April 28, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



313 



GOMPHOLOBITJM BARBIGERUM. 



(Beaeded-keelbd Gompholobium.) 





Class, Diadelphia. Order, Decandria. A T at. Ord., Leguminosse. 



Generic Character.— Calyx, five-parted, nearly equal. Carina of two 

 concrete petals. Veiilluro, broad, spreading. Stigma, simple. Legume, 

 many-seeded, nearly spherical, and very blunt.— (JIag. Bot., vol. xii., L 19.) 



Specific Character.— Plant, an evergreen shrub. Stem, erect. Branches, 

 angular. Leaves, alternate, nearly sessile, trifoliate ; leaflets linear, rather 

 acute. Pedicels, iurnished with minute bracteoles. Flowers, about in 

 inch in length, handsome, golden yellow. Keel, bearded along the suture, 

 Vexillum, large, longer than the calyx and keel. Pods glabrous. 



It is recorded in botanical catalogues that Gompholobium 

 barbigerum -was introduced to this country in 1824 ; but it is 

 questionable whether, if this be correct, it was not again soon 

 lost, as we hav« no account of it until about three years ago. 

 But however it may have been with respect to its first intro- 

 duction, it has certainly now found its way into many collections. 

 It is a native of New Holland. 



Under cultivation nothing beyond the treatment bestowed 

 upon greenhouse plants generally is required. It is a robust 

 grower, particularly when compared with G. polymorphum, and 

 some others. Plants in very fine condition were exhibited in 

 London in 1847, by Messrs. Lucombe & Pince, of Exeter, who 

 are said to have been the first to introduce the species to this 

 country. A specimen grown by them had become a large bush, 

 and was profusely decorated with its fine yellow blossoms. It 

 is easily increased by cuttings. 



Mrs. Lawrence's extensive and famous collection of plants, at 

 Ealing Park, furnished in the spring of 1850 the specimen 

 from which our engraving was prepared. 



The soil requisite for it is a mixture of sandy loam and peat, 

 and the plant must stand in a light airy greenhouse, like other 

 New Holland plants, and receive a liberal supply of water during 

 summer, but in winter must be watered with care. 



The generic name is derived from gomphos a club, and lolos 

 a pod, in reference to the shape of the seed-pods. — (PaxtoiCs 

 Magazine.) 



MANAGEMENT OF SPBING BULBS AFTER 

 FLOWERING. 



As most amateur gardeners desire to make the best use of 

 their flowering bulbs in future years, may I ask you how they 

 should be treated after removal from the house to the garden ? 

 It is a story you have often told, so you may be loth to burden 

 your pages with such elementary work. 



The plan I have always adopted, and which you, I believe, have 

 advocated, is, after the beauty of the flowers is over, to cut off 

 the flower-stalks, and carefully to plant the bulbs in some spare 

 ground; then, when the foliage is completely dead, to take them 

 up and to store them in bran or sand, that in the autumn they 

 may be put into the border. A friead, who is a very successful 



florist, told me that I was wrong in thus placing them where 

 their growth might be prolonged ; that the roots spent all their 

 second growth, and would rot away ; and that after their flowering 

 was over they should be gradually dried-off, and after a while 

 the earth shaken from them. He, moreover, gaTe as a reason 

 that the future blossom was forming while the bulb was at rest. 



Now, I presume the physiology is, that so long a3 the leaves 

 remain green and vigorous the roots are in action, and storing 

 up materials for future growth, that the longer the leaves con- 

 tinue in vigour the better is the promise for the future. There 

 can be no doubt that the finest blooms of the larger Narcissus 

 are to be gathered from those roots that have not been moved 

 for years ; the bloom is large;' and more vigorous, though later 

 than when the roots have been potted. The same rule obtains 

 with the Crocus, with Gladiolus, and the common Narcissus ; 

 whether it is applicable to Hyacinths I do not know, as they 

 were removed to make way for other plants. 



Acting on your suggestion, last autumn I put some of my 

 Hyacinths into a heap of mould, and when the bloom was quite 

 large I carefully lifted them into pots, using one-third cocoa-nut 

 fibre refuse and two-thirds maiden loam ; they did not flag at all 

 by the removal. This spring having been so exceptionally warm 

 and free of frost has rendered this more applicable than in ordi- 

 nary seasons. The blooms of these have much surpassed those 

 more carefully managed in pots, and covered with ashes before 

 they were brought into the house.— B. J. S. 



GEOMETRY APPLICABLE TO GARDENING. 



(Continued from page 295.) 



The line also receives various denominations, according to its 

 position and properties. 



A perpendicular is a right line, that is made or expressed by 

 the fall of a plumb, or by the elevation at right angles of any 

 line upon the middle or end of another, as is A, B, and c. 



A ! V A 



B 



Q 



A line horizontal, is a line of an equal poise, which inclines 

 equally on the one part and the other, as D E. In gardening it 

 is generally understood to be the basis or bottom of a terrace, 

 slope, &c, though it is properly any level line, and may as well 

 signify the top of a terrace, or any other plane, or dead level. 



.v-^- 



«<- E. 



An oblique line is neither horizontal nor perpendicular, but 

 sloping as Q- H, and may be more or less steep, as seen in the 

 slopes of ramparts and terrace walks. This line is called the 

 hypotheneuse, when we speak of artificial triangles. Every slope 

 from rampart or terrace is formed by a triangle, though the 

 horizontal line and the perpendicular be unseen. G H is the 

 hypotheneuse or slope line ; B, horizontal ; A, perpendicular. 



H 



Lines parallel are those that are of equal distance from each 

 other, which, though they are extended never so far, are neither 

 nearer nor farther off from each other, as are the lines F. 



I 1 



These lines are all demonstrated in the accompanying figure 

 taken from a celebrated author to show one form (and we think 



Bl 



