought to have been the Ass ssyrian 
foreign office of — 4 
I have some suspicion that the Egyptian Nelum- 
bium speciosum is a myth; and I wish that some 
ist would endeavour to verify what Dr, Watt 
[quoting from the Treasury of Botany) says of 
Nelumbium speciosum, viz, “Sculptured representa- 
tions of it abound among the ruins of 
tem Is it the . — or the Nymphxa 
that abounds there? E. Bona 
NEW OR NOTEWORTHY PLANTS. 
BULBOPHYLLUM GRANDIFLORUM, Blume. 
HE N remarkable Balbo; hyllum which was 
y Sir Trev or Lawrenc e at the 3 
p. 42, tt. 195, fig. 3, 199, fig. B), 
unfortunate that on its first lopate in cultiva- 
tion it should have received a provisional name, 
be suppressed. 
on the coast of New 
whose materials the description and figures above 
light respecting it until now, when its r in 
cultivation has to be e It is 
markable plant, as the note at page e 401 ie 
and is in fact the e e species know 
the dorsal sepal measuring 44 inches long, by 2 inch os 
in breadth, the lateral ones being rather smaller, I 
am aware that it i is on record that this species (lig. 59, 
ears ago, but 
named 
markably distinct, as a comparison of the figures 
cited will show, the last-named being een. 
by its 3 neee sepals, in allusion to whic 
the name is given, Both are natives of 8 
and members of the 3 Sarcopodium, with solitary 
flowers. R. A, Rolfe. 
INSECT talk a FRUIT 
Insecr enemies to our 5 i soon pye and 
their destruction demand attention. In most of thə 
orchards hereabouts that I have iibe ta eggs 
of the winter-moth (Cheimatobia brumata) and other 
pests abound thie year. Several neighbouring fruit 
cultivators who were — troubled with insects in 
recent years have a strong opinion that the severe 
frosts have destroyed — eggs, and they will not suffer 
one who i 
auc e e ish, I hav 
tested the vitality of the eggs by placing them in 
heat, ry one produced a healthy 
insect. It ery necessary to take early measures 
iscove 
first broods of aphis. 
or oval, and, just before hatching, of a bro olour. 
This year, year, owing to the season being a iiie te one, the 
egga miy have out the present 
hen first hatehed the e caterpillar is v a 
pa not easily detected when crawling on enini, 
and making a T 5 the nearest expanding bud, 
in which to make a home by drawing the budding 
foliage over Baj: which in a way protects them 
in great measure from any insecticide that can be 
2 against them. The caterpillar eats away the 
nternal portion of the buds, and it will thus be 
seen that early spraying is imperative so as to 
aan, — merry before he gets under cover, So far 
pprov 
a proper strength for killin 
aphis on Plums and 3 thereby 9 
two jobs in one. I have the trees 1 weekly 
(oftener in bad cases) until the fruit is 
E 
3 freely; but no spaying of an 
while it is in bloom, Paris n heey 2 
pe wers. When the caterpillar of the winter-moth 
is finished off, we have another foe to contend against 
n Aphis mali, which has increased ata great rate 
in the west of England of pee: This pest is 
somewhat in the form of green aphis, but endowed 
with greater activity, and is first aaa noticeable bya 
whitish mass, almost like American blight, amongit 
the flower and leaf stalks. It does considerable 
damage, by causing the flowers to drop wholesale, 
Later on the aphides arrive at the winged stage, and 
feed on the under-sides - 2 i aud seem to suck 
the ite of the tree. ae 
glued to the tree, and only a portion of their bodies 
is touched; but if the liquid is used in a w 
this contraction does not take place, and they get 
pretty well iri 
One of th eri ous foes we have to meet is 
eal with them is to 
' caustic soda, aad 
e 
winter, combined with plenty of s 
manures as are adapted to the the “tind of 
soil and the crop. W. 
THE BALM OF GILEAD: FIR. 
ALTHOUGH introduce into this ¢ im as . 
a wa know 
a model of beauty, | but a3 i 
short—not more 
Loudo 
in Newfoundland a 
base of the Rocky Mou 
Northern States to ra c 
and Minnesota, and along the Alleghan 
to the high peaks of Virginia. 
3 1 of 21 to 27 mètres, but in cultivation 
it s not to exceed 40 feet as a rule; 
our ah however, we fiad a record, 5 
t dated, wherein mention is made of & 
ses 894 feet in height, which was ona 
a great ga on an estate in Berwickshire, i 
great dimensions make one wonder whether t N 
in question was correctly named. nt 
account the wood is light, soft, 
Canada balsam, so well known to pr 
scopical —— is the resin which 
the bark of this tree. 65 
In our e it is Ads ino i 
state by the elegance of its habit, the vai 
deep green colour of its foliage. The 
ordinary shoots into the he 
n. ae 
how wer (Tenth Census 5 e that it occurs 
nd e that it 
Seren gives itan 
> 1 
| 
i 
