762 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
[ресемвев 28, 1895, 
+ 
anda ak t — A 
the Oat takes the cie well. Some of the rich 
г-да heads are very handsome. ` Biomus 
perhaps the most largely used generally of 
— grass, being во pretty and useful, and the 
Quaking-grass (Briza) is always very popular; 
во are the smaller forms of Chloris. 
the Congo, the flowers in small bunches making 
up large ball bouquets. The Elephant-grass 
is in its charming silken appearance one of 
the appearance of berries[?] ; t is very useful for 
the most attractive in the for 
cence; a tall-growing ius it 
from the Gold Coast, жашы velt "with the 
preceding. Eulalia is also very popular, and is 
imported from Florida, a beautiful tafty group, 
in long sprays, eight or nine of these sprays 
springing at intervals from the stem, and 
it mixes well with anything dyed or natural, 
Erianthus is another popular grass, which is 
ly grown in Italy, and has a plumed head 
like that of the Pampas-grass, many of them 
i umes of the 
to be obtained at a considerably 
less cost. Lagurus ovatus, the Hare’s-tail Grass, 
from Germany, is a pretty one for 
and build nests for their young with the fluffy 
portions, 
Uili i is one of the most useful of the larger 
grasses, the heads on long stems, and а mass of 
spikelets—most LA whether in 
tint or coloured. This стані * krom the 
swamps of the Mississippi rive rive 
But the Pampas-grass гари the largest 
le. essrs, an & Co., of Commercial 
Street, E., get through in aseason from 130, 
to 150,000 heads, out of that number dyeing a 
very large proportion, It is in the greatest 
demand, which is, perhaps, not surprising when 
its extremely showy character is considered. 
Enormous quantities come from different parts 
of America, largely from St. Louis in the West, 
and from the North also. A fine companion is 
found in the Uva-grass, with very handso: 
dition the appearance is somewhat repulsive, and 
the smell offensive, but when put through a cer- 
tain process, and dried in varions delicate shades, 
they are most useful. They are dropped into 
vases, to form the groundwork of bouquets, &c. 
These plants are collected in various places along 
е coast of Pennsylvania, 
But quite a new development in the utilisation 
of these dried leaves of Palms, &c., has соте to 
the fore of late, namely in the renewing of 21 
Mu leaves во that they again become 
vivid gr then building them up into 
9 pint i 80 vM to nature as to puzzle casual 
observers, 
imitated trunks, and so a fins ed Latania, 
Areca, Phoenix, Cyoas, &o., is built up in а short 
time, apparently so full of life and so perfect in 
health, that it is not surprising that these 
artistic forms fashioned with singular fidelity to 
nature are well adapted for ornamental groups, 
filling nnsightly corn ners, and for furnishing 
entrance-halls, lobbies, staironses, Ko. In hotels 
and restaurants they prove particularly vind 
—they do not fade, are proof against exces- 
sive heat and cold, require but little. atten- 
tion, and are supplied —.— with the leaves 
permanently fastened to the stem, or so fitted 
that they can be readily removed for cleaning, 
for which purpose a damp sponge will be found 
effectual, In this form the stems are provided 
with the necessary apertures in which to insert 
the leaf-stalks. Several very faithful oounter- 
parts of Dracæna australis, Thrinax parvifolia, 
Phoenix dactylifera, Cycas revoluta, and others, 
are on и and sesing that they can be „рагі 
chased at ; 
plants, it is 200 to be wondered at They are 
becoming much in demand, Messrs. Osman & 
Со. are foremost in introducing novelties, and 
ey аге to be complimented upon this latest 
addition to their extensive е Сар, SUE (The 
botanical details of some-of these ese plants require 
investigation, The ‘names given above are 
mostly trade-names, Ер.] 
Мен ов NOTEWORTHY PLANTS, 
feathery plumes on long stems, most valuable i — LALIA x FINORERLEKA © VAR, SCHRODERS, 
the decoration of halls, and the corners and 
nooks of large rooms, The plumes come from 
Brazil, 
A magnificent new grass із found in what is 
termed the * Paradise Plume," a recent introduc- 
tion, the plume somewhat “resembling that of 
the Pampas, more divided, and of greater length, 
This is considered the most elegant of all the 
long grasses which are now imported, 
Palm leaves of various kinds, im 
dried form from С 
Ko., are received ү 
зо become suitable for forming backgrounds 
to large bouquets; Areca, Chamzdora, Latania, 
Cyoas, &c., are the leading forms. The leaves of 
Cycas are hard and durable, but the yellow tint 
is rendered green by dyeing. Phoenix comes over 
with the leaflets compressed firmly against the 
main rib ; брт are opened out, put through а сег- 
tain and {өп апа аге strikingly 
ез со 
ntry, eu in different perio the main 
collect them before they are too far 
Ra will burst, and become 
new nat, hyb, (L. anceps alba x L. albida). 
HE type speeimen which bore some resemblance 
to Pup anceps Dawsoni, even to the purple marks 
on кее side-lobes of the lip and the crimson blotch 
ts front lobe 
ola 
species, and 3 
there is little doubt that the parentage imputed t 
beaut 
it is correct, And now a ful pure w 
form, Ta the a few thin pur 
lines at the base of the lip, bae Ms in the 
x Finckeniara var, 
Schroders is, in every respect, similar to the original 
plant, except that it has pure white caer and no 
crimson blotch on the lip. James O’ Brie 
OncHiD NOTES 8 AND B LEANINGS. 
 SCUTICARIA 81 -STEELIL 
For a period of about four weeks we have had 
b ner og in flower. There are several 
ра noticeable in the plant not observed 
Orchids 1 It blooms at the dullest time of 
the year, its fragrance * e e and, lastly, the 
flexible leaves, 3 to 4 fee 
oking. 
has two very short flower- scapes, 5 carrying three 
flowers of about 3 inches in diameter. = sepals 
and petals are of an oval form, a of a very fine 
soft yellow. colour, blotched with br кеш: 
the labellum is three-lobed, and of a softer yellow 
tint than the petals. As the plant shows а Tow of 
these splendid flowers every year, we think it ig doing 
well, The plant is fixed to a piece of cork, with 
sphagnum and peat placed about the roots, and is 
Scuticaria Steelii was 
п 8 species worth adding to any collection 
of байы J. К B., Utrecht. 
~y . ÜATTLEYA LABIATA—ALBINOS. 
Among the tens of thousands of Cattleya prom 
original type, introduced within the last few year 
comparatively few albinos have been seen; indeed, 
whi 
Lm 
o 
Aucklandis, and some other species 
and sub-species, It is pleasing to see, after all these 
years of waiting for C. labiata, that we have got & 
superabundance of it, and amongst the lot have come 
several with white —.— Опе of the best that has 
" me under sance is now in flower in 
very choice dibus of E, S. Ball, Esq., of 
"yr Mein Bowden (gr., Mr. Alexander Hay). 16 is 
а fair-sized' flower, with sepals and pstals pure 
white, without a shade of colour, as I examined it 
with the eyes of a severe scrutineer, Тае lip is also 
white, with the exception of a somewhat irregular 
шоп 
Тһе golum i is also. phie, and the lobes of the upper 
are folded back, showing it 
more spoon: shaped than 
шу exposed The lip i T 
and a credit it is to en for it 
every respect according to the tcr sent home, 
is 
that variety flowering for the first time in thi 
0 
untry. 
In this collection also is auother albino, N 
the same purity of sepals and petals, but with 
lower extremity of the lip flashed and lined with the 
softest sheen of pink. This, on the white ground 
eurrounding it, and contrasting with the white = 
ments, moles a beantiful flower, somewhat like th 
one exhibited by Mr, е before the Orch 
Committee. This one is dedicated to Mr. 
consort, and bears thes name of C, labiata alba Ballo. 
It difera from the white Cooksoni in having white 
the labellum, Cooksoni being solid, beautiful 
crt lip, with by far the beat formed white вера! 
nd petals of any yet seen. J. 4. 
2 FLOWERS AS ORE 
Ix this country, with. at 7p of cheap food, we 
are satisfied with flowers for decoration or ornament 
to our tables, but in many frei countries they 
absolutely serve as food, It is rarely that we find 
the corolla of я plant serving any other purpose | than 
as a temporary oh ate for the reproductive ¢ organs 
within, Bat for to secrete more alf 
ita weight of гайы and thus become an article of 
economic value, and even of commerce, is remark- 
able. Of this, ear bE we have an instance e in the 
fiowers of the Bassi ia, 
ET, 
W 
page ta 
Mere fugitive аи for the most part, their 
transitory purpose à clades the plant my сө оп 
them апу of its store of reserve materials. In 
the young flowers of the Banana are regret 
and in China ia Sher are 2 in er me 
. Mahics, or 
———m 
