452 



Garden and Forest. 



[September 17, 1890. 



New or Little Known Plants. 

 A Curious Form of Kalmia. 



THE monstrous form of Laurel {Kalmia latifolid), figured 

 on page 453 of this issue, was discovered a few years 

 ago by Miss M. Bryant in a large natural Laurel-thicket 

 near Deerfield in Massachusetts. The attention of the 

 public was called to it by Dr. Asa Gray, to whom Miss 

 Bryant submitted specimens, and who published in the 

 American Naturalist (iv, 373) an account of this freak of 

 nature in a note entitled " Dialysis with Staminody in 

 Kalmia latifolia." 



The monstrosity consists in the division of the ordinarily 

 five-lobed, saucer-shaped corolla into five narrowly linear 

 or sometimes nearly thread-shaped petals alternate with 

 the calyx-lobes. They are ovate at the base and by the 

 revolution of the margins become sometimes almost 

 thread-shaped above and so resemble filaments, the re- 

 semblance being increased by the fact that these petals 

 are occasionally tipped by a single abortive anther. The 

 plant, therefore, serves as a capital illustration of one 

 form of dialysis and possesses considerable interest to 

 morphologists. The pouches on the inner surface of the 

 corolla peculiar to Kalmia, which receive the anthers be- 

 fore the flower-bud expands and hold them back.until freed 

 by insects visiting the flower, thus insuring cross-fertiliza- 

 tion, are rudimentary in this abnormal variety and are 

 represented by a slight depression on the inner surface 

 and a corresponding boss on the outer surface of the petals. 

 The stamens are normal except that they are erect or at 

 length somewhat recurved with anthers entirely free. 

 The pistil is normal and the plants produce seed freely in 

 cultivation. 



One of the two or three plants discovered by Miss Bryant 

 was introduced into the Arnold Arboretum, where it flowers 

 regularly every year and produced the specimen from 

 which Mr. Faxon has made the drawing which re-appears 

 in our illustration. 



The casual observer seeing the plant in flower would 

 never guess that it was a Kalmia. The flower certainly 

 is not as beautiful as that of the normal Kalmia, one of 

 the most beautiful of all flowering plants. They are very 

 attractive, however, both before and after expansion. This 

 plant, which flowers very freely, is well worth cultivation, 

 therefore, not only as a curiosity, but as an ornament to 

 the garden. It can be propagated by grafting on the normal 

 form of the Kalmia. C. S. S. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



Protection for the Originators of New Plants. — This 

 was the subject of discussion in The Garden and other Lon- 

 don papers two years ago. Mr. T. Francis Rivers, whose 

 fame as a raiser of new fruits of sterling worth is world wide, 

 started the discussion by stating a very strong case in favor of 

 protection, and suggested that a reasonable time should be 

 allowed for the raiser to keep a right of property in his inven- 

 tion. When Mr. Rivers complains that seedling fruits raised 

 by him and recognized as being worth planting for industrial 

 purposes have yielded only a very unsatisfactory return, we 

 are bound in fairness to ask if this kind of thing cannot be 

 remedied. Difficulties of a serious kind were pointed out in 

 the discussion which followed Mr. Rivers' letter, and these are 

 emphasized in the leader in Garden and FORESTfor July 30th. 

 The weight of opinion is, on the whole, against protection. 

 Abuses which would prove probably far more intolerable than 

 unfairness to the raisers of new plants would be the inevitable 

 result of any attempt to protect the latter. In the case of new 

 plants introduced from some other country, protection would 

 rarely be of much avail, unless the introduction of the same 

 plant by any one except the holder of the copyright were 

 forbidden. The temptation to use the name of a valuable new 

 plant for a counterfeit would, as you suggest, be strong, but on 

 the theory that the Rose by any other name would smell as 

 sweet, a copyright plant with a non-copyright name would 

 soon find a market if deserving of it. 



After all, the give and take principle must be fairly satisfac- 



tory to dealers in new plants. If Mr. Rivers finds that his new 

 Plums are a source of considerable profit to many who have 

 speculated in them, he can, on his part, do likewise with the 

 new Grapes or new Apples raised by somebody else. From 

 the point of view of the consumer it must be an advantage to 

 have, let us say, a thousand propagators scattered all over the 

 world diligently working up as rapidly as possible a stock of a 

 new and improved fruit or vegetable or flower rather than to 

 be compelled to wait until the copyright had ceased. That 

 the bulk of growers would wait rather than pay a high price is 

 shown by what is done in the case of those articles where pro- 

 tection is afforded. That the nation, as a whole, is a gainer 

 where there is no protection is a political belief which I think 

 applies in this matter of plant distribution. 



SCHUBERTIA GRANDIFLORA, SO well figured ill GARDEN AND 



Forest, page 368, is a most useful summer-flowering climber, 

 as it grows and blooms freely under the most ordinary treat- 

 ment. In the stove it is trained along a rafter, which it com- 

 pletely hides with healthy green leaves and numerous clusters 

 of ivory-white, Stephanotis-like flowers ; in the same house it 

 forms a good specimen plant when the shoots are trained over 

 a balloon-shaped trellis. In addition to these uses we have it 

 trained along the roof of a greenhouse, where it has flowered 

 well all summer. Evidently this plant is as accommodating 

 in its requirements as its near ally, Pliysianthus aldens, which 

 also may be used either in the greenhouse or stove. Cuttings 

 of the Schubertia have not readily struck root here, but seeds 

 have been ripened from which a stock of young plants have 

 been raised. Physianthus albens also fruits freely here. 



Begonia Haageana is a most ornamental flowering plant 

 for the stove. It grows to a height of about three feet, has 

 large, handsome foliage, and produces all summer numerous 

 broad, semi-drooping racemes of large pale flesh-colored 

 flowers. It was introduced from Brazil by Messrs. Haage & 

 Schmidt three years ago, and was figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine, t. 7028, as B. Scharffiana. Several large specimens 

 of it are now the most attractive of all the evergreen Begonias 

 in the Kew collection. 



Ixora macrothyrsa is this year again very fine at Kew. 

 The heads of flowers are as massive as the largest heads of 

 Hydrangea hortensis, and they remain fresh almost as long. 

 Their color is a deep crimson. 



Passiflora Kermesina (Raddiana) is a very effective 

 climber in the stove; and it is as easy to cultivate as the com- 

 monest of Passion-flowers. For small houses it is particularly 

 useful, as it requires only a square yard or so of space to make 

 a good display of bloom. Trained loosely along a rafter so 

 that the shoots may hang downward when clothed with its 

 pretty carmine flowers it produces a pretty effect. The leaves 

 are medium in size, three-lobed, and colored dark green above, 

 deep claret below. The species is a native of Brazil, whence 

 it was introduced into England sixty years ago. P. Loudoni is 

 a cross between it and P. racemosa (princeps), and P. Kewensis 

 between it and P. casrulea. 



Cattleya Hardyana is perhaps the most gorgeous colored 

 of all Cattleyas, as is indicated by its being supposed a wild 

 hybrid from the very fine species C. aurea and C. gigas. It is 

 imported with C. gigas, which it resembles exactly in pseudo- 

 bulbs and foliage, so that a newly imported C. gigas may 

 possibly prove on flowering the much coveted C. Hardyana. 

 Recently this plant has attracted a good deal of attention. It 

 appears to have one bad fault, namely, the liability to fall a 

 prey to that mysterious disease which too often attacks and 

 suddenly destroys C. Dowiana. Plants of C. Hardyana are 

 sometimes shown at the meetings of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, where they are always much admired. There were 

 several at the meeting held this week, and along with them 

 a very similar Cattleya called C. Massaiana. This is said to be 

 a natural hybrid from the same parents as C. Hardyana, and 

 whatever their origin the two are certainly very much alike. 

 The former has the sepals and petals colored a pale rosy 

 salmon and a large lip fully three inches across, shaped as in 

 C. Dowiana, its color being rich maroon-crimson in front, 

 with a pair of broad patches of yellow and veins of the same 

 color running into the throat. The plant worthily obtained a 

 first-class Certificate. Plants of ordinary C. Dowiana have 

 been sold for this beautiful Cattleya. Flowering at this time 

 of the year these plants are particularly useful. I might men- 

 tion that there is a tendency amongst Orchid fanciers to call all 

 deep colored varieties of C. gigas forms of C. Hardyana. The 

 former is a magnificent Orchid, but it lacks the beautiful gold 

 penciling on the lip, so conspicuous a character in true C. 

 Hardyana. 



Dahlias. — There were some good flowers of these exhibited 

 at the last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, chiefly 



