8 



Garden and Forest. 



[January i, 1S90. 



the inner pot and into the soil. The seeds of two species of 

 Capsicum, injured by too great heat in drying', failed com- 

 plete!) in 188S when sown in pots and watered in the ordinary 



manner ; but this year 5( ids from the same saving" were sown 

 in the way described, and all, or nearly all, sprouted quickly. 

 Thomas Andrew Knight used to sow rare seeds by simply 

 placing them between dry sods from an old pasture. But any 

 method which ensures uniformity of moisture, and a small 

 amount of it, will give success. Recent tests conducted in our 

 houses show conclusiveh that seeds usually receive too much 

 water.* There is even danger, as we have sometimes found, 

 of keeping the soil too wet through the use of the sphagnum 

 process outlined above. 



So 1 repeat that the most important point in sowing is the 

 relation of the seed to moisture. I prefer to sow shallow, and 

 then to pack the earth to retain moisture, or if the earth is 

 liable to Pake, I coverit lightly with leaves or fine litter, or with 

 boards. Very small seeds 1 sow upon the surf ace of well prepared 

 soil, and then sprinklea very little fine soil over and amongthem; 

 then I cover with paper, or with a board or something to prevent 

 excessive evaporation. I rarely expose the pots or boxes of such 

 seeds to the light, for the heat of the sunlight accelerates evapora- 

 tion. It is largely the uniformity in moisture which causes the 

 results of seed tests to read higher than the results of actual 

 sowings in the field. Eight experiments to determine the per- 

 centage of variation between tests made in the house and sow- 

 ings made in the field, with seeds from the same packets, gave 

 the following differences : Pea, 1.1 percent.; Endive, 17.5; To- 

 mato, 25.5; Celery, 30; Onion, 32; Carrots, 42.5 and 50.5; Tur- 

 nip. 57-5- These remarkable variations were almost wholly due 

 probably to variations in moisture in the field sowings, and 

 yet the soil in which the sowings were made happened to be 

 unusually and uniformly moist for a light soil. ■ 



Cornell University. ' L. H. Bailey. 



Stove Plants in Flower. 



Amomum magnificum. — Amomum is a large genus of tropi- 

 cal Gingerworts, and is related to Hedychium, Curcuma, etc. 

 Of the fifty species described, that under notice is by far the 

 handsomest ; indeed it is the only one which can be con- 

 sidered of any horticultural merit. Although introduced into 

 England in 1832 by Lord Milton and flowered in his garden at 

 Wentworth, it does not appear to have kept a place among 

 garden plants. The picture in the Botanical Magazine, t. 3192", 

 gives a good idea of the remarkable character and beauty of 

 this species, and I believe it was on seeing this picture that 

 Sir George Macleay, of Pendell Court, one of our most en- 

 thusiastic amateur gardeners, procured plants of it from 

 Mauritius, where it has become naturalized, having been in- 

 troduced from Madagascar, its home. The plant at Pendell 

 Court has just flowered, and the inflorescence has been for- 

 warded to Kew. In habit and general appearance A. magni- 

 ficum is similar to Alpinia nutans, but the stems attain a 

 length of twelve feet, whilst the lanceolate leaves are two feet 

 long, or even more. In Alpinia the flowers, are in terminal 

 heads on the leafy stems, but in Amomum they are borne on 

 a separate stem or scape, which is leafless and about four feet 

 high. The flowers are arranged in a dense conical head, 

 which is surrounded by eight or ten large bracts, four inches 

 long by two inches wide, rather fleshy, recurved and col- 

 ored rich cardinal, the margins being white ; in addition to 

 these large bracts, each of the hundred or so flowers is over- 

 topped by a smaller spathulate, curled bract, similar in color 

 to the large ones. The effect of this head is really fine. The 

 plant grows in wet places, that at Pendell Court being in the 

 corner of a tropical tank on a large mound of mud-like soil. 

 It is similarly treated at Kew. For cultivation in large tropical 

 stoves, and especially for aquaria, this plant may be specially 

 recommended. It has been called Alpinia magnified and 

 Nicolaia imperialis. 



Rhipsalis Houlletii. — Several good specimens of this or- 

 namental plant are now flowering freely at Kew. The genus 

 Rhipsalis is scarcely known in gardens, owing to the smallness 

 and lack- of ornament in their flowers generally. Botanically, 

 however, it is one of the most interesting of the genera in- 

 cluded in Cactacea, the great variety in the form and habit of 

 the stems of the thirty or so species known being quite ex- 

 ceptional. Some resemble Mistletoe, others Marsh Samphire, 

 others Mesembryanthemum, others Epiphyllum and so on. A 

 collection representative of the most marked species is grown 

 at Kew, and it always attracts attention. The genus is also in- 

 teresting from the fact of its being the only one among the 

 Cdctacea- found wild in Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar andCey- 



* Bulletin i\., Cornell Experiment Station. 



Ion, as well as in America. R. Houlletii has long, graceful 

 branches, partly. .round and twig-like, partly flattened, as in 

 Phyllocactus. It branches freely, and when M'ell treated it 

 forms a well furnished, elegant pot-plant. The flowers are 

 borne singly in the numerous notches of the flattened portions 

 of the branches. They are nearly an inch across, not unlike 

 those of a Mamillaria in form, and colored pale creamy yellow, 

 •with a crimson eye-like spot in the throat. The}' are also fra- 

 grant. Under cultivation the plants are about three feet high, 

 but in its native haunts it hangs from the trunks of trees to a 

 length of many feet. All the Rhipsalis are epiphytic in a state 

 of nature, but they thrive when cultivated in pots or baskets in 

 a light stove. Flowering in November and December, R. 

 Houlletii is worth growing in every collection of stove plants. 

 It is native of Brazil. 



Kew. IV. 



Orchid Notes. 



Dendrobium formosum. — This is without doubt the finest 

 white-flowered Dendrobium yet known, its blooms far sur- 

 passing those of Us allies, D. Draconis (perhaps better known 

 in gardens as D. eburneum), D. infundibulum and D. Jamcsi- 

 dtium. It has a wide geographical distribution, being found in 

 north-eastern India, Burmah, extending to Moulmein, and it 

 grows also along the coasts of the Andaman Islands, and is 

 consequently subject to variable climatic conditions. It has 

 been over half a century in cultivation, the first plants of it 

 having been sent to Chatsworth in 1837 by Gibson, who found 

 them on the Khasia Hills. Its first discoverer, however, was 

 Roxburgh, who detected it growing in Sylhet five or six years 

 earlier. The characteristics of D. formosum are its stoutish 

 terete stems, which when young are covered with short 

 blackish hairs and furnished with ovate-oblong, deep shining- 

 green leaves, four or five inches long, and obliquely emargi- 

 nate at the apex. The old stems are deeply furrowed, leaf- 

 less, and often clothed with dull silvery sheaths. From Sep- 

 tember to Christmas fascicles (or clusters) of from three to five 

 large flowers are produced at the top of the young stems be- 

 fore these latter have finished their growth ; but it is not un- 

 usual, however, to see the old stems also bearing flowers. 

 The sepals and petals are pure white, the former being oblong- 

 elliptic and keeled behind, the two lower ones connate at 

 the base and produced into a spur. The latter are much 

 broader and obovate, while the white lip, which, when spread 

 out, is rhomboidal refuse, but more or less funnel-shaped in 

 its natural position, has a stain of bright orange-yellow on the 

 disc, the latter being traversed by five slightly raised and 

 asperated keels. 



The variety known in gardens as D . giganteiim is remarkable 

 for the extraordinary size of the flowers, which are half as 

 large again as those of the ordinary type, often measuring 

 from four to five inches across. 



Plants of this species may be grown either in pots or bas- 

 kets, but the latter are preferable, as, when wires are attached, 

 the plants can be hung nearer the glass, and thus obtain a 

 clearer light. Plenty of heat and moisture are essential to 

 them during the season of growth, and they may be freely 

 watered and syringed. The flowers appear on the growing 

 stems, and when they have disappeared it is generally a sign 

 that growth has almost ceased, and the plants should then 

 be placed in a slightly cooler house to rest for two or three 

 months, only receiving water at intervals in order to keep the 

 growths from shriveling. A compost of rough fibrous peat, 

 with a little sphagnum, is very suitable for them. 

 St. Albans, England. John Weathers. 



Lcelid Crawshayana. — This very rare and interesting Orchid 

 is now in flower with us. It is presumed to be a natural hy- 

 brid between L. anceps and L. albida. 



The inflorescence strongly resembles the former, while the 

 vegetative organs are almost identical with those of L. albida. 

 It certainly is a great improvement on the latter, while retaining 

 all its pleasing Primrose-like fragrance. As is the case with 

 most hybrid Orchids, this is a robust grower. The clustered 

 bulbs are compressed, pyriform and slightly furrowed, bearing" 

 one or two lanceolate acute, leathery, deep green leaves. The 

 scape proceeding from the top of the bulbs is about eighteen 

 inches long, jointed, with sheathing keeled bracts, terminating 

 in a cluster of three to four flowers. These are about three 

 inches across, with narrow sepals and broader petals of dark 

 rose. The narrow three-lobed lip is white, with the side lobes 

 tipped with rose, and the anterior one rosy purple. Lines 

 of yellow run down the middle of the lip, and the throat is 

 streaked with maroon. L. Crawshayana was introduced 

 six years ago, and but very few plants are yet in cultivation. 



