264 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 436. 



gate mycologic flora, the larger portion being collected by 

 Professor Tracy on a single trip across the territories. 

 Surely there is room for abundant field work throughout 

 this entire third of our area. The exact knowledge of the 

 higher plants is slender enough; any one who has spent 

 even a little time in the area covered by Chapman's Flora 

 is painfully aware of that, but in the field of cryptogamic 

 botany the work has been much less thorough. 



And to whom must we look for the exploration of this 

 vast unknown ? Naturally to the experiment stations scat- 

 tered throughout this area, for they represent the leaders in 

 scientific matters throughout this belt as in no other por- 

 tion of the country. The other colleges, including some 

 that are recognized as state institutions, are mostly strictly 

 literary in their tendencies, and in many of them depart- 

 ments of science, particularly the newer biologic sciences, 

 receive a little encouragement. Throughout this entire 

 area there is scarcely a professor of botany outside of the 

 experiment stations, and the private workers who are suffi- 

 ciently interested in exploration to be of service can easily 

 be counted on the fingers of a single hand. 



There is need of just this sort of exploration, and there is 

 need of it now, before more serious modifications of the 

 original flora occur than civilization has already brought. 

 Considerable is being done at some of the stations, but at 

 others less, and at some nothing. A few have not even a 

 botanist, much less a mycologist, on their staff. The work 

 of investigation of plant diseases is proper, and must be 

 carried on ; the studies of ecology and physiology and 

 pathology are opening up new fields of exploration, and 

 must needs be attended to, but with all these varied inter- 

 ests there is great need that the cryptogamic flora of the 

 southern third of the United States be brought to light. 



While I make this plea for work in mycology, I do not 

 forget that our knowledge of the Alga; of this region is 

 vastly less than that of any other group, and even the 

 Spermaphytes, too often studied from imperfect dried ma- 

 terial, instead of in their native haunts, will follow closely 



on. 



Auburn, Ala. 



Lucien M. Underwood. 



Foreign Correspondence 

 London Letter. 



WE in London are now in the height of the gardening 

 season, and every one in the horticultural world 

 seems to be working at high pressure. This is most evident 

 at the periodical gatherings at the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's headquarters. I thought on Tuesday last that I 

 had rarely seen a more bewildering assemblage of novelties 

 among all classes of plants than was shown there, and 

 seldom has the hall been so full of plants, flowers and 

 people. It was an eloquent sign of the healthy and active 

 state of horticulture in this country at this time. 



I cannot comment upon all the new and remarkable 

 exhibits that interested me, but will pick out a few that the 

 fraternity on your side might like to know about. Begin- 

 ning with the Orchids, which, by unwritten etiquette, are 

 presumed to hold the right of first mention, there was such 

 an extraordinary display of these that not even at the Great 

 Temple show was there such a gathering of the choicest 

 and rarest kinds. I need only mention that the exhibitors 

 included Baron Schrceder. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Hon. Wal- 

 ter Rothschild, Sir F. Wigan, Messrs. Crawsboy, Ingram, 

 Cobb and Gaskell among amateurs, and Messrs. Veitch, 

 Sander, Low and Williams among nurserymen, and from 

 this list orchidists may know that the choicest Orchid col- 

 lections were represented. There were, however, compar- 

 atively few that obtained certificates or awards of merit. 

 The only first-class certificate was given to a splendid form 

 of Miltonia (Odontoglossum) vexillaria, called Memoria 

 G. D. Owen, which has the large flowers of the finest forms 

 with the color of the smaller autumn or late-flowering 

 variety, and so peculiar were the markings that it brought 

 out the general remark that it more resembled the expanded 



wings of a gorgeous butterfly than any Orchid known. It 

 is certainly the most lovely variety yet seen in this coun- 

 try. Among the many new Cattleyas and Lselias, one 

 from Mr. Ingram, named Laelio-Cattleya Pytho, a cross 

 between L. elegans Turneri and Cattleya Loddigesi, was 

 thoroughly deserving of its award of merit. The flowers 

 indicate intermediate characters, the sepals and petals being 

 deep rose-pink, with the broad lip of a deep hue passing to 

 white. Another Laslio-Cattleya is a variety of Mardelli 

 from Messrs. Sander. It differs from the type by the lip 

 being deeper and richer in color, and with a conspicuous 

 lemon-yellow blotch in the throat. It is a cross between 

 L. elegans and C. Luddemanniana, and, no doubt, is a seed- 

 ling variation. A splendid variety of Odontoglossum crispum, 

 named Lord Sherborne, won an award on account of its dis- 

 tinct color, which is white, flushed with rose, and heavily 

 blotched with reddish brown. These were all that the 

 committee distinguished by awards, but among the collec- 

 tions there were some Orchids in superb condition, the 

 names of some of which will be sufficient for specialists 

 who might like to know whose they are. Baron Schrceder 

 had the gorgeous Ladia-Cattleya eximia, with four flowers, 

 perhaps the largest of all Cattleyas, and extremely rich in 

 color; L. -Cattleya Canhauriana ; Cypripedium platyfas- 

 nium, still among the rarest of Orchids ; Sobralia xantho- 

 leuca ; S. macrantha Kienastiana, with gigantic flowers, 

 and fine examples of the rarely seen, but old, Ladia majalis. 

 Sir Trevor Lawrence's collection was chiefly of rare botan- 

 ical Orchids, as they are called — that is, they are not 

 showy. Mr. Rothschild had in his lot a new Catasetum, 

 named splendens leucanthum, a natural hybrid, recalling 

 in size and and form C. Bonigerothi, the flowers of ivory- 

 white, of thick texture and adorned with emerald-green 

 blotches at the base of the petals. Messrs. Veitch had sev- 

 eral of their finest hybrids, and among them the new Disa 

 Langleyensis and D. Kewensis, raised at Kew, both first- 

 rate and decidedly coming Orchids. One of the finest 

 things in Messrs. Sanders' group was Sobralia Amesiana, 

 with beautifully formed flowers of a delicate white, suf- 

 fused with rose-pink. There were many varieties of Cat- 

 tleya Mossia;, as this is just the season for them ; although 

 there are countless varieties, those shown named Mrs. 

 Egerton Grey and E. Ashworth, both from amateurs, are 

 worth noting. 



Among the collections of other plants the Cannas were 

 remarkable, being the finest I had ever seen, especially 

 those from Messrs. Cannell, of Swanley. There were many 

 novelties, but the committee are evidently very careful in 

 giving certificates and awards. Among all the lot but two 

 received awards of merit. One of these, from Messrs. 

 Veitch, was called Austria, a variety with one of the largest 

 flowers I have seen, and of a rich warm yellow, with only 

 faint freckles of red, the best yellow yet seen here. The 

 other award was to Messrs. Paul for one called Georee 

 Paul, very large and of good shape, with rich orange-scarlet 

 spike, massive, the foliage bronzy red. Some of Messrs. 

 Cannell's new sorts I thought were exceptionally good, 

 especially those named Paul Meylan, deep orange-red ; 

 Golden Queen, a fine yellow ; Pierson, intense crimson ; 

 M. H. Debrouse, yellow, spotted with scarlet ; Avilan, a 

 finely formed flower, yellow, spotted with crimson, and 

 Senateur Montefiore, orange-scarlet, blotched with red. 

 Veitch's collection included such fine varieties as Alphonse 

 Bouvier, Comte de Bouchard, L. K. Bailey and Progression. 

 The best in Messrs. Pauls' lot were Czar Alexander III. and 

 J. G. Baker, both first-rate. The collection included new 

 Cannas from a large number of cultivators, but there was 

 no great advance shown over the exhibits of previous sea- 

 sons. It seems as if growers of new Cannas need some 

 new raw material to work upon so as to obtain anewbreak 

 in color. 



Roses were plentiful and in perfection. Among a few 

 new varieties, one of the most remarkable was a white 

 form of Rosa rugosa with fringed petals, named fimbriata. 

 It is decidedly distinct and pretty. It is in flower at Kew, 



