78 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 208. 



gium. It appears to be a natural hybrid between O. 

 Lindleyanum and O. tripudians, as it is quite intermediate 

 in character. It is much like the former in general char- 

 acter, except that the markings are rather more purple in 

 color, but the lip is broader, and the crest and markings 

 are more nearly as in O. tripudians. These two species 

 are known to grow together, and the discovery of a hybrid 

 between them is very interesting. — Gardeners Chronicle, 

 December 26th, p. 758. ^_ ^ ^^^^^_ 



Foreign Correspondence. 



Bomareas. 



THE genus Bomarea is closely ailed to Alstrcemeria, 

 and is composed of about seventy species, all natives 

 of high altitudes in Mexico and South America. They have 

 usually long, slender, twining stems, clothed with ovate 

 or lanceolate bright green leaves, with short, twisted 

 petioles ; the tlowers are borne in terminal umbels and are 

 generally large and bright in color. The root-stock is like 

 that of a Lapageria, but the roots have the peculiar char- 

 acter of developing fleshy potato-like tubers, which appear 

 to serve the purpose of food-reservoirs, as they have no 

 buds, and are therefore valueless for purposes of propaga- 

 tion. The tubers of B. edulis are said to be eaten in St. 

 Domingo like the tubers of the Jerusalem Artichoke, and 

 those of B. Shuttlevvorthii are greedily eaten by pigs. The 

 stems are usually annual, always perishing after they have 

 once flowered, in this respect resembling the stems of 

 Liliums. If the tip of the young shoot is broken, it will 

 not break into growth again. The flowers remain fresh 

 on the plants several weeks, and are developed at all sea- 

 sons. Seeds are ripened by cultivated plants. The fruits 

 are ornamental, especially after they burst open and reveal 

 the bright red seeds. 



Bomareas were not known as garden-plants in England 

 until about fifteen years ago, when Mr. W. Bull, of Chelsea, 

 introduced the handsome species now most generally grown 

 and which was named after his collector, Mr. Cardis. Sev- 

 eral were, however, cultivated in botanical collections long 

 before this, B. edulis having flowered at Kew in 18 14, 

 when it was figured in the Botanical Magazine, at t. 1613, 

 under the name of Alstrcemeria. B. Salsilla also was 

 grown at Kew in 1834. Dean Herbert writes as though 

 he had grown some species of Bomarea, for he states in 

 his Aniaryllidacece : "They will be found to thrive best 

 out-of-doors in this country in summer-time, and will endure 

 the winter if planted pretty deep in light soil and covered 

 over with leaves in the cold season, especially if any sloped 

 heading be laid on to throw off the wet. Even B. acutifolia, 

 which in the greenhouse keeps its leaves through the win- 

 ter, will succeed with that treatment." 



It is difficult to reconcile this statement with actual expe- 

 rience in the cultivation of Bomareas at Kew. Here they 

 are grown in a large sunny house, which is devoted chiefly 

 to succulents, the Bomareas occup3'ing a raised bed at the 

 side of the house, their stems being trained against the 

 roof-glass. They are never shaded, and the temperature 

 of the house seldom falls below fifty degrees in winter ; 

 in summer it often gets very warm. Under these condi- 

 tions Bomareas thrive satisfactorily, some of them being 

 in flower at all times of the year. 



A few years ago a duplicate set was planted outside in a 

 sunny south border and treated exactly as recommended 

 by Herbert, but, notwithstanding protection during cold 

 weather, not one of the species survived the winter. An- 

 other set was tried three years ago in the temperate house, 

 strong plants being placed in the borders ; but whether 

 they were too far from the glass or the soil in the border 

 was too damp for them they did not flourish, and had to 

 be removed to more congenial quarters. 



These experiments go to prove that Bomareas cannot be 

 grown out-of-doors at Kew, and that they do best when 

 planted in an elevated border in a warm sunny green- 



house. The soil used for them is a mixture of equal por- 

 tions of peat and loam with a little sand. This is placed 

 over a thick layer of drainage. In summer the soil is 

 watered copiously, but only rarely in winter. 



Bomareas are propagated by means of seeds or by divi- 

 sion of the root-stock in spring. It will be seen from the 

 following descriptions of the species at present cultivated 

 in England that these plants are possessed of qualities such 

 as ought to gain favor for them in all gardens where green- 

 house-plants are grown : 



B. Caldasiana produces numerous stems annually, which 

 grow to a length of about eight feet in a few weeks. The 

 leaves are oblong acute, dark green above, paler below ; 

 the flowers are in umbels of from twenty to fifty, and they 

 are an inch and a half long, the outer segments orange- 

 red, the inner bright orange, with red-brown spots. This 

 plant fiowers all through the summer, and frequently all 

 winter. It is in bloom at Kew now. It was introduced 

 into England by iMessrs. Veitchin 1865 from New Granada. 



B. Carderi, when well grown, is one of the most mag- 

 nificent climbers. Its stems are as thick as a goose-quill, 

 twelve feet long, clothed with broad ovale leaves, and ter- 

 minated by compound umbels as much as two feet in 

 diameter, and formed of about forty flowers, which are 

 almost as large as those of Lapageria. The outer segments 

 are rose-colored, spotted with brown near the tips, the inner 

 nearly white, with larger purple-brown spots. The umbels 

 of flowers produced a few years ago at Kew and in the 

 Pendell Court Gardens were a great attraction for several 

 months. This species was introduced from New Granada 

 by Mr. Bull and Kew simultaneously. It was at first called 

 B. Jacquesiana. There does not appear to be much differ- 

 ence between this and B. W'illiamsiae. Young plants of B. 

 Carderi have much narrower and thinner leaves than those 

 of mature robust plants. This species flowers in about 

 three years from seed. 



B. edulis, according to Mr. Baker, is the commonest spe- 

 cies in a wild state. It has many synonyms, owing, no 

 doubt, to its variable character. It is the only one that has 

 thriven in the temperate house at Kew, where it climbs up 

 a pole to the height of twelve feet, and flowers freely all 

 summer. The umbels are compound, and bear from 

 twenty to forty flowers, which are an inch long, with equal 

 segments, colored yellowish green, copiously spotted with 

 claret-brown. The variety Chontalensis, which is figured 

 as a species in Bolaiiical Magazine (t. 5927), has' larger, 

 brighter-colored flowers. 



B. frondeais arecent introduction, having been described 

 and figured by Dr. Masters in the Gardeners' Chro7iicleirom 

 a plant flowered by Mr. Shuttleworth in 1882. It is now 

 flowering freely at Kew. In habit and foliage it is not un- 

 like B. Caldasiana, but the leaves are longer and Bamboo- 

 like. The umbels are simple, and formed of from twenty 

 to thirty flowers nearly two inches long, the outer seg- 

 ments half an inch shorter than the inner. The color is 

 rich orange-yellow, with a few crimson spots and a tinge of 

 red-brown on the outer segments, the inner being tipped 

 with bright green. It is a handsomer plant even than B. 

 Caldasiana. 



B. oligantha was imported from Peru by Max Leichtlin 

 and flowered by him at Baden Baden in 1877, when it was 

 named and described by Mr. Baker. It is similar to B. 

 Caldasiana in stem and leaf-characters and in its perpetual- 

 flowering disposition. The flowers are one and a half 

 inches long, the segments equal in length, the outer col- 

 ored orange-red, the inner yellow with red-brown spots. 

 The fruits are as large as a hazel-nut, much wrinkled, and, 

 when they split open exposing the crimson seeds, they are 

 as attractive as flowers. 



B. Patacocensis was introduced into cultivation by Mr. 

 Shuttleworth from Patacocha, on the western declivity of 

 the Andes of New Granada, and flowered by him in 1881, 

 when it was described by Dr. Masters under the name of 

 B. conferta, Benth. This name, however, proved to be a 

 synonym of the above, as was pointed out in the Botan- 



