3H 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 441. 



English gardens, failing to flower even where it grows 

 freely. Breeders of Roses here look upon this species as a 

 likely one to cross with the commoner sorts. Lord Pen- 

 zance records his failure to cross it in one year when he 

 managed to get a few flowers. The distinct character of 

 the foliage ot Rosa laevigata would be an additional attrac- 

 tion to the Hybrid Perpetuals. 



Didymocarpus Malayanus. — This is a new introduction of 

 Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, who exhibited plants of it in flower 

 this week and obtained for it a first-class certificate. A 

 figure of it has also been prepared for publication in Tlie 

 Botanical Magazine. The genus, which is closely related 

 to Streptocarpus, comprises about seventy species, natives 

 of India, Malaya and southern China. I have seen a con- 

 siderable number of them tried as garden plants, but they 

 do not thrive under cultivation here. Apparently, however, 

 Didymocarpus Malayanus is an exception. It is not un- 

 like the common Streptocarpus in habit, having green ovate 

 hairy leaves and erect few-flowered scapes four inches high, 

 the flowers nodding, tubular, two inches long and colored 

 primrose-yellow. The plant requires stove treatment. No 

 doubt Messrs. Veitch will try to cross it with Streptocarpus, 

 and possibly with valuable results, the color of the flowers 

 being novel. I believe the main difference between Strep- 

 tocarpus and Didymocarpus is that in the former the valves 

 of the fruit are spirally twisted, and in the latter they are 

 straight. D. Humboldtianus and D. Griffithii are some- 

 times to be met with in cultivation. 



Adiantum Bessonianum. — This is a new seedling or 

 hybrid Fern which Mr. James O'Brien, of Harrow, has 

 introduced from Trinidad and exhibited before the Royal 

 Horticultural Society this week, who awarded it a certifi- 

 cate. It is supposed by some to bear indications of a 

 hybrid origin from Adiantum tenerum and A. trapeziforme. 

 The pinna; are large, thicker in texture, more rounded in 

 form and more crowded on the frond than in A. trapezi- 

 forme, while in habit the plant is more compact and 

 crowded with fronds than either supposed parent. I 

 should prefer to look upon it as a sport from A. tenerum, 

 from which, in the opinion of Mr. Baker, A. Farleyense, A. 

 Lathomi, A. Ghiesbreghtii, A. Victoria?, A. Bansei, A. rhodo- 

 phyllum and A. princeps have probably all sprung. What- 

 ever its origin or affinity, A. Bessonianum is a distinct Fern 

 which is likely to become a favorite with growers of deco- 

 rative Ferns. 



Zygopetalum grandiflorum. — A healthy plant bearing a 

 raceme of two flowers of this rare species was shown this 

 week by Sir Trevor Lawrence. It is remarkable as being 

 the largest-flowered of all the Zygopetalums, and it is 

 anomalous in having Huntleya-like flowers and pseudo- 

 bulbs. Reichenbach called it Batemannia grandiflora. It 

 was introduced from Colombia by Linden, and first flow- 

 ered in this country about thirty years ago. The pseudo- 

 bulbs are ovoid, furrowed, each bearing two leaves, which 

 are lanceolate and about a foot long. The scape is about 

 six inches long and bears from two to five flowers, each 

 four inches across ; sepals and petals equal, lanceo- 

 late, green, with longitudinal brown stripes ; lip broad, 

 three-lobed, white, with purplish raised lines and a semi- 

 circular crest, conspicuously toothed and colored red and 

 yellow. The top of the column is white. The plant is 

 grown in a moist tropical house at Burford Bridge, where 

 Sir Trevor Lawrence has an exceptionally rich collection 

 of Zygopetalums, both tropical and temperate. 



Ccelogyne Sanderiana. — Reichenbach first described this 

 plant in 1887 from specimens introduced from the Sunda 

 Islands and flowered by Messrs. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 

 It is one of the most beautiful species of this large genus, 

 and when grown as was a specimen exhibited by Messrs. 

 Sander & Co. this week its beauty is exceptional. The 

 plant under notice bore six pendulous spikes, each carrying 

 six or eight flowers, and each flower when flattened out 

 measured nearly four inches across, and was colored milk- 

 white with a few brown lines and a blotch of yellow on 



the lip. The pseudo-bulbs in this species are ovoid, about 

 three inches long, angled, wrinkled when old. The leaves 

 are about a foot long and three inches wide. A cultural 

 commendation was awarded to Messrs. Sander for their 

 fine production. Coming from the Sunda Islands this spe- 

 cies requires tropical treatment. Messrs. Sander & Co. 

 grow it along with Phakenopsis. 



Dendrobium Macarthi.e. — One of the rarest and most 

 beautiful of all Dendrobiums is this species, which is pecu- 

 liar to the forests of Ceylon, from whence it has frequently 

 been imported since its first introduction to Kevv in 1855. 

 No one has yet succeeded in keeping it in health in this 

 country longer than two or three years ; consequently, it 

 has always been in demand. Collectors do not, as a rule, 

 concern themselves over such nice botanical questions as 

 the extermination of a plant from the wild flora of a coun- 

 try. On the recommendation of the Director of the Botanic 

 Gardens at Ceylon the Government of that colony has, 

 therefore, issued an order forbidding the collection of this 

 and other rare Orchids in the Crown forests without a 

 special permit. Sir Trevor Lawrence exhibited this week 

 a well-flowered example of it, and it has also flowered 

 recently in the tropical Orchid-house at Kew. Plenty of 

 heat and moisture from June till November, followed by a 

 rest of about two months in an intermediate temperature 

 and dry atmosphere, are the conditions most congenial to it. 



London. W. WatSOn. 



Cultural Department. 



The Herbaceous Border. 



Lychnis Sieboldii. — Of the several varieties of Lychnis ful- 

 gens the one known as L. Sieboldii is the most distinct on 

 account of its pure white flowers. It is a Japanese variety of 

 great beauty, growing a foot or eighteen inches high and pro- 

 ducing its large flowers throughout summer if grown in suffi- 

 ciently moist and rich soil. The petals are broad, slightly 

 lobed, the corolla being more compact and rounded than in 

 any other variety. The leaves are mostly ovate-oblong, shorter 

 and more rounded than those of the species and covered with 

 soft downy hairs. This variety is generally propagated by 

 means of division, but it will also come true from seeds. It 

 grows best in a rich and moist soil and prefers slightly shady 

 positions. All varieties of L. fulgens, as well as the species 

 itself, may be planted with excellent effect in the outskirts of 

 woods or in open shrubberies. 



Linaria alpina — Visitors to the Alps or other European 

 mountain regions cannot fail to notice a beautiful tufted plant 

 growing in moist crevices of rocks and covered with attractive 

 flowers of a deep violet-blue, with a bright golden throat. The 

 leaves are linear, or almost terete, nearly an inch long- and 

 placed four in a whorl around the slender stems. The flow- 

 ers, which measure about half an inch in length, are spurred 

 and produced in terminal loosely capitate racemes throughout 

 the summer. This plant is one of the most desirable and 

 effective rock-plants, easy to grow almost anywhere and 

 readily increased by means of seeds. If grown in exposed 

 and sunny positions it requires an occasional watering to de- 

 velop the best qualities. It thrives best in slightly shady 

 places in a deep and moist fissure, or where it is protected by 

 overhanging rocks or ledges, or close to a waterfall, where the 

 air is moist and cool. Under favorable conditions it forms 

 quite large tufts, and is then very effective. 



Arnica montana. — From the latter part of June through the 

 month of July, when American woods are almost devoid of 

 flowers, the Mountain Tobacco, or Arnica, is one of the 

 great attractions in all open deciduous woods in northern 

 Europe. The flowers are about two inches in diameter, with 

 numerous rather narrow ray-florets, of a very beautiful shade 

 of yellow, between salmon and orange, abundantly borne on 

 slightly leafy scapes eight inches to a foot high, which bear 

 one or more flower-heads. The leaves are about six inches 

 long, lanceolate, entire and quite smooth. They grow in tufts 

 among the grass in high and dry woods, mostly in gravelly or 

 sandy soil. The Arnica well deserves to be introduced in 

 woods and natural parks. It may also be grown in a rockery 

 with good effect. It is propagated by means of division or 

 seeds. 



Caccinia glauca. — This is a composite herbaceous plant, 



