March 9, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



"3 



with an extremely minute silky pubescence, and are pro- 

 vided witii two slender, long-, pointed, awl-shaped stipules 

 at the base. The short petiolules are stouter than the 

 petioles, usually lig-ht-colored and densel)'- pubescent. 



The large showy cluster of rosy purple Mowers which 

 terminates each stem is composed of numerous a.xillary 

 racemes from two or three to six inches long. The flowers 

 are much larger than those of L. bicolor, and average 

 nearly half an inch in length, the wings, standard and keel 

 being of the same general shape, but nearly twice as large. 

 The five-parted calyx is covered with a grayish silky pu- 

 bescence, -and is about one-fourth of an inch long, the nar- 

 row slender-pointed lobes being quite twice the length of 

 the shallow tube, at the base of which there are two minute 

 bracteoles. The immature pod is one-seeded, quite densely 

 pubescent, flattish, more or less ovate, from three-eighths 

 to one-half of an inch long, and tipped with a slender tail- 

 like appendage as long or longer than the pod. 



Lespedeza bicolor is a single or few-stemmed, well- 

 formed, woody shrub, attaining a height of seven or eight 

 feet or more by rather slow annual growth. The bark of 

 the stem is of a dark brown color, and is covered by numer- 

 ous raised dots ; the young branchlets are distinctly ribbed 

 or angled, are light green or grayish in color, and are very 

 sparsely covered with minute hairs. The outer portion of 

 wood, or the sap-wood, is of a light yellowish color ; the in- 

 terior is brown or purplish brown, and the pith is very 

 small. The wood is brittle, very close-grained and hard. 

 The leaves are trifoliolate, and the leaflets vary in size from 

 an inch and a half or a little more in length on the larger 

 branches to less than half an inch on the flowering branch- 

 lets. They are about two-thirds as broad as long, and 

 usually obovate, obcordate, oval or rounded in shape, often 

 tapering somewhat toward the base, but rounding abruptly 

 at the apex, or commonly truncate, refuse or emarginate, 

 and seemingly always terminated by a slender tip or mucro. 



The petioles are slender, smooth, varying from two or 

 three inches in length to half an inch or less near the ends 

 of the branches, and provided at the base with two short, 

 comparatively stiff, awl-shaped stipules. The petiolules 

 are thick, short, pubescent, and usually dark-colored. 



The large compound racemes of flowers are much less 

 dense and less handsome than those of L. Sieboldi ; the 

 individual blossoms are appreciably smaller and not 

 generally of such a deep rich color. The calyces are 

 smooth or covered with a short tomentum, and the 

 bracteoles at the base appear less developed than in 

 L. Sieboldi. The calyx varies from a sixth to a quarter 

 of an inch in length, the rather obtusely pointed 

 lobes not exceeding the length of the tube. The mature, 

 single-seeded, flattened pod is somewhat pubescent, about 

 one-fourth of an inch long, and a little more than half as 

 broad The slightly flattish rounded oblong seed is one- 

 eighth of an inch in length and dark brown in color. 



At the Arboretum, L. Isicolor, at ten years from seed and 

 after some annual pruning, is seven or eight feet in height 

 and has single stems from four to six inches in circumfer- 

 ence. These divide into several large branches at two or 

 three feet from the ground. In good soil these plants make 

 an annual growth of from a foot and a half to two feet, but 

 the greater half of this growth produces flowers and does not 

 live a second year. They now appear to have about reached 

 their full size and development. As regards tlieir shrubby 

 character, they compare well with any Colutea in cultiva- 

 tion here, and, unlike Colutea, they do not throw up an 

 indefinite number of stems or suckers. 



In this climate the earliest flowers of L. bicolor open 

 about the first week of July, and they continue to expand for 

 about a month. The fruit is abundant and ripens early in 

 September, and many of the pods soon fall to the ground, 

 and if the earth is moist or they become slightly covered 

 with soil, the seeds germinate almost immediately without 

 leaving the pods. All the foliage is ripe and falls early in 

 September. This species appears to be rare in cultivation. 



L. Sieboldi, on the other hand, is really herbaceous, 



although it has a shrubby appearance in its summer vigor 

 and growth. The stems annually die to the ground, and, 

 like an Asparagus-plant, they become more numerous each 

 year with the age and size of the root. The first flowers 

 do not a]>pear here until the seed of L. bicolor is ripe, and 

 many of the dry leaves remain on the stems until winter. 

 Seed does not ripen here, but plants are easily multiplied 

 by division. 



To add to the confusion already mentioned, L. Sie- 

 boldi has also sometimes been called Desmodium Japoni- 

 cum and D. racemosum. t /-> r r. 



Arnold Arboretum. J. G. Jack. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



Cypripedium Chamberlainh. — This is a new introduction 

 from the east, probably New Guinea, which Messrs. San- 

 der & Co. have recently flowered, and which has been 

 named in compliment to the Right Honorable Joseph 

 Chamberlain. A figure, representing a portion of the in- 

 florescence, natural size, and a reduced picture of the 

 whole plant, is published in the last Gardeners Chronicle, 

 along with a brief description of the plant by Mr. J. 

 O'Brien. Messrs. Sander & Co. advertise the sale of all the 

 plants by auction on March 4th next. I have not seen any 

 of the living material, but the following particulars are 

 from Mr. Sander's manager : 



The plant is a robust grower with exceptionally broad 

 leaves, in some cases fully four inches in width, undulated 

 and tessellated, " reminding one of C. Morganae, but larger 

 and finer." The flower-scapes are erect, two feet high, 

 zigzag, and bearing numerous large boat-shaped bracts 

 from base to apex. From each bract a flower springs, 

 possessing scapes, some of which are said to have pro- 

 duced over thirty flovi^ers. These, in color, are said to 

 resemble C. superbiens or C. Morganag, but in form they 

 are quite distinct from anything else in the genus. The 

 dorsal sepal is about two inches long and wide, yellowish 

 white with rosy purple lines and spots. The lower sepal 

 is similar, but smaller. The petals are each two inches or 

 more in length, twisted spirally, tomentose and colored 

 yellowish, with a profusion of spots and lines of a purplish 

 color. The lip is as large, and resembles in form the com- 

 mon C. spectabile of North America ; it is white spotted 

 and shaded with rosy purple on the lower part. There are 

 700 plants of it advertised for sale. Besides this, at the 

 same sale, will be offered plants of two other new Cypri- 

 pediums — namely, C. Kimballianum, described as "a 

 stately species" ; the leaves are two feet long. The other 

 has not )ret been named, but it is described as having flow- 

 ers like C. Wallisi, with a rose-colored labellum. 



Cattleya Lawrenciana, the beautiful tropical species in- 

 troduced from Roraima, in British Guiana, a few years ago, 

 was sold in quantity at an auction sale to-day. This region 

 has recently been visited by a collector from Messrs. 

 Charlesworth, Shuttleworth & Co., who, besides the Cat- 

 tleya and several other rare Orchids, also succeeded in 

 bringing home alive several species of Utricularia. 



Utricularia Humboldtii was among them. It has large 

 peltate leaves and tall scapes, bearing several large blue 

 flowers. Unfortunately, no one who has hitherto attempted 

 the cultivation of this plant m England has succeeded in 

 getting it to flower. It grows naturally in the heart of a 

 large Bromeliad (Brocchinia cordylinoides), which always 

 contains a quantity of water in its vase-like centre. But 

 the same kind of treatment fails here ; the healthiest 

 plants yet obtained being grown in pans of sphagnum 

 in a sunny tropical house. Thus treated they have made 

 large fleshy tubers and leaves six inches across on stalks 

 a foot high, but, so far, no flowers. Schomburgk, who 

 visited the Roraima in 1845, saw and described this and 

 man)^ other beautiful plants peculiar to that mountain in 

 his delightful book, Botanical Reminiscences. Of the Utricu- 

 laria he says : " Here spread before us lay a small marshy 



