324 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 442. 



bulbs. It belongs to the same section of the genus as O. 

 Arabicum and 0. thyrsoides, differing from them in having 

 narrow leaves and slender scapes, while the flowers, though 

 smaller, are at least as attractive in being numerous and 

 prettily marked. The bulbs are about an inch in diameter, 

 the leaves nine inches long and half an inch wide ; scapes 

 erect, a foot long each, bearing a subumbellate raceme of 

 about twenty flowers, which are one and a half inch 

 across, star-like, glistening white, the lower half covered 

 with a blotch of deep olive-brown. The species is a native 

 of south Africa, from whence it was introduced and culti- 

 vated in England nearly a century ago. It has lately been 

 reintroduced from the Cape to Kew, where some potfuls of 

 it are now flowering in a cool greenhouse. 



Gladiolus primulinus. — When Air. Baker described this 

 species from a newly imported bulb six years ago it was 

 much weaker than it is now. About a dozen spikes of 

 flowers are now at their best in a sunny border, and in 

 length, sturdiness and number of flowers they almost equal 

 Gladiolus dracocephalus or G. Quartinianus ; indeed, one 

 might describe G. primulinus as a G. Quartinianus with 

 yellow flowers. The scape is three feet long, and it bears 

 about ten flowers arranged loosely on the upper third. The 

 flowers are remarkable in having the top segment curved 

 downward, completely hiding the inside of the tube and 

 three lower segments, while the pair of upper lateral seg- 

 ments are broad and spread outward wing-like. When they 

 first open the flowers are greenish yellow, afterward be- 

 coming primrose-yellow, with a few dust-like spots of red 

 about the base of the segments. It is a promising garden 

 plant. 



Crinum Powelli. — Fine masses of the rose, rose-crimson 

 and white-flowered forms of this hybrid Crinum are con- 

 spicuously in flower in sunny borders at Kew. A batch 

 of seedlings obtained at Kew by crossing the white C. 

 Moorei with C. longifolium (Capense) is now flow r ering for 

 the first time, and while they are a shade paler in color 

 than C. Powelli true and the flowers somewhat larger, they 

 are not sufficiently distinct to be worth naming. The prac- 

 tical lesson this batch teaches is that in four years one may 

 obtain a big batch of a beautiful hardy Crinum by crossing 

 the common C. longifolium with the equally common C. 

 Moorei. 



L/elia Lucasiana. — This distinct species was introduced 

 three years ago by Messrs. F. Sander & Co., from Brazil, 

 and named by Mr. Rolfe in compliment to Mr. C. J. Lucas, 

 of Horsham, a well-known amateur collector of Orchids. 

 Judging by its behavior so far under cultivation, it does 

 not flower freely. It was exhibited in flower at a recent 

 meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a plant of 

 it is now in flower at Kew, where a figure has been pre- 

 pared for publication in The Botanical Magazine. It is a 

 dwarf species, the fusiform pseudo-bulbs being about three 

 inches long, the leaves, three to four inches, thick and 

 fleshy, as in Laelia Digbyana, and the scape short, erect, 

 two or three flowered, each flower two inches across, the 

 segments equal and spreading, bright purplish-mauve, the 

 lip channeled, recurved, very wavy and colored saffron- 

 yellow, white near the tip. The Kew plant is kept in a 

 moist tropical house while growing, and rested in the Cat- 

 tleya house. Its nearest ally is L. crispilabia. 



Cynorchis grandiflora. — When introduced from Mada- 

 gascar three years ago it was feared that this terrestrial 

 Orchid would prove difficult to keep. So far, however, it has 

 behaved exceptionally well under the following treatment. 

 After flowering, the plant is placed on a dry shelf in an 

 intermediate temperature and allowed to rest until Febru- 

 ary. It is then shaken out, the tubers repotted — a mixture 

 of peat and sphagnum — and placed in the tropical house on 

 a shelf near the glass. When new growth pushes through 

 the soil, water is given freely and the plant is kept well 

 supplied until resting time comes round again. Under this 

 treatment the plants have made healthy leaves over a foot 

 long, and in July developed stout scapes as long as the 

 leaves, each bearing one or tvyo flowers one and a half 



inches across, the large four-lobed moth-like rose-purple 

 lip being their most attractive feature, the sepals and petals 

 being smaller and colored green, with purple spots. 



Phajus Humblotii. — Few cultivators can boast of hav- 

 ing grown and flowered this plant several years in succes- 

 sion. The best-grown examples I have seen were in the 

 nursery of L'Horticulture Internationale at Brussels, but 

 these were recently imported plants. Mr. White, the clever 

 Orchid grower in charge of Sir Trevor Lawrence's collec- 

 tion, while recording his own failure in the management of 

 this plant, gives the following cultural directions for it 

 which he had from an enthusiastic amateur who is success- 

 ful in the cultivation of Madagascar Phajuses. I quote 

 them from The Gardeners' Chronicle : After trials in various 

 warm and intermediate temperatures, some few plants 

 were placed in a shady position in the cool Odontoglos- 

 sum house, where, under ordinary treatment as to water- 

 ing, etc., they quickly regained health, producing good 

 leaves and strong flower-spikes. He now considers it to 

 be one of the easiest of Orchids to manage. The compost 

 recommended for it is fibrous loam, leaf-soil and sphag- 

 num in equal parts, with a liberal sprinkling of small 

 crocks. Water sparingly till vigorous root action is evi- 

 dent, and then increase the supply. This Phajus is in 

 flower now at Kew, but here it is grown in a tropical tem- 

 perature, and consequently the leaves are much damaged 

 by yellow thrips. The species was introduced about 

 sixteen years ago by the French collector, Humblot, who 

 discovered it in the interior of Madagascar at the same 

 time as he discovered the beautiful P. tuberculosus. 

 Although P. tuberculosus is difficult to manage, yet it has 

 proved a most valuable plant in the breeders' hands, being 

 one of the parents of several of the most beautiful of all 

 Phajuses, hybrid or species. 



Hibiscus Archeri. — Four years ago the Rev. S. Archer, of 

 Barbados, sent to Kew a number of seedling Hibiscuses 

 which he had obtained by crossing varieties of the com- 

 mon H. Rosa-sinensis with the Zanzibarian H. schizope- 

 talus. Most of the seedlings were wanting in distinguish- 

 ing features except one, which proves to be a happy 

 blending of the two parents. It has a loose scrambling 

 habit, leaves intermediate in size, and flowers which in 

 shape, laciniation of petals and long pendent stalks resem- 

 ble H. schizopetalus. In size, however, they are about four 

 times as large, and in color a rich crimson, equal to the 

 color of the best variety of H. Rosa-sinensis. This beauti- 

 ful hybrid is named in compliment to its raiser. In one of 

 the houses at Kew there is a large bed filled with a selec- 

 tion of varieties of H. Rosa-sinensis, including double and 

 single flowered, yellow, pink-purple, crimson and scarlet 

 forms. They flower freely, being planted out in a bed of 

 rich soil where they get plenty of sun and air. 



London. W. WaiSOtl. 



New or Little-known Plants. 

 Clematis Addisonii. 



THIS rare Clematis, which is closely related to the 

 Leather-flower, Clematis Viorna, was confounded 

 with another species by botanists until a few years ago, 

 when its distinctive characters and history were made 

 known by Professor Britton.* It is a vigorous, glabrous, 

 tufted perennial with stout, erect or spreading purplish 

 stems two or three feet in length. The lower leaves are 

 simple or entire, or rarely two or three lobed, elliptic-oval, 

 sessile and clasping by the broad base, deep blue-green 

 above, glaucous below, from two to four inches in length, 

 and much longer than the upper leaves, which bear stout 

 tendrils on the back or ends of the midribs, and are pinnate, 

 with from two to four ovate sessile leaflets, or rarely entire. 

 The flowers are solitary and are borne on stout peduncles 

 from two and a half to three inches in length and terminal, 

 or terminal on short axillary branches ; they are nodding, 



* Britton, Man. Torr,y But. Club, ii., 28, t. 3 (18 



