340 



Garden and Forest. 



[July 17, 1889. 



be made attractive throughout the year. Although the Botan- 

 ic Society's show-ground is a model in its way it has faults, 

 the chief being the narrowness of the pathways, which should 

 never be less than twenty feet wide, in order to avoid unpleas- 

 ant crowding. The width of wall*-s is generally governed by 

 the size of the tent, but if this is constructed on the ridge and 

 furrow principle (which is decidedly the best) it costs compar- 

 atively little to extend it so as to render the locomotion of 

 large crowds pleasant. There is in this country an ample 

 scope for moi-e picturesque grouping in flower-shows, and 

 since they have ceased to be tiie attraction for the million that 

 they once were there is tlie more necessity for novelty in ar- 

 rangenient. 



The great gatherings of this Society afford a good indication 

 of the prevalent fashions in floriculture. For years, and until 

 recently, the chief features of the shows were the monster stove 

 and green-house plants trained in perfectly symmetrical 

 shapes, which were, of course, admirable examples of patient 

 skill and good culture. This was the fashion for half a -cen- 

 tury ; the present fashion dictates otherwise. The . trained 

 plants seen at London sho\vs, to-day are mere apologies for 

 the elephantine specimens that once paid visits to every 

 important exhibition up and down the country. We get, how- 

 ever, more variety in shows now, and the prevalent taste runs 

 in the direction of Orchids and hardy flowers. It does not 

 even pay exhibitors to build up those marvelous mushroom- 

 headed specimens of show-Pelargoniums ; for there is no de- 

 mand for them since the advent of more easily-grown plants 

 like the Begonia, for instance. There is an ever-increasing 

 demand for all classes of showy, hardy plants, the great de- 

 light of those who cannot afford, or do not care, for the 

 trouble of green-houses. At this show there was ample ma- 

 terial for every class of visitors, and the open-air flowers won, 

 perhaps, the most attention. Of the two great groups of bulb- 

 ous Irises, the English (/rzj xiphioides) and the Spanish (/. 

 xiphiiini), with their graceful flowers of an infinite range of 

 hues, the Spanish Irises are the greatest favorites, as they 

 are smaller and their colors are more esthetic. The ladies 

 seem to admire most the bronzy-hued sorts and those that 

 show odd mixtures of yellows and purples. Tiiey have been 

 the chief florists' flower for the past three weeks, and they are 

 seen in every flower-shop done up in all kinds of ways. The 

 quantities of this flower that are poured into Covent Garden 

 from the Channel Islands and the warm counties are prodig- 

 ious. The Langport Pseonies, Irises and Pyrethrums, about 

 which I wrote you last, were as pure as ever, and I do not re- 

 member to have seen such a marvelous array of Roses so early 

 in the season. The new rival to Niplietos, Souvenir de S. A. 

 Prince, was shown splendidly, and won additional honors by 

 being certificated. TvVo other prominent Roses, which were 

 in perfection of bloom, were Mrs.-Jolm Laing and Lady Mary 

 Fitzwilliam, the latter a Rose that will become as popular as 

 La France. 



I shall not attempt to go into the details of fhe multitudinous 

 exhibits, as there was but little no^'elty about tJiem ; indeed, 

 there was a conspicuous absence of absolutely new things, 

 for most of the so-called novelties sent up for certificates had 

 been shown before the Royal Horticultural Society, which is 

 the recognized authority for adjudicating upon novelties. One 

 always sees a large collection, at these shows, of " new 

 plants," because exhibitors know that the judges are less crit- 

 ical than the committee ot the other society, though, of 

 course, a certificate granted by the Botanic Society does not 

 carry the same weight as one from the other. As instances 

 of what are recognized here as new plants I need only men- 

 tion that certificates were granted to Lilium Hansoni and 

 Liliicm Martag07t album, both old plants, now having been in 

 cultivation for years. Orchids were a strong and most attract- 

 ive feature, and a grand display was made by the Duke of 

 Marlborough, who now possesses one of the richest collec- 

 tions of Orchids in England, while the trade-growers were 

 represented by the two veteran firms — Low, of Clapton, and 

 Williams, of Holloway. It is getting late in the season for 

 Orchid bloom, but the exhibitors had evidently " held back" 

 for this show, as some of the specimens which would ordi- 

 narily have been past a month ago were in grand condition. 

 The leading Orchids were Cattleya Mendeli and C. Warneri. 

 Masdevallias, especially M. Harry ana and its many varieties. 

 Epidendriim vitellinum majiis, Odontoglossum vexillarium, 

 O. crispiim {Alexandrce), Lalia purpurata and various species 

 of Cypripedium. The leading collections were composed of 

 huge specimens, and consequently represented old varieties, 

 and the first prize group shown by the well-known gardener, 

 Mr. Douglas, was perfection in alf points. There were, how- 

 ever, a good many so-called specimens to be seen which were 



nothing more than several plants of a sort massed together in 

 large pots. " Made-up plants " are not bona fide specimens, 

 and, as there is no skill required in producing them beyond 

 that of cunningly fitting the pieces together, they should not 

 be allowed to compete for prizes for specimens. 



Not the least attractive exhibit was that from the famous 

 Sawbridgeworth fruit-nurseries, consisting of fruit-trees — 

 Peaches, Nectarines, Cherries, Plums — in pots, in the most vig- 

 orous health, and bearing fine crops of fruit. This system of 

 pot-culture has for many years been a leading feature of these 

 mu-series. The late Mr. Rivers originated the idea of orchard- 

 house culture, and after showing what good results can be ob- 

 tained and publishing a book on the subject, his system is 

 practiced throughout the country, especially in small subur- 

 l)an gardens where there is no space for wall trees. Mr. G. 

 F. Wilson, the great Lily amateur at Weybridge, has an or- 

 chard-house fixed on the Rivers' principle, in which he grows 

 superb fruit, though the trees are stunted and only from five 

 to six feet high. Most of the trees have not been potted for 

 years. The secret of success lies in adniinistering liberal sup- 

 plies of manure as top-dressing. . 



London, June 20th. W. Goldrmg. 



New or Little Known Plants. 



Vitis palmata. 



THE figure of Viiis pahna/a,* Vahl, upon page 341, ap- 

 pears to be the first which has been published of this 

 handsome plant. Its history is interesting. It has been 

 cultivated in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris for more than 

 a century, having been introduced, it is supposed, by one 

 of the French missionaries, who were the first European 

 travelers through the valley of the Mississippi. It was first 

 described by Vahl (Symbote Botanicae, iii., 42) from the 

 cultivated plants and a few years before the elder Michaux 

 discovered it on the banks of the Mississippi, the Cumber- 

 land, Tennessee and other streams during his visit to the 

 Illinois country in 1795. He failed to recognize the plant, 

 which he had no doubtseen growing in Paris, and proposed 

 for it the name of V. rubra on account of the bright red 

 color of the young branches. This name however,' 

 was not mentioned in Michaux's Flora, in which work 

 the plant was meitged into V. riparia ; and it was not 

 rediscovered until the autumn of 1882, when Mr. H. Eggert 

 found it growing abundantly upon the banks of the Miss- 

 issippi opposite Alton, and Dr. Englemann was able to es- 

 tablish the identity of Michaux's plant with that of the Paris 

 Garden, and to point out its true specific characters.! 

 Seeds of Vitis paltnata were sent to the Arnold Arboretum in 

 January, 1883, by Dr. Englemann, and the plants raised 

 from them are perfectly hardy, and now flower and pro- 

 duce fruit every year. They possess no little decorative 

 value and in a collection of climbing plants grown for 

 ornament this vine should find a place. It flourishes in 

 ordinary garden soil, and is easily multiplied by cuttings 

 or by seed. Our figure is from a specimen in the Arbore- 

 tum, c. s. s. 



Amorphophallus Titanum. 



THE flowering of this gigantic Aroid at Kew, for the first 

 time in Europe, is an event full of interest to botanists 

 and horticulturists. Compared with it, the Rafflesia, Victoria 

 regia and AristolocJiia Goldiana, all giants among flowers, are 

 small and almost commonplace. There is no known plant 

 that approaches it in size and magnificence, and, I am sorry 



* Vitis palmata, Valil., Siinb., iii., 42. — DC. Prodr., i., 637. — Englemann in the 

 Bttshberg Cat. (1S83) ry ; Bot. Gazette, viii. 254. 



Vitis riparia, Micliaux, Flor. Bor. Am., ii., 231 in part. 



I'itis riparia, var. palmata, Planchon in DC Monographs, v., 2, 352. 



"Vitis monosperina, celte espece se trouveau long des Rivierres etnuUement dans 

 I'interieur des liuis ; je I'ni vu snr la Rivierre Kaskaskia, sur le Mississippi aux 

 enverons du fort Massac sur la Rivierre Tenasse." — Micliaujc, Jmirnal, p. 124. 



\" Vitis palmata, V^\\\. A vigorous climber with red branches (and often also 

 red petioles), young shoots angular and ribbed, older ones losing the bark m large 

 flakes; diaphragms rather thick ; stipules very short, rounded, nearly deciduous ; 

 leaves smooth, glabrous (or on the nerves beneath with short, straight hairs), dull 

 and rather dusky green, cordate with broad sinus, mostly deeply three or some- 

 times five-lobed,' lobes when long widest in the middle, contracted at base and 

 mostly slenderly caudate-acuminale, with few coarse teeth ; flowering racemes 

 compound, long peduncled ; berries black without any bloom, rather small (four 

 to five lines in diameter) ; seeds long for the size of the fruit, slightly notched on 

 top, single and then nearly globose or in twos, when they are hemispherical and 

 very flat on the ventral side ; beak very short, chalaza narrow, elongated, groove 

 without any visible rhaphe." — Englemann in Bot. Gazette, viii., 254. 



