116 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Angast 9, 187T. 



Venus de Medici, its healthy glossy foliage enhancing the 

 effect of the blush sepals and purple corolla. 



We regret to hear that the Potato disease is very pre- 

 valent in some parts of Cornwall, the American sorts being the 

 most severely affected. A resident in the district states that 

 " it is worse than has been known for some years." 



It is not often that a new plant attains popularity 



so quickly as has been the case with Harrison's new Giant 

 Musk, MnruLus jioschatus Habbisoni. It is already established 

 as a market plant, and will shortly be as common on the 

 flower-barrows in the London streets as are Fuchsias, Helio- 

 tropes, and Geraniums. As a window plant, a greenhouse 

 plant, and probably as a bedding plant in cool and rather 

 shaded situations, it is likely to become fashionable. Its flowers 

 are not only conspicuous and attractive, but are produced pro- 

 fusely and continuously, and the fragrance of the plant is 

 nearly if not quite equal to the common Musk — qualities 

 which have established it in popular estimation, and rendered 

 it in a comparatively short period a general favourite. 



CLAYTONIA VIRGINICA. 



The Claytonias are hardy herbaceous perennials whioh were 

 more popular half a century ago than they are now. Old 



to succeed best : — Godetia, most beautiful and lasting ; Virginian 

 Stock, very early, and lasting in flower much longer than 

 when sown in spriDg ; Saponaria ealabrica, very good ; and 

 Sweet Alyssum. — G. 0. S. 



Kg. 26. — Claytonia virgiirica. 



plants are, however, being inquired after again, and we happen 

 to be able to answer the question of a correspondent, " Tybo," 

 who asks " what sort of plants the Claytonias are," by pub- 

 lishing a figure of one of the oldest of the species. The genus 

 was named after John Clayton, a collector of plants in Virginia. 

 The plant figured was introduced to this country in 1740 ; it 

 only grows a few inches high and has pretty white flowerB. It 

 succeeds best in a moist soil and a shady situation, and is 

 seldom found except in botanical collections. This speoies is 

 also known as C. tuberosa ; the roots are eaten in eastern 

 Siberia. 



Annuals foe Autuitnal Sowing. — As the season for sowing 

 the above is faBt approaching I hope that some of your ama- 

 teur garden readers and workers will interchange opinions on 

 the best annuals for this purpose. I have found the following 



THE SUCCULENT HOUSE AT KEW. 

 This house, which is represented in the accompanying illus- 

 tration, is generally acknowledged to be one of the leading 

 features in the Royal Gardens. The structure is 200 feet long 

 and 30 in breadth, affording from one end to the other an 

 unsurpassed view of the most characteristic types of vegeta- 

 tion adapted to flourish in dry regions. 



Immediately on entering at the north end we find in flower 

 several of the Stapelias, or Carrion-flowers of South Africa. 

 Two of these, S. primulina and S. Sarpedon, are quite new ; 

 the former is not much unlike the flower of a Primrose, and is 

 singular in the genus from being of nearly the same colour. 

 S Sarpedon is a fine flower, nearly 5 inches in diameter ; it is 

 vinous purple in colour, with pale cross-bars, and the edges 

 are fringed with fine hairs. S. angustiloba has remarkably 

 narrow corolla-lobes. S. bnfonia is really handsome, and 

 also one of the most easily cultivated. The flower is yellow, 

 wrinkled on the surface, and variously spotted with dull 

 purple. Many others are in bud or flower, and the collection 

 is particularly rich in new and undescribed species. 



The new genera, Decabelone and Hoodia, are both repre- 

 sented, the former by D. Barklyi and D. elegans. The stems 

 of D. Barklyi are indeed pretty, having no equal in any of the 

 allies. The flowers have been compared to Foxglove, which 

 it resembles in shape. It has quite the odour of Stapelia, 

 but requires to be sniffed from the depth of its tube. The 

 Hoodia just referred to was believed to be H. Barklyi until its 

 present blooming, when it fortunately proves to be entirely 

 new. The name has not yet been given. It is similar in habit 

 to H. Gordoni ; the flowers are of much the same colour, but 

 are distinctly cup-shaped. 



Turning to the right, attached to an Euphorbia is a specimen 

 of the curious TillandBia usneoides, which flowered a short 

 time ago for the first time in this country. It is the " Old 

 Man's Beard " of the south United States and the West Indies. 

 It has narrow leaves and slender stems, hanging in twining 

 masses from the branches of trees, and is covered all over with 

 white scales, as if bedecked with hoar frost. It is used for 

 packing and other purposes, even inclusive of medicine. The 

 flowers are green and inconspicuous. 



Of Euphorbias there is an unrivalled collection, including 

 many species yet unnamed. One may be mentioned in par- 

 ticular : the stem is divided by constrictions into short joints, 

 where it then expands into broad wings, bearing enormous 

 spines lior 2 inches long, spreading in all directions. E. stel- 

 lsspina is choice and rare, while Cereus-like in shape it 

 is covered with branching spines. E. resinifera is most im- 

 portant from an economic point of view. It yields the true 

 euphorbium, a drug used by the ancients, and though now ob- 

 solete as an internal remedy twelve cwts. were imported in 

 1870, perhaps for the composition of a paint used to preserve 

 ship-bottoms, it being said to be in some demand for the pur- 

 pose. Its collection was described by Dioseorides and Pliny, 

 though until a few years ago the true source was unknown to- 

 botanists. Unmistakeable as the Euphorbias usually are, they 

 sometimes bear a close resemblance to plants widely distinct. 

 E. mammillaris in some of itB shoots is extremely like Eohi- 

 nopsis cereiformis, and which, allied to Stapelia, was some- 

 time ago known as S. cylindrica. Sarcostemma Brunonianum. 

 was found some time ago doing duty for Euphorbia pendula, 

 the one yielding a refreshing juice, and the other poisonous. A 

 grand specimen of E. canariensis faces the door, spreading its 

 Bqnare succulent branches almost to the width of the bed. A 

 nearly allied genus, Pedilanthus, is peculiar from the foot- 

 shaped form of the flowers, and P. tithymaloides is now in 

 bloom. 



Bromelia antiacantha, or B. sceptrum as it is more often 

 called, is now in striking condition; the lower bracts, a foot 

 long, are flame scarlet, those subtending the flowers are pure 

 white, some with scarlet tips. The inflorescence measures 

 li foot in height; the flowers occur in clusters, and are of an 

 unusual violet purple. The mutual dependance between plants 

 and inseots, apart from the subject of fertilisation, is beauti- 

 fully illustrated by Acacia sprerocephala, the Boll's-thom 

 Acaoia, and a specieB of ant, both found in Nicaragua. In this 

 Acacia the stipules are transformed into immense hollow 



