272 



Garden and Forest. 



[June 5, iS 



Orchid Notes. 



Cypripediuiii bellatuliDii. — This handsome addition to tlie 

 dwarf-gTowing section of Lady Slippers, represented by C. 

 Gode/royiT, C. concolor and C. nivetim, was introduced to cultiva- 

 tion early last year by Messrs. Low & Co., of Clapton, near Lon- 

 don, but, for certain obvious reasons, they did not mention its 

 native home, which, however, is guessed to be somewhere in 

 further hidia. Botanically speaking, C. bellatulniii may be re- 

 garded as a very superior form of C. Godefroyce, which it most 

 nearly resembles in shape and coloring. It has already become 

 amenable to cultivation, and there is no doubt that it will 

 soon find its way into every collection of Cypripediums. 



In habit it is very dwarf and compact, with elliptic-oblong 

 leaves of a deep green color above, mottled with a paler shade, 

 while the under surface is thickly covered with dark purplish 

 spots and blotches in close contact. The purplish, downy 

 scapes are three or four inches in length, each bearing a single 

 flower about three inches or more across. The upper sub- 

 orbicular sepal, and the oval, depressed petals are usually pure 

 white, thickly covered with large and small brownish-purple 

 blotches and spots, which give them a most handsome and at- 

 tractive appearance. These blotches show through on the back 

 of the segments, which are often suifused with a purplish tinge. 

 The long, narrow pouch is very small in comparison with the 

 other parts of the riower ; it is also white, and covered on the 

 inner, as well as the outer, surface with smaller brownish- 

 purple spots. The staminode, which is longer than that of any 

 other variety of this section, is similarly colored. 



The color of the flowers is somewhat changeable, varying 

 from pale yellow to ivory white, while the blotches in some 

 flowers are much larger and more dense than in others. Two 

 varieties of this species already exist ; the one called Roseimi 

 may be distinguished by the suffusion of rose which pervades 

 the segments of tlie flower ; the other, known as Egregium, is 

 said to have the upper sepal slightly trilobed, and the purple 

 blotches on the front face of the flower are so light in charac- 

 ter that no trace of them is discernible on the back. 



This species requires very little attention, provided that it is 

 grown in a warm and moist atmosphere. Some plants in the 

 nursery are grown in pots, and others are planted out, and all are 

 doing equally well. The compost used is peat and loam, with 

 a little sphagnum mixed. Some of the plants have been in 

 flower now for three weeks, and are still in perfect condition ; 

 they require a rather shady position and not much water. 



St. Albans, May, 1889. JoJiJi Weathers. 



Cattleya Mendellii. — This grand Orchid will now be found 

 in full beauty in most collections, and, with C. Mossice, will 

 keep up a fine show of bloom for some weeks. Its native 

 home is on the eastern slopes of the Cordilleras, in Columbia, 

 where it may be found on trees and rocks often exposed to 

 the strong rays of the sun, but where there is abundance of 

 water to bathe the roots. The flower generally measures 

 about seven inches across, with white or tinted sepals and 

 petals of wavy outline. Its chief beauty, however, lies in the 

 large, spreading lip, which is very much crisped, with a front 

 lobe of crimson-purple. There are many beautiful varieties ; 

 a pure white one with a slight dash of yellow in tiie throat is 

 called Alba. Bella and Morgania are pale-colored forms; 

 Imperator is an immense flower with a magnificent lip, but 

 the best I have yet seen is one called Superbissima, which 

 was sold in London a few years since for one thousand dol- 

 lars ; the half of this plant Is in the collection here. C. Men- 

 dellii grows very freely, needing plenty of drainage, little pot- 

 ting material, strong heat with plenty 'of water during active 

 growth, and a long, cool rest, but it should not be kept too 

 dry. 



brides crispum was introduced, nearly half a century since, 

 from Bombay, and may be considered one of the very best of 

 the genus. It is very robust in growth, attaining a height of 

 four or five feet, and when the leaves are retained to the base 

 it makes a very handsome plant. The leaves, which closely 

 clasp the stem, are flat, broad, dark green and leathery, six to 

 eight inches long. From the axils of these arise the erect 

 racemes, which are often branched and bear numerous large 

 handsome flowers about two inches across, white suffused 

 with rose, with a beautiful large lip of rosy-purple, very crisp 

 at the edges, and terminating in a horn-like spur. The variety 

 Lindleyanum is more robust in growth, with larger and more 

 distinct colored flowers. The variety Warned differs a good 

 deal from the type in habit, is much shorter, more slender, 

 and with short and very narrow leaves, the dark mark at base 

 of the leaves being very conspicuous. All of the variefies 

 grow freely in baskets or pots of moss and peat. With plenty 

 of heat it is hardly possible to give too much water in the 



growing season, and weak applications of liquid manure are 

 beneficial. Only large plants of this Orchid bloom freely. It 

 may be that it needs more sunlight to thoroughly ripen the 

 growths. ' F. Goldring. 



Kenwood, N. Y. 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum. 



Berberis Sieboldi. — A Barberry, sent some years ago to the 

 Arboretum from the Flushing Nurseries, under the name of 

 Berberis "Hakodate," no doubt so-called from the place where 

 the plant was first obtained, proves to be the little-known B. 

 Sieboldi of Miquel (" Prol. Fl. Jap." i). It is one of the hand- 

 somest of all the Barberries, and a most desirable garden plant. 

 It is a stout shrub of compact habit, growing here three or four 

 feet high, with branches covered with gray bark; and with short, 

 slender, three-branched, chestnut-colored spines, very short 

 petioles, oblong-lanceolate, or obovate leaves, rounded at the 

 apex, densely setulose-ciliolate on the margins, smooth, rather 

 coriaceous at maturity, very bright green and lustrous. The 

 fragrant flowers which are borne in short, semi-erect, many- 

 flowered racemes, an inch and a half long, are pale canary 

 color, with obovate rounded sepals and petals, and about the 

 size of those of B. vulgaris. The fruit is large (one-third of an 

 inch long), oval, and bright scarlet. This plant, which has the 

 general habit and somewhat the appearance of B. vulgaris, 

 may always be distinguished from that species by the ciliate 

 margins of the leaves, which are quite destitute of rigid teeth. 

 The leaves are more lustrous, the racemes are erect, not 

 pendulous, as is B. vulgaris j the flowers are lighter colored 

 than in that species, and in the autumn the foliage assumes 

 the most brilliant coloring, which makes this plant a conspic- 

 uous object among the other Barberries of the collection at 

 that season of the year. Berberis Sieboldi is perfectly hardy 

 and very free flowering ; and it is certainly one of the most 

 desirable shrubs brought from Japan to this country. Seed of 

 this species, under its right name, was distributed last year 

 from the Arboretum among European gardens, where it does 

 not appear to have been cultivated. A figure of this species 

 has been drawn for publication in Garden and Forest. 



Berberis heteropoda, a Turkestan species, has been for sev- 

 eral years an inhabitant of the Arboretum. It is not, how- 

 ever, perfectly hardy here, but this year, favored by the 

 mild winter, it is flowering much more freely than usual. 

 It is a very ornamental and distinct species, with angled 

 stems covered with dark gray bark, slender, simple, or three- 

 forked spines, and obovate entire, or sometimes sparingly and 

 minutely toothed leaves, which are pale bluish-green, lighter 

 colored on the lower surface, and borne on very long, slender 

 petioles. The pale yellow flowers in short, few-(3-4)flowered 

 racemes, which are shorter than the leaves, and destitute of 

 fragrance. The peculiar pale coloring of the foliage makes 

 this a desirable plant, which might well find a place in gardens 

 wherever the climate is not too severe for its full development. 

 It attains in its native country, according to Dr. Regel, a height 

 of six to ten feet. This species is considered in the " Botany 

 of British India," a variety of B. vulgaris, but for garden pur- 

 poses it is certainly abundantly distinct from that very variable 

 and widely-distributed plant. 



Berberis btixifolia (the B. dulcis of gardens) is in flower. It 

 is a pretty species, with small oval or oblong, nearly sessile, 

 entire leaves, and large, solitary, orange flowers. It is a nat- 

 ive of Patagonia, and pot very hardy here, even when carefully 

 covered during winter. This year it is flowering more freely 

 than usual. 



A curious and beautiful Barberry now in flower here is not 

 referable to any described species, while some of its characters 

 suggest a possible hybrid between B. vulgaris and B. Thun- 

 bergii. It has the bark upon the branches of B. vulgaris, the 

 simple, slender spines of B, Thunbergii, the tufted, entire 

 obovate leaves of this last species. They are considerably 

 larger, however, paler green, more membranaceous, and borne 

 on long, slender petioles. The flowers are produced in long- 

 stalked (sometimes nearly an inch long), umbellate racemes, of 

 eight or ten or sometimes only of three or four flowers. They 

 are larger than those of B. Thunbergii, bright yellow (those of 

 B. Thunbergii are much paler), with rounded sepals and petals, 

 and the red-marked filaments of the Japanese plant. They 

 open a week or ten days later tlian those of B. Tktcnbergii, and 

 a few days earlier than those of B. vulgaris, and possess a 

 trace merely of the delightful fragrance of those of this species. 

 The fruit resembles very closely that of B. Thunbergii, and 

 hangs, as is the case with that plant, bright and fresh upon 

 the branches throughout the winter and early spring. Several 

 years ago. Max Leichtlin sent to the Arboretum seeds of " two . 

 red-fruited " Barberries, without any indication of their origin. 



