460 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jane 29, 1871. 



"Wednesday, donble-flowered and Tricolor Pelargoniums. Messrs. 

 Downie, Laird, & Laing sent a mixed group of fine-foliaged plants, 

 many fine Phloxes, iSrc. ; Messrs. Paul & Son, Koses ia pots ; Mr. 

 Turner, Show Pelargoniums, Pinks, and Verbenas ; Messrs. Barley 

 and Martin several good Scarlet Pelargoniums. Mr. Tamer and the 

 Kev. G. Arkwright sent collections of cnt blooms of Roses. 



The Metropolitan Floral Society offered prizes for Pinks and Rannn- 

 culases, Mr. Turner, Mr. Hooper, "Widcombe Hill, Bath, and Mr. 

 Pizzey. gardener to Sir E. Fulmer, Slough, were the prizetakers for 

 twenty-four Pinks, while for twenty-four and twelve Ranunculuses the 

 Rev. H. H. Dombrain was first, Mr. Hooper being second for the 

 former, and Mr. 0. Evans, Marston, Oson, for the latter. 



DARLINGTONIA CALIFORNICA. 



^ SiiGHT CDnfusion has been caused by De CandoUe applying the 

 name of Darlingtonia to some members of the Acacias, which he 

 separated from them 

 and formed a new 

 genus. This has 

 been aboliehed, and 

 the species so sepa- 

 rated added to Des- 

 manthus. How- 

 erer, it was re- 

 solved that Dr. Dar- 

 lington, an Ameri- 

 can botanist, should 

 not be robbed of the 

 honour due to him, 

 so Darlingtonia has 

 now been bestowed 

 on a new genus of 

 the natural order 

 SarraceniacesB, or 

 Pitcher Plants. 

 Only one species is 

 known at present, 

 and popularly 

 known as the Cali- 

 fomian Side-saddle 

 or Pitcher Plant. 

 It has been thus 

 •described by Mr. 

 -Black. It is "a pe- 

 rennial herb grow- 

 ing in marshy 

 places. Its leaves 

 all rise from the 

 root, the adult ones 

 Tjeing irom S inches 

 ts a foot or more in 

 length ; the stalk 

 or pitcher tubular, 

 graduall)- tapering 

 downwards and sin- 

 gularU' twisted on 

 the asis about half 

 a turn, marked with 

 strong -veins and 

 -slender veinlets, and 

 "the summit vaulted 

 and foi-med into a 

 sac about the size of 

 alien's egg, on the 

 under side of which 

 is an oval orifice 

 about half an inch 

 in diameter opening 

 into the cavity of 

 "the pitcher ; the up- 

 per part of this tube 

 is of a dull orange 

 ■colour. The blade, 

 "which is borne on 

 ^the end of the stalk 

 or pitcher, is nar- 

 rowed at the base 

 and deeply divided 

 into two spreading 

 nearly lance-sbaped 

 lobes, which are 

 curved downwards, 

 and also often back- . 



wards, resemblintr the lop-ears of some varieties of rabbit. The 

 pitcher inside the hood is furnished with short conical hairs which 

 point downwards, and towards the base there are long slender 



Darlingtonia californica 



hairs also pointing downwards ; remains of insects are some- 

 times found at the bottom. Dr. Dorrey writes ' The orifice of 



the pitcher being 

 placed directly un- 

 der the vaulted sum- 

 mit, cannot receive 

 either rain-water or 

 dew, and yet Mr. 

 Brackenridge thinks 

 lie found some of 

 the leaves contain- 

 ing water; still I 

 cannot think rhe 

 water was secreted 

 by the hairs in the 

 tube.' The flowers 

 are single and nod- 

 ding at the apes 

 of a smooth stalk, 

 which is furnished 

 with straw-coloirred 

 scales, and varies 

 from 2 to 4 feet in 

 length. When folly 

 expiindedthe flower 

 is about 2 inches 

 in diameter ; the 

 calyx consists of 

 five straw-coloured 

 acute sepals ; the 

 petals, of a like 

 number, and pale 

 purple in colour, are 

 narrowed and con- 

 cave at the apex and 

 broad below ; the 

 twelve to fifteen 

 stamens are nearly 

 hidden by the pro- 

 lecting summit of 

 the ovary, which is 

 top-shaped, slightly 

 five-angled, and 

 crowned by a short 

 style with a five- 

 lobed stigma. The 

 fruit is a five-celled 

 capsule about an 

 inch in length, with 

 numerous seeds. 

 The forked blade of 

 the leaf and the 

 form of the stigma 

 distinguish the 



genus from Sarra- 

 cenia, which has an 

 umbrella-shaped 

 stigma." 



Mr. Robinson ob- 

 served on this plant 

 at the Linnean So- 

 ciety, that it grows 

 on the Sierra Ne- 

 vada, at an altitude 

 of 5000 feet above 

 the sea, in small 

 sloping bogs along 

 with Sphagnum and 

 other true bog- 

 plants. At a distance the pitchers have the appearance of 

 Jargonelle Pears, holding their larger ends uppermost, at a 

 distance of from 10 inches to 24 inches above the ground. 



