504 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 302. 



lude to the trained sugar-loaf specimens, the tall mop-like 

 plants in the groups, the "trussed" cut-blooms, some of 

 which, I learn, took as much as half a day to dress — that 

 is, to curl and place the florets in position, so that the 

 flower should pass muster with the masters of the art. 

 When flowers require this amount of dressing for exhibition, 

 one is inclined to quarrel with those who tolerate it. How- 

 ever, these objections notwithstanding, the Aquarium this 

 year contained some wonderfully good collections of cut 

 blooms. The Japanese varieties ranked a long way first, 

 both in number and in attractiveness. The first prize col- 

 lection of forty-eight distinct varieties was a superb one, 

 and as it contained the cream of the Japanese sorts shown 

 this year I give the names : J. S. Dibben, Etoile de Lyon, 

 E. Molyneux, Stanstead White, Mrs. E. W, Clarke, Thomas 

 Hewitt, Van Der Heede, Thomas Selwood, Viviand Morel, 

 W. H. Woodcock, Mrs. Adams, R. C. Kingston, Colonel 

 W. B. Smith, Julius Roehrs, W. H. Lincoln, Duke of York, 

 Violet Rose, Sunflower, Potter Palmer, Miss D. Shea, Seed- 

 ling, G. C. Schwabe, Florence Davis, W. W. Coles, Madame 

 J. Laing, Mrs. F. Jameson, C. W. Wheeler, Mademoiselle 

 Marie Hoste, W. Tricker, Miss M. Scott, Puritan, Charles 

 Davis, Miss Anna Hartzhorn, BeauteToulousaine, E G. Hill, 

 W. Falconer, Charles Shrimpton, Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, 

 Rafello Marshaletta, Mademoiselle Therese Rey, Robert 

 Owen, Louis Boehmer, Beauty of Exmouth, Vice-President 

 Calvat, Autumn Tints, Gloire du Rocher, J. Shrimpton and 

 Charles Blick. The exhibitor was W. H. Fowler, Esq., J. P., 

 who was equally successful as an exhibitor last year. In- 

 curved varieties were exceptionally good in form and color, 

 but, if anything, they were a little smaller in size than 

 usual. The first prize for thirty-six varieties in this class 

 was won by F. A. Bevan, Esq., the following being a list 

 of his collection : Lord Alcester, Prince Alfred, Princess of 

 Wales, Alfred Salter, Lord Wolseley, Mr. R. King, M. Ba- 

 haunt. Queen of England, Violet Tomlin, John Lambert, 

 Alfred Lyne, Empress of India, R. Cannell, Mrs. Coleman, 

 John Salter, Miss Haegas, Princess of Teck, Ami Hoste, 

 Jeanne d'Arc, Lady Dorothy, Golden Empress of India, 

 Hero of Stoke Newington, John Doughty, Barbara, Mr. 

 N. Davis, Cherub, Lord Eversley, Charles Gibson, Mrs. 

 Heale, Princess Beatrice, Nil Desperandum, Empress Eu- 

 genie, Mrs. Halliburton, Refulgens, White Venus and 

 Madame Darrier. 



The Anemone-flowered varieties, certainly the most won- 

 derful from a morphological point of view of all the won- 

 derful freaks of the Chrysanthemum, were represented by 

 some superb collections. Some of these flowers, if given 

 to a botanist unacquainted with them, would probably puz- 

 zle him. The first prize collection was exhibited by E. C. 

 Jukes, Esq., and was generally considered to be the finest 

 lot of Anemone-flowered varieties ever exhibited. The 

 sorts were : Fabian de Maderanaz, Lady Margaret, Mrs. 

 Judge Benedict, Monsieur Pankouche, Sabine, Minnie Chate, 

 Ernest Caille, Nelson, George Hawkins, Cabrol, Made- 

 moiselle Nathalie Brun, Grand Alveole, Ratapoil, Madame 

 Lawton, Fleure de Marie, Delaware, Le Deuil, Gladys, 

 Spaulding, Jeanne Marty, Annie Lowe, Madame Berthe 

 Pigny, Rodolphe Ragioniere, Empress and Marie Loglaise. 



The "hybrid" classes, such as Japanese-incurved, Japa- 

 nese-Anemone, Anemone-Pompon and Large-flowered Re- 

 flexed, were also well represented. The Pompon varieties 

 have ceased to find many admirers among growers of 

 Chrysanthemums, and, although several good collections 

 were shown, they attracted little attention. The finest 

 flower shown, in my opinion, the most striking and most 

 attractive, was Edwin Molyneux, in which opinion I have 

 the support of Mr. Cannell, who declares that it has no 

 equal among large-flowered sorts. Not only are the flow- 

 ers of first-rate merit, but the plant is sturdy in habit, has 

 handsome leaves and flowers freely, while it lasts several 

 weeks in perfection. Grown on the "natural" system, it 

 makes a most picturesque specimen. There are several 

 examples of it in this character at Kew, plants a yard high, 

 with leaves down to the soil, and bearing a dozen or so 



fine flowers. I am afraid many of the favorite exhibition 

 kinds are not nearly so good in this respect. There were 

 several collections of "naturally trained" plants shown, a 

 prize having been offered for such plants, each to bear 

 not less than twelve flowers. They were, of course, not 

 really naturally grown, as pinching, disbudding, staking, 

 etc., had been done in moderation ; still the plants looked 

 less unsightly than the "gingham "-shaped standards or 

 the spruce pyramids with their flowers wired into position 

 like buttons on a cushion. Verily, the Chrysanthemum is 

 a long-suffering plant ; it may be twisted, contorted, cribbed, 

 cabined and confined to almost any extent, and, after it all, 

 will flower as good-naturedly as if left to its own happy way. 

 The varieties to which first-class certificates were awarded 

 were the following: G. W. Childs, although not before cer- 

 tificated, this is now a well-known Japanese variety. It is 

 of American origin, and has crimson flowers. Golden 

 Wedding, Japanese, of American origin ; flowers large, 

 soft golden-yellow. Rose Wynne, a large-flowered Japa- 

 nese variety, colored soft rose. Elsie Neville, a single- 

 flowered Japanese variety Math long fluted florets colored 

 crimson, the disk yellow. Mrs. C. J. Salter, a compact 

 Anemone-flowered variety, colored golden-buff, with a 

 rose tinge. W. W. Astor, a large Japanese Anemone-flow- 

 ered variety, the long ray florets colored soft rose, the disk 

 florets long, colored rosy yellow. John Bunyan, also a 

 Japanese Anemone-flowered variety, colored soft yellow. 



London. W. WulSOn. 



Plant Notes. 



Pueraria Thunbergiana. 



PUERARIA THUNBERGIANA, a native of central and 

 southern Japan and central China, is a woody climber, 

 and the only representative of its genus. It bears large 

 three-parted leaves with very long petioles, and broadly 

 obovate, pointed, dark green leaflets, short compact ra- 

 cemes of fragant, violet-colored, pea-shaped flowers, and 

 brown hairy pods. In some parts of Japan this handsome 

 plant is exceedingly common ; it does not grow, however, 

 farther north than the centre of the main island, and ap- 

 pears to be confined to elevations of about 1,800 to 2,500 

 feet above the sea-level ; and is nowhere more abundant 

 than among the Hakone Mountains, beloved of tourists, 

 who often get their first impressions of Japanese scenery 

 and vegetation among the hills and lakes of this charming 

 and accessible region. Here Pueraria is so abundant that 

 in August the air is perfumed with the delicate fragrance of 

 its flowers as it hangs with its long stems swaying backward 

 and forward on the face of some Fern-covered precipice, 

 dripping with the spray of the water-fall, or sends them to 

 incredible distances, climbing through bushes or into the 

 tops of low trees. 



In Japan, the Kudzu, for so this plant is called, has some 

 economic value ; the thick and fleshy roots furnish a 

 starchy meal, which is used as food ; cloth is made from 

 the inner bark or bast of the young shoots, which is re- 

 moved by boiling and macerating in water ; and the dried 

 stems and leaves furnish a considerable part of the hay 

 cured by the Japanese. It is probably as an ornamental 

 plant only that Pueraria will be used in this country. As 

 such it has considerable value here, even in climates suffi- 

 ciently severe to destroy its shoots annually. We remem- 

 ber no other vine-like plant which grows so rapidly, or one 

 that can cover so large a space in a single season. It is 

 well suited to conceal unsightly objects, to train over 

 verandas, or to plant among shrubs and trees when it is 

 desirable to form thickets ; and rocky banks or grassy 

 slopes may be clothed with it. Where it is not killed back 

 in winter, the beauty and fragrance of its abundant mid- 

 summer flowers add to the value of this plant. 



Pueraria Thunbergiana was sentto the United States many 

 years ago by Thomas Hogg, and it has been distributed by 

 nurserymen under the name of Dolichos Japonicus. The 



