February 6, 1S89.] 



Garden and Forest. 



6s 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



'X'HE new plants of 1888 do not include anything of a sensa- 

 ■'- tional character. There are a great many Orchids, numer- 

 ous hybrids of all kinds, and a few introductions of a miscella- 

 neous character. But one cannot point to any of them as of 

 very exceptional merit. The taste and demand for Orchids 

 predominates over everything else, and, no doubt, has diverted 

 the attendon of collectors from other plants. Indeed, there 

 are those who affirm that it does not pay to bother about intro- 

 ducing anything nowadays except Orchids, which is another 

 way of saying that there is no demand for plants of other 

 families. But a new plant of superior qualities for the garden 

 is always certain to find general favor. As an instance I might 

 point to Impatiens Stiltani, which was introduced to Kew by 

 accident a few years ago, and which is now in almost every 



we find a long list of new additions, many of them decided 

 acquisitions. Especially is this the case in regard to Orchids. 

 It may be treasonable to say so, but is there not too much im- 

 portance attached to the mere marking and size in the flowers 

 of these plants ? — a great many being dubbed varieties and dis- 

 tinguished by a three-barreled name on account of characters 

 which in any other family of plants would be ignored. Plant- 

 breeders contribute more than any one to the progress in the 

 horticulture of to-day. It scarcely seems credible that a gen- 

 eration or so ago many botanists discouraged with all their 

 might any attempt to tamper with the so-called specific char- 

 acters of plants by crossing them. Darwin taught how 

 important a light the work of the breeder of plants, as well as 

 of animals, throws on the great secret of the origin of species. 

 Nowadays almost every nurseryman in England tries his hand 

 at crossing one species of plant with another. The result 

 already is almost miraculous. Among stove and green- 

 house plants we have Orchids, Nepenthes, Begonias, Crotons, 



Fig. 92. — Cereus Pringlei on the Island of San Pedro Martin. — See page 64. 



garden. Aristolochia elegans, Boronia h^terophylla and Nephro- 

 Hpisrufesceiis tripinnatifida, all introduced through Kew within 

 the last five years, are also universal favorites. A large num- 

 ber of new plants are obtained through cross-breeding, and 

 these absorb a good deal of the attention of horticulturists. 

 There must be large numbers of beautiful plants still unknown 

 in gardens. Even those fields which have already been ex- 

 plored by the collector will contain many good plants worth 

 introducmg, whilst such new countries as New Guinea, Mada- 

 gascar and Burmah are sure to be rich in floral treasures of all 

 kinds. 



Last year's introductions comprise numerous Orchids, most 

 of them interesting, a few beautiful, the best of them being the 

 following: Cypripedium bellatulum (habitat not published), 

 introduced by Low & Co.; C. Elliotiamun, from the Philip- 

 pines, and C. Rothschildianum, from Papua, both by Sander & 

 Co.; Spathoglottis aurea (Kimballiand), Borneo ; Lassochilus 

 glganteits, Angola, Linden ; Disa racemosa, South Africa, Kew. 



Amongst stove plants there are none of any particular 

 beauty, the most distinct and pretty being Beg07iia Lubbersii, 

 from Brazil. There is no new green-house plant, and only the 

 following first-class new additions to the herbaceous collection: 

 Lilhan Nepalense, Nepaul, Low & Co., and Ostrowskia mag- 

 nifica, Turkestan, Max Leichdin. Two good, hardy flowering 

 shrubs have been added. These are Styrax Obassia, Japan, 

 Veitch & Sons, and Stuartia Pseudo-Camellia, Japan, Veitch & 

 Sons. [The last named plant has been known in American 

 gardens for the last dozen years.— Ed. 1 



When we come to variedes of well-known plants, however, 



Anthuriums, Caladiums, Rhododendrons (Javanese), and Hip- 

 peastrums ; hardy plants may be instanced bv Hellebores, 

 Pasonies and Narcissus. It is remarkable that none of these 

 crosses, however extreme, reveals any tendency on the part of 

 the offspring to break away from the fixed characters of the 

 genus. Another fact of equal interest is that no cross-breed- 

 ing of species, however varied in character the different species 

 crossed are, has produced anything more extraordinary than 

 has been obtained by the cultivation and selection of the pro- 

 geny of a single species. The Chrysanthemums, with their 

 hundreds, thousands of forms, all from one species, accord- 

 ing to some botanists, the Gloxinias, the Cabbages, Apples 

 and many other well-known garden races, are cases in point. 

 Certainly the breeding of plants is a most delightful and fascinat- 

 ing occupation. It is as yet in its infancy, but in England it is 

 being pursued with zeal and padence, and the magnificent 

 results already achieved point the way to still greater. 



An exhibition of Chrysanthemums on the tenth of January 

 is a novelty which a few years ago would have been consid- 

 ered absurd. But by dint of careful cultivation and the selec- 

 tion of late-flowering kinds a very creditable displav was col- 

 lected in the London Aquarium on that date. The kinds 

 shown were the following : Belle Paul, Meg Merrilies, Glori- 

 osum, Rolfe Brocklebank, i\I. de Calrol, W. E. Drover, 

 Progne, Martha Harding, Golden Gem and Mrs. J. H. Jones. 

 During the last month we have had very heavy and continuous 

 fogs, which have damaged flowers of all kinds. Chrysanthe- 

 mums included. Still the above display was most interesting, 

 and is certainly a step in the right direction. Thei-e does not 



