1 44 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 424. 



York. The pleasure of the majority should be chiefly con- 

 sidered. The majority of those who enjoy our small parks 

 are the persons who have the habit of frequenting the 

 same one day by day, or who pass it perforce in their 

 daily round to and from their places of business, or whose 

 windows look out upon it. And these people might — I do 

 not say that they would — prefer to have their park display 

 as many as possible of the beauties characteristic of each 

 season in turn rather than to find it supremely attractive 

 at any one season. 



But, be this as it may, Madison Square would be im- 

 proved for all seasons if it were rearranged according to 

 Messrs. Bell & Langton's plan. This does not mean that 

 the plan is faultless. In the first place, its authors were 

 obliged to accept the trees as they stand instead of con- 

 ceiving their plantations as an harmonious whole. Then, 

 this fact puts difficulties in the way of shrub-planting ; for, 

 while many shrubs grow well under trees if they are planted 

 when the trees are, and become well established before the 

 ground is shaded, it is harder to induce them to thrive when 

 set after the associated trees have attained their growth. 

 And, finally, an actual mistake may be pointed out in the 

 new plan : lawns which run to sharp points are undesira- 

 ble in public pleasure-grounds because unruly feet are 

 almost certain to trample upon these points, and also be- 

 cause the grass will dry out and the lawn-mower does not 

 easily reach them. Nevertheless, considering the attendant 

 difficulties, the plan is interesting. It is published here 

 less with the idea that Madison Square may actually be 

 renovated according to its indications than in the belief 

 that a comparison of it with the existing state of the Square 

 will be instructive to those charged with the arrangement of 

 new small parks in this and other cities. Sometimes, even in 

 small urban parks, conspicuous features may prescribe a 

 naturalistic method. of treatment. This was the case, for 

 example, on Mount Morris Park, in Harlem, where the 

 existence of a bold rocky hill, as tall as the surrounding 

 houses, inspired the reservation of the tract around it. 

 But such instances are very rare. As a rule, a formal or 

 semi-formal manner of treatment, resulting in a pleasure- 

 ground which is properly to be called a large garden rather 

 than a park, must be most appropriate for restricted areas 

 in the heart of a great city. And Messrs. Bell & Langton 

 show that such a manner of treatment need not exclude 

 variety in design, abundance of shade, the reposeful effect 

 of wide green lawns, or even such seemingly unstudied, 

 yet artistic, arrangements of trees, shrubs and grass as 

 may produce pleasingly naturalistic impressions and il- 

 lusions. „ r _ „ „ 



New York city. "*■• Cr. van Rensselaer. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



Lissochilus cristatus. — This is a beautiful terrestrial 

 Orchid in the way of Lissochilus Krebsii, and evidently as 

 likely to thrive under artificial treatment as that species, 

 hitherto the only one of the thirty species known that 

 deserves to rank with good garden Orchids. L. cristatus 

 was named by Mr. Rolfe on its first flowering at Kew in 

 September, 1892, having been received from Uganda, where 

 it was collected on the hills by Mr. Buchanan. It has 

 lately flowered also in a garden in Liverpool and the scape 

 has been sent to Kew. The pseudo-bulbs are ovoid, the 

 leaves narrow, lanceolate, thick and somewhat fleshy, and 

 about a foot long. The scape is erect, thirty inches long, 

 and it bears ten flowers, each one and a half inches across ; 

 sepals small, dull purple ; petals broadly oval, nearly an 

 inch long, flat, purplish crimson in front, bright yellow 

 behind ; lip saccate, with a distinct spur ; the mouth wide, 

 the front lobe short, with prominent ridges, bright yel- 

 low, with a maroon-colored tip ; column short, purplish, 

 with a green apex. L. Krebsii grows and flowers freely at 

 Kew in a warm greenhouse, and L. cristatus promises to 

 do equally well under similar treatment. It is an Orchid 



which, if a few hundred plants were placed on the market, 

 would secure ready buyers. 



Cypripedium Sander.e. — One thousand plants, recently 

 imported, were sold by auction here last week under this 

 "provisional" name. The description states that this is 

 the best Cypripedium for cutting purposes ever introduced, 

 and that from photographs and measurements received 

 with the plants this species is believed to be far and away 

 the largest of the genus yet discovered. Here is a descrip- 

 tion of the flower : 



Dorsal sepal broadly spear-shaped, the basal portion, median 

 line and veins a warm crimson-maroon, the central portion a 

 clear canary-yellow tinged with green and with a broad margin 

 of pure white. The lateral petals, disposed at right angles to the 

 pouch and dorsal sepal, are of great breadth, much broader 

 than in any other Cypripede we know of ; most distinct and 

 beautiful in color, the upper half of each petal is of the same 

 color as the basal portion of the dorsal sepal, the lower halves 

 being a clear yellow, slightly shaded in some instances with 

 maroon. The pouch is unique in shape, being much narrower 

 and more elongated than any other in the genus ; in color it is 

 yellow shading into ochre. Most beautiful and quite novel in 

 shape. 



I cannot identify this vague description with any known 

 species of Cypripedium, unless it be an ally of C. villosum. 

 The plants were in excellent condition, and we shall, no 

 doubt, soon be in a position to judge whether it deserves 

 all that the venders say of it. At the same time protest 

 must be made against this growing practice with Orchid 

 dealers of giving new names to plants on the chance of 

 their proving new when they flower. 



An importation of "a new and magnificent Cypripedium 

 from the Malayan archipelago " was sold by auction this 

 week. Is it likely that this is identical with the preceding? 

 The collector in this case states that he discovered the 

 plants in an island devoid of civilization, and that this "is 

 certainly the grandest Cypripedium I have ever seen, and 

 should prove one of the most sensational productions of 

 late years. 7 ' In this case the vender has omitted to give 

 the plant a name. 



Ccelogyne virginalis is still another "provisionally 

 named " introduction of which a hundred plants were sold 

 in London this week. It is described as a new species 

 with large, well-shaped pure white blossoms in the way of 

 C cristata, and deliciously fragrant. They are produced in 

 great abundance during the winter months. The exigen- 

 cies of trade may justify this kind of proceeding, but it is 

 utterly bad in a botanical sense. 



Zygopetalum PERRENONDr. — This is a beautiful hybrid 

 which has been raised by Monsieur A. Peeters, nursery- 

 man, Brussels, from Zygopetalum intermedium and Z. max- 

 illare Gauteri. It was exhibited last week and was awarded 

 a certificate by the Royal Horticultural Society. It bore 

 a stout scape of five flowers, each nearly three inches 

 across, the sepals and petals lanceolate, spreading, with 

 recurved margins, colored green, with bands of dark 

 brown, and the lip of the same shape as Z. Mackayi, 

 colored intense violet-blue, with reticulations of a darker 

 shade. 



Miltonia Bleuana aurea is a variety of this remarkable 

 hybrid, in which the flowers are four inches across and the 

 white labellum is conspicuously marked with yellow at the 

 base. It was shown last week by Monsieur Peeters and 

 received a first-class certificate. 



Anguloa uniflora. — An importation of this well-known 

 Orchid, the type of the genus, in fact, was sold in London 

 a few weeks ago under the " provisional'' name of Anguloa 

 albo-magna. Some of the plants have flowered lately and 

 prove to be identical with the plant figured in The Botanical 

 Magazine, t. 4807. The flowers are of medium size, white, 

 tinged with rose and spotted with pale red. 



Epidendrum elegantulum is a new Veitchian hybrid in 

 which there are two parts of E. YVallisii and one of E. En- 

 dresii, the two species named having been first crossed 

 and the product crossed again with E. Wallisii. It was 

 shown in flower last week and obtained a first-class cer- 



