December 5, 1872. , 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



443 



received a cultural commendation. It contained Cattleya exoni- 

 .ensis and Dominiana, the first a magnificent variety of this fine 

 hybrid ; a fine pan of Oncidium cheirophorum, with numerous 

 trusses of its pale yellow sweet-scented flowers ; the rare Pleione 

 Reichenbachiana, with two flowers on a spike ; Calanthe Veitchii 

 and C. vestita, most useful winter-blooming plants. Messrs. 

 "Veitch also sent Aphelandra nitens with handsome, glossy, deep 

 green foliage, and rich orange-crimson flowers ; it received a 

 "first-class certificate. The same award was made to them for 

 Poinsettia pulcherrima major, of which the purplish crimson 

 bracts are more numerous than in the old form, and it is doubt- 

 less an improvement upon it. Mr. W. Bull also exhibited a 

 fine group, which had likewise a cultural commendation. In it 

 were Godwinia gigas, with a single dull purple-coloured spathe, 

 the stalk singularly barred and mottled; Drcmonorops palembi- 

 ensis, a handsome table Palm. Also the following, which had 

 first-class certificates — Croton spirale, the leaves yellow, crim- 

 son, and purple, singularly twisted ; C. majesticum, a very hand- 

 Gome species with leaves 15 inches long, mottled and veined 

 with crimson and yellow ; and Zygopetalum cerinum, a hand- 

 some species, in which the sepals and petals are greenish white, 

 the lip yellow, the throat barred with maroon. 



Mr. Clarke, market gardener, Twickenham, sent a fine collec- 

 tion of Cyclamens, which were awarded a cultural commenda- 

 tion. From Messrs. E. G. Henderson came double forms of the 

 same flower, of different colours ; not so attractive as the single 

 form, though now that the break has begun no one can predict 

 what a feature they may ultimately become. Mr. A. Forsyth, 

 nurseryman, Stoke Newington, sent Chrysanthemum Mrs. For- 

 syth, a seedling from Christine, with globular white flowers, 

 much larger than those of its parent. Mr. George, gardener to 

 Miss Nicholson, contributed a very pretty collection of cut 

 flowers. From Mr. Turner, Slough, came a fine collection of 

 dwarf standard green-leaved Aucubas, bearing a profusion of 

 berries, together with A. Standishii, with a large head and very 

 showy oblong berries. 



A cultural commendation was awarded to Mr. J. Jaques, 

 gardener to P. Cunliffe, Esq., Hooley House, Coulesdon, for 

 Calanthe Veitchii, with two spikes, having two dozen to thirty 

 flowers each, and most lovely in colour. Mr. Croucher, gardener 

 to J. Peacock, Esq., Sudbury House, Hammersmith, had a first- 

 class certificate for Agave Corderoyii, with light green leaves 

 set with purple spines. Mr. Green, gardener to W. Wilson 

 Saunders, Esq., Hillfield, Reigate, received a second-class cer- 

 tificate for Coliopsis hyacinthosma with waxwork-like white 

 flowers. Messrs. Perkins, nurserymen, Coventry, sent Selagi- 

 nella albo-lineata, which has been exhibited before. 



■COLLETIA BICTONENSIS, C. HOERIDA, AND 

 OTHER AUTUMN-FLOWERING SHRUBS. 



I am glad that notice is being taken of this very curious 

 plant, and I can endorse all that has been said about it, except- 

 ing its origin, which in some way seems to have been con- 

 nected with Bicton, but I believe its usual trade name now is 

 C. cruciata. The plant altogether differs so widely from any- 

 thing else that I am acquainted with, that there appears to be 

 little doubt of its being a distinct species. 



Many years ago I had a plant from Messrs. Osborn, of Ful- 

 ham, a firm famous for hardy shrubs and trees of all kinds. 

 This was named C. bictonensis. It withstood the winter of 

 1860-61 in a fully-exposed place, but succumbed to that of 

 1866-67, having flowered more than once between these severe 

 winters. Another plant was procured and planted in the same 

 place, and this is now a sturdy formidable shrub upwards of 

 7 feet high, and the top covered with flowers, which are at 

 least ten times as numerous as the tiny lanceolate leaves, 

 which an ordinary looker-on might easily fail to see. I do not 

 think it has ever flowered so abundantly as during this season, 

 but it has bloomed on several occasions before. 



Respecting its suitability for a hedge plant, I fear it does not 

 in all cases grow fast enough ; but it is one of the most difficult 

 plants I know to approach, except some of the Cacti, and 

 these, as is well known, will not survive out of doors. Except- 

 ing in 1866-67, 1 have not seen this plant in the least affected 

 by the cold. 



C. horrida is also a formidable plant, which I do not remem- 

 ber having seen flower ; it is, however, not so remarkable as 

 C cruciata. 



The present autumn seems to be favourable to the blooming 

 of shrubs, for I see Aralia spinosa has bloomed also. Might 

 I ask if A. japonica and A. spinosa are alike ? The difference 

 with me is so small that I fail to perceive it, both being de- 

 ciduous, with sub-pinnated leaves, the central stalk or midrib 

 of which exceeds 5 feet in length — the largest deciduous leaf I 

 know. A large cluster, or rather umbel, of flowers often ap- 



pears at the top of the shoots in fine autumns, and such 

 were produced this year. The pretty evergreen species A. Sie- 

 boldii, which has stood out here two winters in a very exposed 

 place without any protection, is also flowering this season. I 

 hope to hear of this shrub being more plentiful, its deep shining 

 green leaves give it a striking appearance. Amongst other 

 autumn-flowering, or partly-flowering, shrubs I find the spikes 

 of Andromeda forrnosa are not so forward this season as they 

 have been sometimes ; and the same may be said of the Cornish 

 Heath and others of its class. 



Referring again to hedge plants, might I ask if anyone has 

 tried Madura aurantiaca (the Osage Orange) for this purpose ? 

 Many years ago Mr. Ridgway, of Fairlawn, in this county, had 

 some hedges of it, and it was at the time strongly recom- 

 mended as a hedge plant, not merely as forming ornamental 

 hedges, which, by-the-by, it has little claim to do, but for- 

 midable fences, for which its sharp thorns fit it well. The 

 plants which I had of it did not seem to ripen the whole of 

 their shoots, thus showing it wanted a hotter summer. A 

 gentleman visiting here from Canada some years ago, said 

 it made good hedges there, where the severity of the winter 

 was even too much for our Whitethorn ; but as a single plant 

 it is rambling and unsightly, and in point of interest, if not 

 also in utility, it falls far short of the two Colletias. — J. Robson. 



A notice of Colletia bictonensis at page 406 will have re- 

 minded the readers of The Journal of Horticulture of the 

 not less curious and interesting C. horrida, a specimen of which 

 has been growing here for upwards of ten years, a period suf- 

 ficiently long in connection with attendant circumstances to 

 judge of its merits as a garden plant. It is now about 4 feet 

 high, with a somewhat irregular head of dense clusters or tufts 

 of sharp spines, and anyone, unless covered with a coat of mail 

 or some other impervious protection, would hesitate a long 

 time before attempting to make his way through a thicket 

 composed of this shrub. At bottom the spines have dropped, 

 leaving almost bare the main stem, which is not much unlike 

 that of the common Furze of the same age and size, and 

 branched. The plant is sheltered from the north and east by 

 the house. The earliest growth of the season has generally stood 

 well during the following winter, but the later shoots have been 

 invariably injured more or less by frost, and in severe weather 

 killed entirely. 



The suitableness of C. horrida for forming a hedge, as the 

 Editors justly observe of C. bictonensis, is more than doubtful 

 from several causes — its irregular habit, which might, however, 

 to some extent, be regulated by pruning ; but the uncertainty 

 attending its capability to withstand the severity of some of 

 our winters, unless in a very sheltered situation, more than 

 counteracts the advantages (if any) of the formidable barrier 

 a hedge formed of this plant would offer to incursions ; and 

 even if a row or hedge of it were planted in a favoured 

 situation, the effect of severe weather would render it un- 

 sightly for several months. The dropping of the spines at the 

 bottom would make it utterly fail to keep out small animals, 

 as rabbits, against which an effectual permanent barrier is 

 often a desideratum. As a single specimen it should be re- 

 tained in the garden and shrubbery as a curiosity of vegetation, 

 for the contrast which its peculiar colour would give, and for 

 the botanical interest attached to it. — A. H. Kent. 



EXHIBITING FRUIT NOT GROWN BY THE 

 EXHIBITOR. 



Was it lawful for exhibitors to purchase fruit for competition 

 at the late International Fruit Show held at Kensington ? I 

 intended to exhibit, but declined doing so, owing to a gentle- 

 man, a stranger to me, who declined giving his name, coming 

 to my nursery and inquiring for large Pears. He was search- 

 ing this island over for large fruit, and he told me they were 

 intended for the International Fruit Show. As this was being 

 done, I decided not to show, and sold him my Pears at very 

 high prices. Will you say if fruit thus obtained is eligible for 

 competition? — Charles Smith, Caledonia Nursery, Guernsey. 



[In horticultural exhibitions, when no conditions are pub- 

 lished, it is always understood and expected that the subjects 

 exhibited are grown by and are the property of the exhibitors. 

 In exhibitions where there are what are called " open" classes, 

 in which fruiterers and dealers in fruit may compete, it can- 

 not be expected that the fruit they exhibit should be of their 

 own production. As there were no " open " classes mentioned 



