334 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 285. 



be more charming. It is a native of Chili. The Californian 

 white-flowered C. oppositifolia is also an effective little pot- 

 plant. C. discolor and C. grandiflora are among our 

 choicest summer-flowering annuals. 



Primula Poissoni. — This beautiful Chinese Primrose con- 

 tinues to give satisfaction as a pot-plant for the cool green- 

 house. It is flowering freely now in several houses at 

 Kew, its erect spikes with whorls of flowers like P. Ja- 

 ponica, colored bright magenta or rosy purple, with a yel- 

 low eye, being particularly pretty and effective when 

 grouped with such plants as Asparagus plumosus and 

 Primula fioribunda. Out-of-doors P. Poissoni does not 

 flower freely, and the leaves are disposed to decay, possi- 

 bly through excessive sun-heat or scalding. Most of the 

 species of Primula prefer a shaded and moist situation, 

 particularly those which flower in summer. I never saw 

 anything more striking in the way of a Primula than a large 

 bed of P. Sikkimensis on a north-west border under a tall 

 wall in the Botanical Gardens of Trinity College, Dublin. 

 The scapes were from two to three feet high, and each one 

 bore a cluster of from forty to sixty soft yellow fragrant 

 flowers. P. Japonica, growing near it, was equally happy. 



Caladium venosum. — This is a new species which has 

 been introduced from Brazil, and described in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle by Mr. N. E. Brown. It has leaf-stalks ten inches 

 long, pale green, w^ith black dots and lines, and leaf-blades 

 elongate, ovate-deltoid, ten inches long by four inches 

 wide, with the nerves prominent on the lower surface ; 

 upper surface dark green, with yellowish green irregular 

 lines along the nerves and a narrow marginal line of red. 

 Spathe three inches long, green, with a basal blotch of red, 

 and a white limb. 



Caladium rubescens is a second species from the same 

 source. It has leaf-stalks six inches long, blackish and 

 finely striated ; the leaf-blade is ovate-lanceolate, six inches 

 long and two inches wide, scarcely cordate at the base, the 

 color deep shining crimson, M^ith a green border. Spathe 

 three inches long, glaucous green, with a black stripe; 

 limb two inches long, acuminate, milk-white in color. The 

 former of these two is not unlike the old C. maculatum or 

 bicolor, the latter resembling C. Schmidtii. Mr. Brown 

 says it is a long time since anything so decidedly different 

 from the ordinary form of Caladium has been introduced, 

 and recommends them as being "likely to produce by 

 hybridization a new race of garden Caladiums." 



London. W. WatSOU. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Iris Caroliniana. 



THIS species was discovered by W. A. Manda near 

 Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1888, and first flow- 

 ered in cultivation at the Harvard Botanic Garden, M^hen it 

 was described by the late Sereno Watson.* Closely allied 

 botanically to Iris versicolor, I. Caroliniana is quite distinct 

 from a horticultural point of view. Every one in the east- 

 ern states is familiar with the common Flag, I. versicolor, 

 with its stiff, erect, somewhat glaucous leaves and small light 

 purple flowers. I. Caroliniana is an entirely different gar- 

 den-plant — vigorous, but w^ith somewhat shorter sword- 

 shaped leaves, w^hich are lax, thin, shining green on one 



* Iris Caroliniana, Watson, Gray's Mamcal, 6th ed., 514 ; Proc. Am. Acad., xiv., 134. 

 Root-stock ratherstout; leaves elongated, three feet long by twelve to fifteen lines 

 broad, thin and lax, bright green, not glaucous, or scarcely at all so ; stem slender, 

 tvfo feet high ; peduncles two-fiowered ; bracts scarious, exceeding the pedicels ; 

 ovary eight lines long, bearing a cylindric-campanulate tube six lines long; petals 

 distinct at base, the outer three inches long, broadly spreading.with a yellowish green 

 claw veined with brown, the elliptical blade lilac, veined with purple and with a yellow 

 spot reaching to the centre ; inner petals oblong-spatulate, two and a half inches 

 long, the blade lilac and claw yellowish ; anthers as long as filaments ; wing of the 

 stigma continuous with the erosely toothed lilac crest; capsule nearly two inches 

 long, oblong, somewhat triangular, with very rounded angles ; seeds in one row in 

 each cell, very large (four or five lines broad and two lines thick), pale brown. 

 Resembling in some respects I. versicolor of the northern states, as it has been gen- 

 erally understood, which doubtless also includes the I. Virginica of Linnseus as 

 represented by the original Gronovian specimen preserved in the herbarium of the 

 British Museum. That species differs most notably in its erect glaucous and often 

 much shorter leaves, and its very much smaller seeds in two rows in each cell. 

 There are also less obvious differences in the coloring and shape of the smaller 

 flowers. It varies to a considerable degree, especially in sire, but in its main 

 characters it appears to be constant and well defined. 



surface, and somewhat glaucous on reverse. The young 

 foliage is at first suffused brown, but this coloring disap- 

 pears as it matures, except at the base. The flower-stems 

 are about as long as the leaves, and give a distinction to the 

 plant as they are colored a dark glistening brown, which 

 also extends over the long, thin, almond-shaped flower- 

 buds. The flowers are of a good size and attractive in 

 shape, as will be seen in the illustration on page 335 of this 

 issue, from a drawing made by Mr. Faxon of a plant which 

 flowered this year in the Harvard Botanical Garden. In 

 color they are light lavender, with a yellow keel. Iris 

 Caroliniana is a very satisfactory garden-plant, increasing 

 rapidly and flowering freely. 



A New Hybrid Rose. 



IN the year 1891 Mr. Jackson Dawson fertilized a flower 

 of Rosa Wichuraiana with pollen of General Jacquemi- 

 not, and in December he planted four seeds which resulted 

 from this cross. The seedlings appeared in January, 1892, 

 w^ere grown in pots during the summer and wintered in a 

 cold pit. All bloomed in June of this year, which is rather 

 remarkable, since few seedling Roses bloom before the 

 second or third year. These plants differ materially, al- 

 though they all show to some degree the trailing habit of 

 the seed parent. One of them has single pale pink flowers, 

 borne in clusters, and is intermediate in habit between the 

 two parents. Another one bore double flowers of a pale 

 flesh color, which did not open well, owing to damp 

 weather. The third one has a prostrate habit, with rosy 

 pink flowers borne in clusters of four or five from every 

 joint of its last year's wood. It received a first-class cer- 

 tificate from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society at its 

 Rose Show in June. The fourth plant, of which an illus- 

 tration will be found on page 337, is not as prostrate in 

 habit as Rosa Wichuraiana, and its broader leaves have a 

 glossy surface. The solitary flowers are very double, and 

 in shape and color resemble those of Souvenir de la Mal- 

 maison, although they are smaller. The plant continues 

 in bloom a long time and promises to be very useful. 



Cultural Department. 



The Best of the New Strawberries. 



OUR present list of standard varieties is largely made up of 

 kinds introduced from five to eight years since, and as 

 many of these show signs of failing already, it is time to seek 

 out new sorts to take their places. The necessity is evident 

 from the fact that, of the varieties in cultivation ten or fifteen 

 years since, hardly one is now generally grown. During the 

 past five years originators of new Strawberries have brought 

 out few that are worthy of being grown, for, although many of 

 them have proved of value, few of the thousands produced, 

 or of the hundreds placed on the market, have proved worthy 

 of general planting. There is a more encouraging look for 

 some of tlie recent introductions, however, and tor a number 

 of seedlings that are still in the originators' hands. 



The following are the most promising of some eighty new 

 kinds planted in the spring of 1892. Statements as to the value 

 of each are based upon comparisons made with nearly one 

 hundred other varieties, including all of the standard sorts, 

 grown in adjacent rows under similar treatment. Several varie- 

 ties, otherwise very promising, were badly injured by leaf- 

 blight, but, as our experiments have shown, this can be kept 

 in check by the proper use of Bordeaux mixture. 



In most cases a trial of only one season, and that a very 

 favorable one, has been made. The early varieties deemed 

 worthy of trial number ten and include such as ripen with 

 Haverland or earlier. 



Afton (received from C. W. Graham, Afton, New York). — 

 While the plants are only moderately strong, they set a large 

 amount of fruit, and gave a satisfactory crop, although the 

 berries were rather small at the close of the season. The first 

 fruits were gathered June 19th, and the plants remained in 

 bearing until July loth, or as late as any sort. Berries of medium 

 size, roundish conical in form and of a deep crimson color. 

 The flesh is very dark, of good quality and firm enough for a 

 local market berry. One of the most productive of the early 

 kinds. 



