September 24, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



469 



Phajus Humblotii. 



AMONG the representatives of the genus Phajus this charm- 

 ing species must be considered as standing in the first 

 rank, and as a fitting companion of the handsome P. tubercu- 

 losus, already noted in these columns. 



P. Humblotii (often erroneously spelled and caiied Humboldtii) 

 is only just beginning to be known in Orchid collections, 

 through importations from Madagascar last year by F. Sander 

 & Co. The first appearance, however, of this species was in 

 the year 1880, when only a few plants were imported through 

 the agency of a young French traveler, Le"on Humblot, whose 

 name Reichenbach attached to the plant by way of commem- 

 oration. It is a somewhat difficult plant to get at in Madagas- 

 car as well as to import successfully, hence the lapse of nine 

 years between the first and second installment. 



The small, pear-shaped pseudo-bulbs have two or three 

 rings around them, and are furnished with a few large, stalked, 

 oblong-acute plaited leaves over a foot long and three or four 

 inches broad. The stout, erect scape rises from the base of 

 the pseudo-bulb and will bear as many as twenty flowers, 

 which are individually about two and a half inches across ver- 

 tically. The flowers appear in April and continue until the 

 middle or end of July. I do not mean that one spike of flow- 

 ers will last this length of time ; but where there are several 

 plants, each opening at different times, flowers may be seen 

 for three or four months. In May last I saw nearly two hun- 

 dred spikes with flowers expanded, and a very charming sight 

 they presented. The ovate-acute sepals and petals are of a 

 soft rose color, sometimes mottled with white; the large spur- 

 less lip has a nicely frilled rosy front lobe, and reddish brown 

 spots thickly covering the pale yellow side lobes, while the 

 bright yellow, saddle-shaped callus presents a striking contrast 

 to the surrounding colors and immediately attracts the eye. 



One variety is already known — viz., P. Humblotii alba, origi- 

 nally known as P. Henryi. This is distinguished from P. 

 Humblotii proper in having pure white sepals and petals, and 

 the colors on the lip less deep in tone. 



The natural surroundings of P. Humblotii are malarial 

 marsh-lands, where it grows at the base of large trees, accord- 

 ing to its discoverer, Monsieur Humblot, with plenty of heat 

 and moisture. An imitation of these conditions as nearly as 

 possible (with the exception of the malaria) seems to be the 

 best way to treat this plant in cultivation. A warm, moist 

 house, with as much diffused light as possible, suits it admira- 

 bly ; the soil may consist of rich fibrous loam and leaf-mould, 

 and pots, which appear to be most suitable, should be well 

 drained. The plants rest a little during the winter months 

 and require but little water; with the approach of spring, how- 

 ever, the young shoots push forth, and the quantity of water 

 must then be daily increased to make the plants grow vigor- 

 ously and develop their flower scapes. 



London. John Weathers. 



Allamanda Schottii. — One of these vines occupies part of 

 the roof on the west side of the plant-house here, covering 

 200 square feet. It is planted in a box three and a half feet 

 long and two and a half feet wide and nine inches deep. The 

 soil is a rich loam, and ordinary stove temperature is main- 

 tained, and in summer the plant is shaded from strong sun. 

 With plenty of moisture in the air and water at the roots con- 

 stantly, it never flags. A few applications of liquid manure 

 when the box is full of roots, or a mulching of rich compost, 

 is given, according to its needs. Being so strong a grower, it 

 would soon have a starved look, and would produce smaller 

 flowers with less generous treatment; as it is now, we have an 

 average of 500 flowers open daily, and have had not less than 

 10,000 flowers this summer, averaging six inches in diameter. 



Dongan Hills, Staten Island. W. Tricker. 



Dipladenia atropurpurea is an easily grown, free-flower- 

 ing species, with trumpet-shaped (lowers as large as those of 

 the old D. Boliviensis , but broader in the tube than that spe- 

 cies, whilst the color is deep velvety crimson, except toward 

 the base of the tube, where it is deep rose. This plant is al- 

 most forgotten now, but fifty years ago it was a popular stove- 

 climber. Messrs. Veitch introduced it from Brazil, and it was 

 awarded the Banksian medal as a new plant. Sir Joseph 

 Paxton grew it at Chatsworth in combination with Stephanotis, 

 a happy idea. The flowers last at least a week. It has been 

 reintroduced by accident, a tiny plant having been imported 

 along with a mass of Cattleya two or three years ago. It is 

 now flowering at Kew. Other names for it besides the above 

 are Echites atropurpurea and Dipladenia violacea, 



Cyperus Natalensis.— A plant bearing this name has lately 

 found much favor here among growers of decorative plants 



for market. It forms an elegant tuft of smooth, shining, bright 

 green, channeled, arching leaves from two to three feet long 

 and erect scapes four or five feet high, bearing Bower-heads 

 similar to those of C. alter nifolius, but larger. It seeds freely 

 under cultivation. Grown in a moist, warm house, it soon 

 forms a handsome specimen. It is a gross feeder, and thrives 

 on frequent doses of manure. The value of the plant is in its 

 fitness for decorative work and its sturdy constitution. It 

 keeps its healthy green color for months in an ordinary dwell- 

 ing room. According to Mr. Clarke, of Kew, it is certainly 

 not C. Natalensis, but a Mariscus, allied to, if not a variety of, 

 M. sparpanifoliiis. 

 Kew. W. 



Grand Mogul and Jean Soupert. — While quite similar in habit 

 and flower these two Roses are not identical — Jean Soupert 

 was sent out by La Charme in 1875, ant ^ proved a very effect- 

 ive dark velvety Rose ; Paid's Grand Mogul, of a recent year, 

 is a seedling from A. K. Williams, and is a grand variety as 

 seen in England. Neither of these three fine Roses does well 

 in our country, probably on account of a lack of constitution to 

 withstand our trying summer's sun ; but wherever a grand, 

 velvety crimson rose of the darkest and richest shade is de- 

 sired our Rose-growers should plant Jean Liabaud ; here we 

 find freedom of growth, boldness of foliage, a rugged consti- 

 tution and a flower once seen never to be forgotten — black 

 and crimson displayed in a texture of velvet. 



La France and Duchess of Albany. — Duchess of Albany is a 

 sport from La France, and, while they have their resem- 

 blances, they are quite as distinct as Pearl and Sunset. By 

 selecting a La France deeper in tint than the average and a 

 Duchess lighter than its average one might hold in his hand 

 two very similar Roses ; but when the two are seen in a mass 

 in any florist's forcing-house the most casual observer will 

 note the new variety with admiration. They are quite similar 

 in constitution, Duchess of Albany being the less liable of the 

 two to drop its leaves; its bloom is slightly larger, too, under the 

 same cultivation, while the color is a deep even shade of rosy 

 pink without the light satiny sheen seen in La F ranee. A 

 dozen buds of Duchess make a cluster as distinct from a similar 

 cluster from La France as a dozen buds of Catherine Mermet 

 would be. Duchess of Albany is already highly appreciated 

 among the florists as one of the most popular and most easily 

 managed of the newer forcing Roses. 



Richmond, Ind. E. G. Hill. 



[These notes from Mr. Hill were called out by the state- 

 ment in an English journal that the Roses Grand Mogul 

 and Jean Soupert are now recognized as the same, and 

 that it would probably be proved that La France and 

 Duchess of Albany were also identical. — Ed.] 



Kniphofia (Tritoma) Corallina, just out of bloom, is one of 

 the most desirable of the Torch Lilies or Red-hot-poker plants. 

 It blooms freely for several months, and the flowers are most 

 attractive, of a bright coral or orange red, without the clear 

 yellow color on the lower side as in A'. Macowanii, from 

 which this is said to be a seedling. The plant is some five 

 feet high and has a more spreading habit than the parent. 

 Kniphofias cross so freely that it is interesting to raise seed- 

 lings from a collection, as many variations can be secured. 

 K. Corallina bloomed this season from seedlings of 1889, quite 

 in contrast to K. Saundersonii, which required three and four 

 years' growth. 



H. multiflorus, fl. pi., the double Sunflower most common 

 in cultivation, is an excellent garden plant for a large border, 

 vieing as it does with the African Marigold in bold effect of 

 flower. It should be divided frequently, and unless grown 

 in good soil the plants are much dwarfed. The perennial Sun- 

 flowers are all subject to attack of white mildew at this season 

 and need attention with sulphur. 



Helianthus laetiflorus follows closely in bloom H. rigidus, 

 and is one of the best of native single Sunflowers. The habit 

 is very neat, and the plant is about four feet high, producing a 

 plentiful supply of deep yellow (lowers of firm texture and some 

 four inches in diameter. The disc of this species is yellow, 

 or rather the purple base is covered with yellow anthers, 

 which is the chief distinction between this and H. rigidus (the 

 Prairie Sunflower), sometimes known as Harpalium rigidum, 

 the disc of which is deep purple. The latter variety is also 

 an earlier bloomer, coming on in July and August. A variety 

 received as H. Japonicus is very slightly different from H. 

 rigidus, to which it is inferior. A lot of seedlings from H. 

 rigidus are decidedly inferior to the type ; of a distinctly lighter 



