136 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 20, 1889. 



grand plants. E. armaia is cultivated in Belgium^andjOther 

 continental countries under the names of Brahea Roezlii 

 and B. calcaraia. It is not unlike a Thrlnax parvifiora, 

 but the petioles are shorter and bear small marginal teeth, 

 whilst the whole plant is of the most beautiful glaucous 

 green — almost silvery. Here we call it the Silver Palm. It 

 IS scarcely, if at all, represented by large plants in English 

 gardens. If any of your readers would kindly supply some 

 definite information in regard to the climatic conditions and 

 the character of mature specimens of this Palm, I, for one, 

 would be greatly obliged. It is quite at home under cool 

 treatment here. Serenoa serrtilata is also a useful Palm for 

 temperate climates. Juania aiisiralis, the Chonta Palm of 

 Juan Fernandez, is developing nicely in a cold-house. We 

 have only lately secured plants of this graceful and very in- 

 teresting species, which had never before been in cultivation. 

 It is very similar to Glaziova i?isignis, or, to take a better 

 known plant for comparison, Cocos Weddelliaiia. But the 

 foliage is more robust and the stem stouter. We have not 

 yet tried the Glaziova under cool treatment, but I have been 

 told it is quite healthy under such. We have a beautiful ex- 

 ample of it in a warm-house at Kew. It is certainly one of 

 the most graceful of all dwarf Palms. Its proper botanical 

 position is in the genus Cocus. Sabal Palmetto is healthier in 

 a temperate-house than in a stove, its erect-stalked, handsome 

 foliage being most effective amongst other plants. 



FhcEuix dactylifera, P. spinosa, P. reclinata and P. Canarieti- 

 sis, the last named a very elegant Palm, almost as graceful as 

 P. rupicola, which is the prince of the genus, flourish in a cool 

 temperature. No Palm would be more likely to prove 

 "as happy as a native" in your Southern States than P. 

 reclinata, the dwarfer of the two Afiican Date Palms. It is a 

 bright green, elegant-leaved plant, rarely exceeding ten feet in 

 height of stem, and always tufted. In the south-east of Africa 

 it is one of the most attractive plants to be met with ; at Kew 

 it is in perfect health in the cool-house. P. Hanceana, a 

 sturdy, compact species, native of Hong Kong, grows freely 

 in the temperate-house. 



The newest and probably one of the hardiest of Fan Palms 

 is Nannorhops Ritchieana, from Afghanistan, of which large 

 quantities of seeds were distributed from Kew a year or two 

 ago. Like many Palms, it grows very slowly in the infant 

 stage, but we have already found that it does not like artificial 

 heat, preferring the temperature of an unheated green-house. 

 In habit and the character of its foliage it resembles the 

 Chamcerops, but wfien large it is almost invariably tufted. 

 In California and other of your warmer states it is certain to 

 prove quite at home. (Thus far the Palms grown under cool 

 treatment at Kew.) 



From a descriptive account recently published of the fa- 

 mous garden formed by the late M. Dognin at Cannes, I 

 have obtained some valuable information in relation to the 

 hardiness of many plants which we usually keep in tropical 

 houses. Thus, in addition to some of the Palms above men- 

 tioned, I find the following species were a perfect success in 

 the open-air garden of jM. Dognin, namely: Cocos (Syagrtcs) 

 catftpestris, C. australis, C. botryophora, C. flexuosa, C. Ro- 

 manzoffiana and C. Yatai. These are some of the very best 

 of the genus : Sabal Havanensis, S. umbraculifera, Thrinax 

 Chuco, Ceroxylon niveuni and Copernicia cerifera. 



The Villa-Valetta is one of the noblest gardens of sub-tropi- 

 cal plants in the Riviera ; possibly in Europe. It is situated 

 on the Chemin de la Calif ornie, near the town of Cannes. The 

 collection of plants, mostly exotics, is of the richest ; succulent 

 plants of all kinds, Araucarias, Dammaras and similar Coni- 

 fers ; many species of Bamboo, Tree-ferns, Cycads, etc., are 

 represented mostly by exceptionally fine examples, all ar- 

 ranged and grouped in an artistic manner, and all in capital 

 health. There must be many situations in the south of your 

 country where the conditions, as regards climate, are about 

 the same as those of the Riviera. The possibilities in horti- 

 cultural art in such places must be very great. With so 

 many noble-leaved Palms and Cycads, elegant Bamboos, 

 Tree-ferns and the hosts of other plants available, the mak- 

 ing of magnificent gardens, of a kind totally diiferent from 

 what we are accustomed to in the north, ought not to be diffi- 

 cult. 



Probably your nurserymen know as well as we do here, 

 that in raising a stock of Palms, even of those which are 

 hardiest, tropical treatment for seeds and young plants is 

 much quicker and often safer than cool treatment. The only 

 excepfion known to me is that of the Nannoi'hops already re- 

 ferred to. The same treatment answers for young Bamboos. 

 Orchids. — Following close on the heels of Vanda Amesiana, 

 we have a second new introduction of Messrs. Low & Co., 



which is described as being related to the former, the flowers 

 quite as large, and pure white, with a rosy-purple lip. It has 

 subulate leaves, erect peduncles, a foot long, bearing from fif- 

 teen to twenty flowers. It has been named V. Kiniballiana by 

 Professor Reichenbach. A quantity of plants of it were sold 

 by auction in London last week. Since the introduction of the 

 gigantic-flowered V. Sanderiana no new additions have been 

 made to this genus except these two recent arrivals. Cypripe- 

 dium politiim is the best of the hybrids now in flower. It is 

 distinct in form, and the colors, though dark, are clear and 

 attractive, the dorsal sepal being very prettily penciled. Pleione 

 humilis is about two months later than the Wallichiana group. 

 Several pans, a foot across, and crowded with large lilac and 

 purple-brown flowers, have been an attraction at Kew nearly a 

 fortnight, and they are sfill fresh. The strongest pseudo- 

 bulbs bear two-flowered scapes. Dendrobium Findleyanum is 

 one of the handsomest of the early-flowering kinds, its large 

 flowers, three inches across, the rose-tipped white segments, 

 and large, spreading, yellow-throated labellum, being excep- 

 tional at this time of year. It blossoms freely, too, and the 

 shining, cuiiously-knotted pseudo-bulbs are interesting at all 

 times. Dendrobium nobile, var. nobilius, is in bloom, and its 

 glowing, purple, medium-sized flowers are delightful. Indeed, 

 an average form of the type of this species has very few supe- 

 riors. The best of the East Indian Orchids now flowering is 

 Phalanopsis Sttiartiafia. It is as good as, if not better than, P. 

 Schilleriana as a garden plant. W. Watson. 



London. 



New or Little Known Plants. 



Helianthus mollis, var. cordatus.* 



MR. FAXON has here figured a well marked and very 

 showy variety of a species which in its ordinary 

 state is by no means striking. As usually found, the stem 

 of Helianthus mollis terminates in a short and stiff race- 

 mose-like inflorescence, the few coarse and rather short- 

 rayed heads being almost sessile in the axils of the small 

 upper leaves. Here we have what may be called, for a 

 sunflower, a graceful inflorescence, the large heads borne 

 upon long bracted peduncles, and the numerous orange- 

 yellow rays forming a broad expanse of color which is 

 shown to the best advantage. There is a marked differ- 

 ence, also, in the leaves, which are here broadly ovate, 

 with a very short acumination, instead of ovate-lanceolate, 

 and the heads are often closely surrounded by three or four 

 broad bracts resembling the leaves. Otherwise, the forms 

 are the same, and the variety is connected with the typical 

 form by intermediate states. 



The whole plant is some three to five feet high, very 

 leafy and hoary, especially toward the top, with a villous 

 or somewhat rough pubescence. It is perennial and hardy. 

 The common form is found in dry, barren localities through 

 the Western and Southern States, from Ohio to Iowa, and 

 southward to western Georgia and Texas. ' This variety 

 has been in cultivation at the Arnold Arboretum for three 

 or four years, from seeds that were sent by Mr. N. T. 

 Kidder, and were probably from New Mexico or Arizona. 



S. W. 



Cultural Department. 



Vineyard Notes and Studies. 



npHE many letters of inquiry which I receive about trellising 

 •^ and pruning Gi'ape-vines lead me to fancy that something 

 may be published yet on these topics which will be of interest, 

 and may be of use to novices in grape culture. If grapes are 

 to be grown for profit, it is evident that methods of culture 

 should be planned as cheaply as possible. Two cents a pound 

 for grapes does not leave much margin for extra cost in their 

 pi^oduction, and the prospect is now that grape-growers must 

 reduce expenses to the lowest terms, or give up planting vines. 

 I prefer a trellis made of stakes, say four inches thick and 

 four feet long, driven into the ground one foot and six inches. 

 A single wire (No. 12) is stretched along on the top of the 

 stakes, and is two and one-half feet from the surface of the 

 ground. 



* Helianthus mollis. Lam. ; Gray, Syn. Floi'a, i. 276. — Var. cordatus, new var. 

 Leaves broadly cordate, acute or short-acuminate ; heads terminate on leafy 

 branches or peduncles, often subtended by two to four leaf-like bracts. 



