April 11, 186J. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTITIB AND COTTAGE GARDESER. 



281 



Our readers would take little interest in a detail of the 

 names of the prizetakers, so that we shall name but few of 

 tUeiu, and be more particular about the plants. We will 

 pass over the general collections, because generally inferior 

 to those we see at our chief London exhibitions. The 

 Azaleas were small specimens, but well bloomed, and to our 

 taste spoiled by being grown as a semi-globular bunch, on 

 the top of a long naked stem. The Roses were excellently 

 bloomed, but similarly offensive by being cultivated, though 

 in pots, on long, naked, four-feet stems. The Camellias were 

 most excellent, and a new white one is about the largest, 

 best-shaped, stout-petaled variety we ever saw. 



NEW PLANTS. 



Before we describe the plants exhibited, we must add our 

 protest, to that of many others, at the erroneous awards 

 made of many of the prizes, and we must say that they must 

 not in any way be taken as a criterion of the merits of the 

 vai-ious plants exhibited. 



For the prizes for twelve new plants introduced by the 

 exhibitor there were four exhibitors — viz., Messrs. Linden, of 

 Brussels; Veitch, of Chelsea; Ambroise Verschaffelt, of 

 Ghent ; and G-roenewegen, of Amsterdam. 



Mr. Linden's collection was composed of an Anthurium 

 magnifieum, very similar to, if not identical with, the An- 

 thurium cordifoUum sent out recently by the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society; an Echites much in the way of nutans. 

 Franoiscea Liudeniana in bloom, resembling confertiflora ; 

 two Urospathas, named marmorea and maculata, witli leaves 

 something similar to Caladium cupreum, but not quite sufB- 

 ciently developed to decide as to their merits. There were 

 also Slai-antas. Onp named rosea picta, with small round 

 leaves, nicely marked with red, seemed to us one of his most 

 promising plants. He had also Eeimijia Candida, a plant 

 with jasmine-like flowers, but not being open we could not 

 speak as to its merits. Undoubtedly the best plant in the 

 •collection is Aralia mids-de variegata, from Japan, resem- 

 bling more a splendid silver tree-Ivy than any other plant. 

 The leaves are about two inches in diameter, of great sub- 

 stance, and beautifully variegated. 

 • Mr. Veitch showed his fine MarantaVeitehi, a beautiful 

 new Sonerila, with leaves about three inches long and 

 spotted with large pink spots; Urceolina aurea, a fine bulbous 

 plant, with yellow flowers, Polystichum species, Lycopodium 

 species, Schismatoglottis species, and others. 



Mr. A. Verschaffelt showed in his collection a splendid 

 Fern, named Cibotium regale. This is a greenhouse kind, 

 and its fine fronds, which measure eight or nine feet in 

 length, were much admired. This variety forms a stem of 

 five or six feet high, when the fronds are proportionately 

 large. He had also a new stove Palm, named Verschaffeltia 

 splendida by Mr. "Wendland, of Hanover, (being a new 

 genus), which was also much admired; but it will evidently 

 require a large house, being a strong grower. We noticed also 

 in the collection two new kinds of Amaranthus, with leaves 

 of the colour of Amaranthus melancholicus ruber, but very 

 much smaller. The plants are apparently very easily culti- 

 vated, but we do not think they will ever be very useful for 

 decoration. There was also a curious Dracaena, a seedling, 

 having evidently the same character as Dracaena indivisa, 

 but the foliage was of a bright bronzy hue and had a very nice 

 effect. The collection was made up with two variegated 

 SmUaxes, a Dieffeubachia gigantea, with the stum spotted 

 like D. grandis, but having also the leaves spotted with 

 white; a Marottia jacarandfefolia, Maranta splendida, &c., 

 but not calling for any particular notice. 



Mr. Groenewegen's plants were much smaller, and some 

 not quite fully developed, and except a variegated Saccharum 

 officinarum, from Japan, which has the leaves more or less 

 striped with white, this collection did not contain anything 

 of very striking merit. 



For plants introduced before 1864 Mr. Linden and Mr. A. 

 Verschaffelt again competed, and also Mr. J. Verschaffelt, of 

 Ohent. The former had in duplicate nearly all the plants 

 already named in the first section, and also a variety of 

 Dendrobium nobile, with flowers of a pure white ground ; 

 Coccocypselum metaUieum, a trailing plant, having the 

 leaves completely bronzed ; Alocasia singaporense, a s°trong 

 form of Caladium Veitchii ; Saurauja sarapiguensis, a plant 

 with lai-ge red leaves, which will probably make a fine out- I 



door decorative plant, being similar in habit to Wigandia 

 caracasana; Sphajrogyne cinuamomea, Cissus amazonicus, 

 Crescentia Liboniana — the three latter of which we have 

 seen in London before. Mr. Verschaffelt had plants of 

 Agave Sohidigera var. ignescens, a fine-looking variety ; 

 Japanese variegated Camellia, Dracajna Cooperi, a variegated 

 Conoclinium, Prumnopytis elegans, &c. 



Mr. A. Verschaffelt had many of the plants simUar to 

 those described before, and also Aralia Sieboldi reticulata ; 

 several fine Japanese Acers, including sanguineum, which 

 is in the way of japonicum polymorphum and Fredericl 

 GuUiemi, with variegated foliage; Agave hystrix, from Cali- 

 fornia ; a variegated Ardisia from Japan ; Achyranthes Ver- 

 schaffelti, &c. 



For six new plants introduced by the exhibitor there were 

 two collections of plants from Mr. Groenewegen, comprising 

 Phyllogathis rotundifolius, Jambosa species, Aglaonema 

 oblongifolium, Symphonium divaricatum, a form of Caladium 

 Veitchii, Cyoas panaanifolia, Medinilla farinosa, Nephela- 

 phyllum tenuifolium, much in the way of N. pulchrum, but 

 with smaller and more deeply coloured leaves. The other 

 plants do not require any particular notice. 



In the section for three new plants, there were no prizes 

 awarded, the only plants shown being three Begonias, with 

 reddish crimson foliage and white flowers, but which are 

 certainly not at present to be looked on as any improvement 

 to already well-known kinds. 



In the section for one new plant in flower, introduced by 

 the exhibitor, there were seven plants offered for competi- 

 tion. Three came from Mr. Veitch, of Chelsea; Franciscea 

 Lindeniana from Mr. Linden ; Siphocampylus species, we 

 believe from Leyden Botanic Gardens ; Tillandsia thyrsoidea 

 from Utrecht ; and the new Abutilon from Mr. A, Ver- 

 schaffelt. It is quite certain that in this instance the 

 prize was given to the worst plant of all — viz., the Tillandsia, 

 which, we believe, is a very old plant, and, besides, is orna- 

 mental neither in flower nor foliage. 



Mr. Veitch's three plants were his two new seedling Rho- 

 dodendrons, named respectively Princess Alexandra and 

 Princess Helena, and another unnamed kind ; and how the 

 jui-y could have overlooked these and the other much finer 

 plants than the Tillandsia is incomprehensible. The second 

 prize was given to the Abutilon of Mr. A. Verschaffelt. 



In the section for a new plant not in flower, and not yet 

 for sale, there were nine competitors ; and here again we 

 must totally disagree with the awards made. The first 

 prize was given to a plant from the Leyden Botanic Gardens 

 — Cyrtandra bicolor, a Gesneraceous-looking plant, with 

 leaves about 5 inches long, and of a glossy brcnzy hue, but 

 certainly as a plant remarkable for its beauty of foliage not 

 to be compared with others -in this class. Mr. Veitch came 

 second with Maranta Veitchi; and the other plants exhibited 

 were Aralia Sieboldi fcliis reticulatis from Mr. A. Verschaffelt, 

 a fine plant from Japan; Yucca aloifolia fllamentosa, a new 

 variety imported last year from South America by Mr. J. 

 Verschaffelt, who also exhibited Agave Schidereana ignescens 

 in this class ; Rhopala nobilis from Mr. Linden ; and Cha- 

 mserops humilis foliis aureo-variegatis from Mr. Vervaene, 

 of Ghent. This is a seedling raised two years since, and 

 the leaves are slightly striped with bright yellow markings, 

 which are, however, at present hardly sufficiently developed 

 to enable one to judge fully as to the merits of the plant. 



In the class for collection of bulbous and tuberous plants 

 in bloom, Tulips and Crocuses excepted, we observed some 

 flne Pritillarias, Iris herbacea pumila violacea, a dwarf 

 variety of the colour of the Neapolitan Violet; also Iris 

 reticulata, Sprekelia formosissima, Lilium auratum, Lilium 

 Feu Korman, and many other plants not particularly in- 

 teresting, a good specimen of Imantophyllum miniatum, 

 and some nice dwarf Amai-j'llis. 



In the class for collections of twenty-flve Amaryllis for 

 nurserymen were some of the flnest varieties we have ever 

 seen, particularly Fidelio, Johanna Gatharina, and Jean 

 Paul. 



In the classes containing the Hyacinths in pots there 

 were many good specimens ; but they were by no means so 

 fine as those exhibited in London by Messrs. W. Cutbush 

 and Son, and Mr. W. Paul. The sorts were the samo as wo 

 usually receive from Holland. 



For the best new single Hyacinth not yet in o:)mmeree. 



