624 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 24, 1890. 



stone. In wateringthe frame do not use a rose-no/./le, but pour 

 the water from the spout of the can onto the stones or any- 

 where except o'n the leaves of the Ferns. 



All Filmy Ferns require a subdued light at all times of the 

 j ear. In a state of nature they are found only in very sheltered 

 spots, often clothing the under surface of stones or fallen tree- 

 trunks, always in positions protected from wind and the drying 

 influence of sunshine. If the sun is allowed to shine direct 

 upon them only for an hour or so in summer they become 

 dried and shriveled beyond recovery. Some of the species, 

 particularly Todeas, may be grown in positions where they 

 would get a moderate amount of sunshine, but fine specimens 

 cannot be produced by its means. 



The temperature most congenial to Filmy Ferns when under 

 cultivation has only recently been arrived at. A few years 

 ago the general belief with regard to all Filmy Ferns except the 

 Todeas, the Killarney Fern and New Zealand species was that 

 they required a tropical temperature. The discovery that this 

 was an error was purely accidental. The late Dr. Cooper 

 Forster, who had grown a large collection of Filmy Ferns in a 

 conservatory attached to his surgery in Grosvenor Street, re- 

 lated how, on his heating apparatus breaking down, he was 

 forced to leave his plants to their fate. Instead of dying from 

 the reduced temperature, as he]expected, the majority of them 

 displayed a vigor of growth and depth of color which told 

 their own story unmistakably. Even pteridologists were in- 

 credulous of this story until they saw its proof in the health of 

 the collection of plants in Grosvenor Street. It was plain 

 enough that many of the species which hailed from distinctly 

 tropical regions were much happier when under cultivation in 

 England if the temperature for them was kept comparatively 

 low. At the time of Dr. Cooper Forster's discovery the 

 Kew collection was grown in a temperature which in winter 

 never sank below sixty degrees nor in summer below seventy 

 degrees. With the exception of a few species, which were 

 either too precious to risk in an experiment or were perfectly 

 happy in a stove temperature, the whole collection was re- 

 moved to a cool fernery in 1885. In this house no fire heat is 

 used except during winter, in frosty weather the thermometer 

 often registering fifty degrees or even forty-five degrees. 

 With scarcely an exception the whole of the plants have proved 

 not only able to support this low temperature, but the growth 

 has been uniformly better than it was when they were in a 

 warmer place. Many of them are from tropical regions where 

 it is scarcely likely that they would ever experience a tempera- 

 ture anything like as low as they enjoy when under artificial 

 cultivation. The following list comprises all the species which 

 thrive in the cool fernery at Kew : 



Trichomonas alatitm. 



" " var. attemiatum. 



Hymenophyllum aruginosum . 



" asplenioides. 



axiltare. 



caiuiiculatum. 



ch license. 



ciliatum. 



omentum. 



demissum. 



" var. minus. 

 " var. nitens. 

 dichotomuiu. 

 dilatatum. 

 flabellatum. 

 Fostcrianum. 

 fnciforme. 

 Iiirsittum. 

 Javanicwn. 



" z>ar. cristatum. 



" var. Jiexuosum. 

 linearc. 

 Lyallii. 

 multifidum. 

 obtusalum. 

 pectinatum. 



" var. super bum. 

 poly ant ho s. 

 pulcherrimum. 

 rarum. 

 scabrum. 

 sericeUm. 

 tamaricifolium. 

 Tunbridgense. 



" var. Wilsoni. 

 valvatum. 



Todea Fraseri. 



Kew. 



" var. Wilkesiana. 

 grandipinnula. 

 hymenophylloides . 

 plumosa. 

 super ba. 



apiifolium. 

 auricula/urn. 

 Colensoi. 

 crinitum. 

 depauperatum . 

 digitatum. 

 exsectum. 

 Filicula. 

 fxniculaceum. 

 Iiumile. 

 lucens. 

 maximum, 

 membranaceum . 

 parvulum. 

 pus ilium, 

 pyxidiferum . 



" var. olivaceum. 

 r ad i cans. 



' ' var. Andrewsii. 



" var. Boschianum. 



" var. concinnum. 



" var. dilatatum. 



" var. dissccium. 



' ' var. Luschnati- 



anum prolongum. 

 Trichomanes radicans, 



natianum pulclirum. 

 Trichomanes radicans, 



natianum superbum. 

 Trichomanes reniforme. 

 " rigidum. 



var. Lusch- 

 var. Lusch- 



var. elongatum. 

 sinuosum. 

 strictum. 

 tenerum. 

 triclwideum. 

 venosum. 



W. Watson. 



Ruellia macraniha is certainly one of the most ornamental 

 of the many cultivated winter flowering Acanthads, but it 

 is scarcely known in gardens. It is a native of Brazil, from 

 whence it was introduced by Van Houtte in 1875 an d figured 

 in the Revue Horticole the year following. It forms a compact 

 many stemmed shrub from a foot to two feet in height, with 

 oblong-lanceolate bright green leaves six inches long. The 

 flowers are produced singly in the axils of the upper leaves, 

 and as many as six flowers are opened together on each shoot. 

 The calyx is formed of five linear segments an inch long, and 

 is subtended by a pair of oblong green bracts also an inch in 

 length. The corolla at the base is in the form of a narrow 

 tube about an inch long, then broadly campanulate with five 

 ovate spreading segments. The length of the whole flower is- 

 three inches and it measures three inches across the top. The 

 color is a rich purplish rose, very similar to that of Bougain- 

 villea spectabilis. The flowers last at least a week when cut 

 and placed in water. The plant is easily propagated by means 

 of cuttings, and it grows freely in an ordinary stove. Other 

 species of Ruellia which are useful as winter-flowering plants 

 are R. Herbstii, with terminal clusters of tubular flowers 

 colored magenta and lilac; R. macrophylla, with brilliant scar- 

 let Salvia-like flowers; R. affinis, with an erect semi-scandent 

 habit, large, dark green leaves and terminal clusters of salmon 

 red flowers almost as large as those of R. macrantha. These 

 plants formerly belonged to the genus Dipteracanthus, now 

 merged in Ruellia. R. macrantha can be recommended as an 

 exceptionally good stove-flowering plant. 



Iris stylosa is a useful plant as a source of cut flowers in early- 

 winter. It is generally considered a shy bloomer, but when 

 planted close against the south wall of a greenhouse it blooms 

 profusely from October into December. At any rate, some 

 plants obtained last year from a French nurseryman and 

 planted in the same border with the Jacobaia Lily (Sprekelia) 

 have been flowering freely since October, and are bearing 

 good flowers now, notwithstanding the severe frost and snow 

 of the past fortnight. /. stylosa is a native of Algeria, where 

 it is common in the hedges. It has a creeping rhizome, ever- 

 green narrow leaves, one and a half feet long ; scapes about a 

 foot long, one-flowered ; each flower is nearly three inches- 

 across and colored a rich purple-blue, with a few lines of yel- 

 low on the falls. It has been in cultivation over twenty years. 

 There are several named varieties of it, one with white flowers.. 

 It is described as a spring-flowering species. 



Kew. ■£>• 



Clematis Stans. — This plant when in growth and covered 

 with foliage would appear to belong to the same section as C 

 Davidiana and C. tubulosa, and has in fact been described as. 

 a white C. Davidiana. All three of the above plants resemble 

 each other in having leaves like the Japan Anemones, but the- 

 likeness ends here. C. tubulosa has deep blue flowers, and 

 C. Davidiana light lavender blue, both being hardy herbaceous 

 plants, while C. Stans has white flowers and is a hardy shrub. 

 This statement is made because C. Stans is often called a 

 hardy perennial, which it is, but not a herbaceous perennial, 

 as many are led to suppose. The plant grows three or four 

 feet high, the main stems being woody, and they bear close re- 

 semblance to the wood of a Grapevine, being of the same color 

 and thickness, while the leaves are always opposite, with plump 

 buds at their base. The propagation of this Clematis is easily- 

 effected by means of the hard wood and the axillary buds. 

 The shoot's may be cut up into single eyes, as is done with the 

 Grapevine, and when placed in sand in a propagating bench 

 they will make callus and grow readily. Apart from the- 

 beauty of this plant, C. Stans is the best species from which to 

 obtain roots upon which to graft other species of Clematis. It 

 is well known that Clematis come slowly from seed, and con- 

 sequently grafting is resorted to as a much quicker method of 

 reproduction. We have tried the roots of several species, but 

 none united so readily with the cion as those of C. Stans. The 

 union was perfect in two weeks, and the ligature could be re- 

 moved with perfect safety. This species has therefore a pecu- 

 liar value not only as a decorative plant, and on account of the- 

 ease with which it may be increased, but because it is such a 

 help in multiplying other species and varieties which without 

 such a convenient stock increase but slowly. 



South Lancaster, Mass. ^- O. Or pet. 



Dianthus plumarius semperflorens. — With regard to the origin 

 of this plant, to which allusion has already been made on page- 

 562 of this volume, Mr. Thompson, of Ipswich, England,, 

 writes that M. Alphonse Alegatiere, of Lyons, France, obtained 

 it by crossing the best forms of the florists' Pink (D. plumarius} 

 with a Perpetual Carnation. He adds that the first lot of seed 

 he obtained and distributed was the only one of any value, 



