7 2 



Garden and Forest. 



[February 5, 1890. 



In the report from Ontario County the following varieties — 

 some of them new and some old ones which had not been 

 generally planted in that region — were named as very desir- 

 able or promising : Of Apples, Longlield, Milding, Sutton's 

 Beauty and Hubbardson's Nonesuch. Of Pears, Vermont 

 Beauty is one of the very finest. Of Plums, French Damson, 

 Field, Stanton, Prince of Wales, Middlebury, Peters' Yellow 

 Gage — one of the very best of its color, The Czar — the best 

 early, Diamond — a first-rate purple. Of sour Cherries, Mont- 

 morenci and English Morello. Of Early Peaches, Horton's 

 Rivers, a seedling of Early Rivers, a most valuable introduc- 

 tion, and Hurd's Surprise. Of Apricots, a variety named 

 Harris ripened in July. Of new Grapes, Geneva, a white seed- 

 ling, seems worthy of trial. Of Currants, Fay, Moore's Ruby 

 — the best flavored Cherry Currant yet produced. Of Black- 

 berries, Early Barnard from Wisconsin the hardiest and 

 best flavored. 



Recent Plant Portraits. 



Botanical Magazine, January : 



Heliamphora nutans, t. 7093 ; the remarkable South 

 American representative of the North American Pitcher- 

 plants, discovered half a century ago by the brothers Schom- 

 burgk in marshy savannahs near the base of Rossima, in 

 British Guiana. It differs from the Sarracenias by its four to 

 six parted perianth, three to five-flowered scape, uni-bracteal 

 flowers, minute stigma, and by the small rudimentary lid of 

 the pitchers. "Viewing their relations," Sir Joseph Hooker, 

 the editor, remarks, "between these three genera to one 

 another, the question naturally arises whether to regard 

 Heliamphora as a degraded, or an ancestral member of the 

 order. I incline to the latter view, though it points to the sur- 

 mise that the order originated in a region now separated by 

 upward of 2,000 miles from that inhabited by one of its other 

 members in so far as their distribution is known." Heliam- 

 phora was rediscovered by the Orchid-collector, Burke, who 

 brought plants to the Veitch Nursery in 1881. The illustration 

 is from a plant which flowered at Chelsea in June of last year. 



Pleurothallis ornata, t. 7094; a minute Mexican Orchid of 

 botanical interest only. 



Protea nana, t. 7095. 



Rosa berberifolia, t. 7096 ; the simple-leaved Rose of Per- 

 sia and western Turkestan, a charming species with small yel- 

 low flowers, and morphologically of the greatest interest on 

 account of its peculiar leaves, whose stipules Dr. Masters has 

 recently shown are suppressed, although potentially present ; 

 and therefore possibly to be developed in vigorous culti- 

 vated specimens. Rosa berberifolia, long considered difficult 

 or impossible to cultivate, is now well established under glass 

 at Kew. 



Iris Boissieri, t. 7097 ; a new bulbous species known only 

 on a single mountain in Portugal. It belongs to the true 

 Xipheons (the English and Spanish Irises of gardens), and its 

 nearest realtive is the Spanish I.filifolia. It differs, however, 

 from its congeners in having a rudimentary band down the 

 keel of the lower part of the outer segments, but for garden 

 purposes it is hardly distinct enough in habit or in the form or 

 coloring of the flowers to attract much attention. 



Sobralia xantholeuca, Revue Horticole, January 1st. 



Notes. 



In Germany, young Spruces sold for Christmas-trees are 

 often dusted over with fine shavings and a " brilliant " powder 

 to imitate snow. 



Small Ferns still occupy a prominent place in dinner-table 

 arrangements, though the list of varieties used in quantity is 

 quite short, Adiantinn cnneatnm as usual taking the lead. 



An English correspondent notes with some satisfaction that 

 the list of new Orchids for the year just past shows that the 

 custom of giving hybrids Latin specific names is on the wane. 



The Executive Comittee of the Association of American 

 Cemetery Superintendents have issued a circular calling upon 

 the members to suggest at once desirable subjects for discus- 

 sion at the meeting which is to be held in Boston next summer 

 at the same time with the convention of the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists. 



The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society celebrated its sixty- 

 first anniversary, on the 21st of January, by a large meeting of 

 its members, together with many delegates from sister socie- 

 ties. Mr. George W. Childs, the newly elected President, took 

 the chair for the first time in the hall that had been elabo- 



rately decorated for the occasion. There was also an exhibi- 

 tion of remarkably rare and choice flowers. 



The Revue Horticole calls attention to the fact that the 

 name of the introducer of the Chrysanthemum into Europe 

 is correctly written Pierre Blancard, and not Blanchard 

 or Blanchart, as the name is sometimes written. Blancard 

 was a sea-captain who made several voyages to Japan, and it 

 was on his return from one of these voyages that he brought 

 back to Europe the parents of many of the present race of 

 cultivated Chrysanthemums. 



The use of potted evergreens, such as Retinosporas, Arbor- 

 vitaes and plants of similar character for house decoration, is 

 on the increase, and some of our florists report ready sale for 

 such plants in six and eight-inch pots. Many of these plants 

 are lifted from the open ground in the fall and after being 

 potted are placed in a cold house or frame until needed. 

 They are useful decorations on account of their lasting qual- 

 ities when exposed in draughty halls and similar locations, 

 though they are too often arranged so as to give a rather 

 formal effect. 



M. Andre\ in a recent issue of the Revue Horticole, mentions 

 the fact that the finest specimen of the weeping Sequoia gigan- 

 tea, one of the most interesting and remarkable of all conifers 

 of abnormal growth, exists in the garden of M. Allard, at the 

 Maulevrier, near Angers. It is about twenty-two feet high. The 

 weeping Sequoia forms a slender, tapering column, the long 

 pendent branches almost clinging to the main stem. This 

 variety originated in France a few years ago, and among 

 introductions of comparatively recent years no conifer 

 showed at the Exposition in Paris last year created more 

 admiration. M. Allard's collection of conifers, of Hollies and 

 of Oaks, although not long established is one of the most inter- 

 esting in Europe. It contains five specimens of the form of 

 Abies concolor, peculiar to the mountains of Colorado, which 

 cannot be equaled, perhaps, in Europe, in size, and particu- 

 larly in the deep blue color of their foliage. 



The meeting of the New York State Forestry Association, 

 at Columbia College, on Saturday, February 1st, was called to 

 order by Professor E. B. Southwick, the Secretary. Rev. Dr. 

 Charles H. Hall, of Brooklyn, presided as temporary Chairman, 

 until the arrival of General Egbert L. Viele, one of the Vice- 

 Presidents. Hon. Warren Higley explained the object of the 

 meeting. Letters from Hon. Seth Low, Edward M. Shepardand 

 B. E. Fernow were read, and brief addresses were made by Judge 

 Higley, Dr. Hall, Professor Daniel S. Martin, Dr. N. Jarchow, 

 William Potts and J. B. Harrison. Mr. Morris K. Jesup, Gen- 

 eral Viele and Judge Higley were chosen as a committee to 

 memorialize the Legislature in favor of efficient legislation for 

 the preservation of the Adirondack Forests. General Viele, 

 Professors Martin and Southwick, Mr. Potts and Mr. Harrison 

 were appointed a committee to report to the next meeting 

 amendments to the constitutions and nominations for perma- 

 nent officers. The meeting adjourned to meet at three P. M. 

 on Monday, February ioth.at Columbia College. The purpose 

 is to complete the reorganization of the Association, and at 

 once to enter upon active work for the promotion of suitable 

 forestry legislation and the development of public interest in 

 rational and practical methods of forest management. 



The distinguished French botanist, Ernest Cosson, died in 

 Paris on the last day of last year in his sixty-ninth year. Dr. 

 Cosson published, in 1845, m connection with Germain de 

 Saint Pierre, a classical and much esteemed Flora of the 

 suburbs of Paris, of which three editions have appeared. 

 M. Cosson was appointed, in 1851, Botanist to the Commission 

 for the Exploration of the French Possessions in Africa; and 

 the African flora has almost exclusively occupied his attention 

 from that time until the day of his death. The seven years 

 between 1852 and 1859 were largely devoted by him to exam- 

 ining in the field the vegetation of northern Africa, which he 

 has since described in numerous important papers and 

 memoirs. His great work, an illustrated Flora of Algeria, too 

 long delayed by frequent arduous journeys in pursuit of addi- 

 tional information, remains, unfortunately, unfinished. M. 

 Cosson was a man of independent means, which he devoted, 

 like Bentham in England and the De Candolles and Boissier 

 in Switzerland, to advancing the science of botany. His her- 

 barium, unsurpassed in Algerian plants, was constantly en- 

 riched by aquisitions purchased from collectors in all parts of 

 the world ; while his botanical library had become one of the 

 most valuable in the possession of an individual. This library 

 and his herbarium M. Cosson placed always at the disposition 

 of botanists, French and foreign, and many Americans remem- 

 ber with gratitude his kindness and the hospitality of his house 

 in the Rue Boetie. 



