416 



Garden and Forest. 



[August 27, li. 



Plant Note. 

 Pyrus arbutifolia. 



r T' v Ht two forms of the Choke-berry usually referred to 

 Pyrus arbutifolia as varieties have been growing 

 side by side in the Arnold Arboretum for a number of 

 years, and display charaeters here which seem to make it 

 desirable to regard them as specifically distinct. One of 

 these plants, which must be considered the type of the 

 species as usually limited, is reproduced in our illustration 

 on page 417. It is the plant which Linnauis described in 

 the " Species Plantarum '' as Mcspilus arbutifolia, and which 

 appears to have been one of the earliest North American 

 plants known to European botanists, as it was described 

 by Breyne in his Prodromus of the rare plants cultivated 

 in the gardens of Holland, published in 1678. Paul Her- 

 mann included it in his catalogue of the Leyden Garden, 

 supplementing his descriptive phrase* by an excellent 

 figure which exactly reproduces the plant of our illustra- 

 tion; and it was described again by Plukenet in the "Al- 

 magestum Botanicum," published in London in 1696 |. 

 Linnaeus quotes the figure of Hermann after his descrip- 

 tive phrase in the " Hortus Cliffortianus " " Mespilus iner- 

 mis folds lanceolatis crenulatis," which forms the basis of 

 his description of Mespilus arbutifolia in the ''Species Plan- 

 tarum.'' It is evident, therefore, that if the species is to be 

 divided, the plant of our illustration must be called Pyrus 

 arbutifolia, and the common Black-Fruited Choke-berry, 

 first distinguished as Mespilus arbutifolia, variety nigra, by 

 Willdenow in his "Species Plantarum" (ii., 1021), pub- 

 lished in 1799, Pyrus nigra. For Willdenow's work was 

 published four years earlier than the Flora of Michaux, 

 where it was first described as Mespilus arbutifolia, variety 

 melanocarpa. Should it on further investigation be found 

 that the two plants are varieties of one species, then the 

 right name for this variety would be Pyrus arbutifolia, var. 

 nigra. 



Characters which appear to separate these two plants 

 are the nature of the leaves, the flowering period, the size 

 of the fruit, and the time of its ripening and falling. 



The leaves of Pyrus arbutifolia are usually oblong or 

 sometimes oblanceolate, very acute or acuminate, dull 

 yellow-green on the upper surface and densely covered 

 on the lower with thick, whitish tomentum, which is not 

 deciduous. The flowers open in the Arboretum in the early 

 days of June and the fruit does not ripen until the end of 

 October ; it is then globular or pear-shaped, and not more 

 than a quarter of an inch across. It is bright scarlet but 

 not lustrous, and remains on the branches without much 

 change of color after the leaves have fallen and until late 

 into the winter. The plants in the Arboretum have 

 reached a height of three feet, with an upright habit of 

 growth, and present a much less leafy appearance than 

 those of the Black-Fruited Choke-berry. 



The leaves of Pyrus nigra are broadly obovate, generally 

 quite glabrous on the two surfaces even when young, 

 although sometimes pubescent below even at maturity. 

 They are dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, and 

 often nearly as broad as long. The flowers appear in the 

 Arboretum about the 20th of May, and the fruit ripens early 

 in September. It is depressed-globular, very dark vinous 

 purple or black and lustrous, half an inch across or often 

 more, and falls from the branches as soon as it is ripe. 

 The habit of this plant is denser than that of the scarlet 

 fruited species, and is the more ornamental of the two in 

 foliage. It varies considerably in the size and shape of 

 the fruit, and in the size the plant attains. The form with 

 dark, vinous red fruit usually has leaves which are pubes- 

 cent on the lower surface, while the glabrous-leaved vari- 

 ety has larger black fruit. The fruit of both forms falls as 

 soon as ripe— a constant and important character. The 

 form of the leaves would not sufficiently separate these two 



plants specifically, but the difference in the form and color 

 of the fruit, and especially in the length of time it remains 

 on the branches, is so marked and constant that it is hardly 

 possible to unite them. 



Pyrus arbutifolia is less common and apparently less 

 widely distributed than the black-fruited plant, although 

 the two grow together in some parts of New England and 

 southward through the Alleghany Mountains. It is not, 

 however, common in any part of the country which I have 

 visited. 



Pyrus arbutifolia is one of the most ornamental and de- 

 sirable of the hardy shrubs which, in this climate, carry 

 bright colored fruit into the winter, and is worth a place in 

 every garden for this character alone. 



Our illustration is from a drawing made by Mr. Faxon 

 from a plant in the Arboretum raised from seeds collected 

 many years ago by Mr. A. H. Curtiss in the mountains of 

 Vireinia. C. S. S. 



* Sorbus Virginiana.foliis Arbilti, 51, t. 



t Mespilus Virginiana, Arbuti lanatofolio, 248. 



New Orchids. 



Epiphronitis X Veitchii. — This is a very interesting bigen- 

 eric hybrid, raised by Mr. Seden, in the establishment of 

 Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, between Sophronitis 

 grandiflora and Epidendrum radicans, the latter being the 

 pollen parent. It is very similar to the last named in general 

 character, though much dwarfer, being at present but nine 

 inches high. The flowers are also deeper in color, and borne 

 four or five on a terminal scape. The generic name is com- 

 pounded from that of the two parents. The plant was awarded 

 a first-class Certificate and also a Botanical Certificate at a 

 meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on June 24th last. 

 — Gardeners Chronicle, June 28th, pp. 799, 800; July 5th, p. 20. 



L/ELIO-Cattleya x eximia. — A handsome hybrid raised by 

 Mr. Seden for Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, between Cattleya 

 Warneri and Ltzlia purpurata. The sepals and petals are 

 lilac, of good size and substance, and the lip very large and 

 expanded, rich purple with a lilac margin. It was awarded a 

 first-class Certificate at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society on June 24th last. — Gardeners' Chronicle, June 28th, 

 p. 800. 



L^elio-Cattleya X CanhamI/E. — Exhibited by Messrs. James 

 Veitch & Sons at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 on June 24th last, when it received an award of merit. It is 

 said to be a hybrid raised between Cattleya Mossice and Lcelia 

 purpurata and the reverse cross of L.-C. x Canhamiana. 

 Sepals and petals pale lilac, almost white, the lip mottled with 

 purple. — Gardeners' Chronicle, June 28th, p. 800. 



Sarcopodium Codseffianum. — This is very closely allied to 

 6". Dearei, otherwise Bulbophyllum Dearei, though it is said to 

 differ in habit and in some slight floral details. It was exhib- 

 ited by Messrs. F. Sander & Co., of St. Albans, at a meeting 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society on June 28th last, when it 

 was awarded a first-class Certificate. — Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 June 28th, p. 800. 



Moorea irrorata, Rolfe. — A striking novelty, and so dis- 

 tinct that a new genus has been proposed for its reception. It 

 is allied to Houlletia, of which it has much the habit, but dif- 

 fers in various details of the lip. The flowers are borne in an 

 erect raceme, the sepals and petals spreading, bright reddish 

 brown, passing into nearly white at the base, thus giving a 

 circle of paler color, which is very striking. The lip is three- 

 lobed — the front lobe long and narrow, the side ones large 

 and rounded, bright straw color, with radiating lines of 

 blackish purple ; in fact, it resembles a butterfly attached by 

 its head. It flowered in the Glasnevin Botanic Garden, Dublin, 

 under the charge of Mr. F. W. Moore. — Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 Julv 5th, p. 7. 



Kew. R- A. Rolfe. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



A N exhibition and conference devoted to Ferns by the Royal 

 + *- Horticultural Society was sufficiently supported in every 

 way to warrant the belief that Ferns are in the ascendant with 

 English horticulturists. Those Ferns which may be grown in 

 the open air in England obtained the greatest share of atten- 

 tion, owing partly to the magnificent collections of them exhib- 

 ited by the few specialists who have made hardy, and particu- 

 larly British, Ferns a life-long study, and partly to the general 

 ignorance which prevails with regard to these plants. The 



