43^ 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 295. 



editions, and is one of the most noteworthy philosophical 

 books of the time, It is not strange, then, that his name 

 was associated with plants. Two genera were named in 

 his honor. The first of these was proposed by Patrick 

 Browne {Civ. and Nai. Hist. Jamaica, p. 205, pi. 20, f. i., 

 1 75 5)- The second was named by John Ellis, and pub- 

 lished by Linna?us {Sysi. ^'\(2/., Ed. x., p. 1044; 1759), and 

 is the one which stands in recent writings for the beautiful 

 Silver-bell-trees of south-eastern North America. 



Browne's Halesia is based on a West Indian tree now 

 referred to Guettarda, L. , which genus was established by 

 Linnaeus in 1753 on a Javan species. 



It will be seen that the publication of Halesia, Browne, 

 antedates that of Halesia, Ellis, by four years, and that the 

 latter is thus a homonyn. According to the principles of 

 nomenclature adopted by the botanists of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, the later 

 name cannot stand, whether the earlier one does or does 

 not, and this being the case, I take advantage of the cir- 

 cumstances and opportunity to dedicate this beautiful genus 

 to Dr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, Alabama, who is more 

 thoroughly conversant with our southern forests than any 

 one else of the present day, and who has contributed most 

 largely to our knowledge of the flora of his adopted state, 

 under the name Mohria. 



The genus, so far as known, is purely North American, 

 and consists of three species. The Japanese and Chinese 

 trees of the genus Pterostyrax, Sieb. & Zucc. , were referred 

 to it by Bentham and Hooker, but the validity of this genus 

 is maintained by Asa Gray and by Franchet and Savatier, 

 and an examination of two of the Asiatic species has con- 

 vinced me that this position is the more satisfactory. 



The species will stand as follows : 



r. Mohria Carolina (L.) 



Halesia Carolina, L., Syst. Nat., Ed. 10, 1044 (1759). 

 Halesia tetraptera, L., Sp. PL, Ed. 2, 636 (1762). 



2. Mohria diptera (L.) 



Halesia diptera, L., Sp. PI., Ed. 2, 636 (1762). 



3. Mohria parviflora (Michx. ) 



Halesia parviflora, Michx., Fl. Bor. Amer., 2, 40 (1803). 



Columbia College, New York. ]\T^ J^ Britton. 



The Water-garden at Clifton, New Jersey. 



LAST year Garden and Forest contained an illustration 

 ^ of Mr. S. C. Nash's water-garden at Clifton, New Jersey, 

 and the accompanying article explained how an unkempt 

 swamp had been converted into a scene of beauty. This 

 season the special improvement has been the addition of a 

 new tank, especially adapted to the cultivation of the Vic- 

 toria regia, which plant has a special fascination for Mr. 

 Nash. The old tank, being formed of sheet piling, was not 

 sufficiently water-tight, and under some conditions the 

 plants could not be sufficiently controlled. 



A new tank was built early this year on one of the banks 

 of the swamp. This tank is about two feet deep, and the 

 bottom and its sloping inner sides are covered with eight 

 inches of cement concrete. In suitable places there are 

 four deeper depressions, eight feet square, formed especially 

 for the Victorias. The tank is irregular in outline, one hun- 

 dred feet long and fiftj^ feet wide in its greatest dimensions. 

 Its edges are, for the most part, concealed by plantings of 

 Sedges, Ferns and broad-leaved plants, growing often 

 among boulders agreeably disposed. 



The plantings were made early this year, and they quickly 

 became a charming foil to the Nymphaeas. The narrowest 

 part of the tank is spanned by a neat rustic bridge, which 

 will ultimately be masked by vines. The whole effect, 

 with the wonderful leaves and flowers of the Victoria regia, 

 contrasting with the bright tropical Nymphaeas and various 

 aquatic plants mirrored in the clear pool and bordered by 

 the careless profusion of attractive sub-aquatics and other 

 suitable plants, are most picturesque. The glory of the 



tanks has been the four specimens of Victoria regia in 

 vigorous health, one of which is represented in the illus- 

 tration (p. 435). _ 



This plant is justly considered one of the most interest- 

 ing wonders of plant-life. It was first described by the 

 botanist Schomburgk, who discovered it in British Guiana 

 in 1838. It was first flowered at Chatsworth in 1849, from 

 seeds gathered on the Amazon, among whose shallow 

 affluents the plant seems well distributed. There are two 

 forms in cultivation, Mr. Rand having found a variety with 

 whiter flowers and less robust than the type. Besides being 

 a wonder, the Victoria regia is somewhat of a luxury, as it 

 is an expensive plant to grow, either under glass or in the 

 open. It has been flowered successfully south of this in the 

 open, without artificial heat, but under such conditions suc- 

 cess is by no means a matter of certainty, except, possibly, 

 in the lower southern states, as it is an essential condition 

 of success that the temperature of the water in which the 

 plants are' growing should be kept at a minimum of eighty 

 degrees. Mr. Nash's tank is furnished with two-inch pipes 

 connected with a greenhouse heater, occupying a small 

 house at a lower level. By the aid of the hot-water flow from 

 this the tank can be maintained at the desired temperature 

 in all conditions of summer temperature. Seeds of the 

 Victoria, which are always kept under water and warm, are 

 sown in a greenhouse in March or April and the plants 

 transferred to their permanent quarters in May, at which 

 time their special pits are covered with a glazed frame, 

 which is maintained till the weather becomes genial in 

 June. The first leaves which appear lie flat on the water 

 and remain so till they decay. As the plant gains in vigor 

 the leaves begin to show at first a mere suggestion of rims, 

 while the next ones are likely to show a square edge half 

 an inch or so high. As the plant gains its full maturity, 

 perfect rims are unfolded six to eight inches high and com- 

 pletely encircling the leaf. The illustration shows an un- 

 folding strong leaf about two days above water. This is 

 an uncanny object, bristling with spines, clearly showing 

 its prominent ribs, and dark reddish brown in color. The 

 mature leaf is light green above and has a surprisingly 

 graceful effect as it floats on the water. It is rather thin in 

 texture, the strength to uphold a burden of sixty or seventy 

 pounds being given by a network of numerous girder-like 

 hollow veins which cover the under surface and extend in 

 diminished size up the rim, where a touch of red blends 

 with the green to add to the attractiveness of the leaf. A 

 tank-like leaf, such as this, would be quickly filled by a 

 heavy shower if it were as close as it seems, but it is fur- 

 nished with numerous small ducts, through which the 

 water escapes from the surface as fast as it falls. 



The flowers of the Victoria would seem more of a marvel 

 were they not so overshadowed in size by the six-foot leaves. 

 They are usually afoot or more in diameter, with numerous 

 strap-shaped petals, which are pure white as they open 

 first in the late afternoon. They close the next morning, 

 and open again in the afternoon with a rosy hue, which 

 gradually deepens into purple, with which their glory departs. 

 Strong plants show new flowers at intervals of from three 

 to five days. The seed is freely produced in an ovary 

 protected on the outside by stirf cruel spines and a cap of 

 gizzard-like texture. In early September the tank also con- 

 tained a good specimen of Euryale ferox, which ranks only 

 second to Victoria regia in size. The large leaves have a 

 firmer texture, and are profusely veined, but without rims. 

 All the tropical Nymphaeas, of course, grow into fine speci- 

 mens, in this tank there being large plants of N. Sturte- 

 vantii and of varieties of N. Zanzibarensis. Even the hardy 

 Water-lilies, at the time of my visit, did not seem averse m 

 to a little extra heat, and pieces of N. Laydekeri, N. sul- 

 furea and N. Mexicana were in fine condition, while Ne- 

 lumbium speciosum was showing the thriftiness usual to 

 it in any position. The main garden was in its usual 

 flourishing state, the weeds having been quite mastered, 

 and the aquatic plants making large masses. 

 Eiizabetii.N.j. J.N.Gerard. 



k 



