September 14, 1892 ] 



Garden and Forest. 



439 



portunity to extend northward the territory in which the 

 Peach can be successfully and protitably grown. 



This Pekin variety is of interest, too, as a probably direct 

 Chinese descendant of the wild Peach, which is now be- 

 lieved to have come originally from northern China, whence 

 it was early transported by the way of India into Persia and 

 other countries of the Orient, and then into Europe and 

 North America. C. S. i>. 



Dendrobium Phalcenopsis. 



THE tigure on page 440 vi-as prepared from a good 

 variety of this beautiful Dendrobium, now in tiower 

 at Kew. The plant is one of the large number imported 

 by Messrs. F. Sander &. Co. from New Guinea last year, 

 and sold by auction. A full account of this species will be 

 found in volume iv. of Garden and Forest, page 521, 

 written immediately after the sale of these plants. 

 Since then this Orchid has gone forward in popular 

 favor. It is not only the best of the Australian Den- 

 drobes, but it is one of the very best of the several hundred 

 species known. The only correction I would like to make 

 in the account published last year is in the statement that 

 Reichenbach was responsible for the varietal name, Schrce- 

 derianum. On inquiry I learn from Messrs. J. Veitch& Son, 

 Chelsea, that the plant thus named was imported by them 

 and sold to Baron Schrceder. It was the finest form of D. 

 Phala?nopsis known prior to the importation of Messrs. 

 Sander & Co., and, no doubt, the name was given when it 

 flowered in the Baron's collection to distinguish it from the 

 plant flowered at Kew and figured in \\i^ Botanical Magazine, 

 t. 6817, which has shorter pseudo-bulbs and smaller flowers, 

 much paler in color than those of Baron Schrceder's plant. 

 The statement made recently \\\ Reichenhachia, that all the 

 plants, including that of Baron Schrceder, were offshoots 

 from the plant flowered at Kew, is therefore incorrect, as, 

 indeed, a comparison of the figure in i\\Q Botanical Maga- 

 sine with that of Baron Schrceder's plant, published in 

 Reichenhacliia, conclusively shows. No doubt, the newly 

 imported plants were designated by the varietal name for 

 trade purposes, but now that so many forms both in regard 

 to size of pseudo-bulb and flower as well as color are 

 known, the name Schroederianum may conveniently be 

 dropped. 



The plant figured here has pseudo-bulbs a yard high and 

 as thick as a man's thumb. The flowers are three inches 

 across and colored mauve-purple, with a deep maroon- 

 purple labellum. The oldest flowers have been expanded 

 a month, and they are still fresh. 



For its cultivation D. Phalaenopsis requires the hottest 

 and moistest stove, and it grows best when placed in a 

 position close to the roof-glass. Messrs. Sander & Co. 

 recommend for it the treatment of the Pine-stove, or such 

 as suits Crotons and Ixoras. The Kew plants are grown 

 in baskets, and are planted in peat-fibre and sphagnum. 

 They are liberally watered and syringed overhead when 

 in growth, and are kept moderately dry after the growth is 

 matured. It may be stated in proof of the good nature of 

 this Dendrobium under cultivation that the plant sent to 

 Kew by Mr. Forbes ten years ago is still in good health, 

 and has flovi'ered this year. ,,,. „,. 



London. W. WatSOU. 



Cultural Department. 



Water-lilies. 



"pOND-LILlES have always been popidar flowers, and their 

 ■'■ cultivation in natural and artificial basins is by no means 

 new, but their ornamental capabilities have been appreciated 

 for comparatively few years. Though grown for a long time 

 in botanical collections, their decorative value seems to have 

 been first realized by Mr. E. D. Sturtevant, who less than 

 twenty years ago began to impart his enthusiasm for the plant 

 to others and started the movement which has resulted in the 

 present interest in aquatic plants in this country. Many grand 

 varieties were then in existence, but they were not of a char- 



acter to appeal to the general garden public, being mainly 

 tender kinds, or supposedly tender, as in the case ot Neluni- 

 bium speciosum, needing special care and facilities possessed 

 by few growers. Of hardy White Nymplueas, there was a 

 fair number of varieties, but the discovery of the red sport of 

 N. odorata on Cape Cod, and the introduction of a red variety 

 of N. alba, from Lake Fayer, in Sweden, after a few years 

 quickened the interest very materially. About the same time 

 Mrs. Mary Treat discovered the half-hardy N. Hava, which 

 had first been made known by the brusli of Audubon. And 

 at last we had a collection of hardy varieties from which, 

 under the quickening hand of the hybridist, tliere have been 

 produced new varieties of tlie greatest interest and merit. 



Mons. B. Latour Marliac has especially distinguished himself 

 in this line, his N. chromatella, introduced in 1887, being, with 

 N. sulphurea, introduced about the same time, the first of a 

 series of fine varieties as yet unsurpassed in shades of yellow 

 and pinks. They appear to be mostly hybrids of some form of 

 N. alba, and in the case of the yellows, either N. tlava or N. 

 Mexicana. One of the newer ones, N. helveola, is a beautiful 

 yellow, while the newest variety, N. Laydekeri, is apparently a 

 cross between N. pygmaea and N. SpliEerocarpa, the Swedish 

 Lily, showing the peculiar color at one stage which character- 

 izes the latter variety. The Swedish Nymphasa is one of my 

 failures, it declining to move for me, luit from information re- 

 ceived trom correspondents I am inclined to believe that the 

 peculiar changes of coloring of N. Laydekeri in the different 

 stages of the flowers is a peculiarity inherited from N. alba 

 rosea. The new pink Nymphaeas have, I think, all been de- 

 scribed in Garden and Forest during the season, and it will 

 suffice to say that there is at present available a whole gamut 

 of tones, from faintest blush to light carmine. But there is 

 evidently a number of important additions to come, if I may 

 judge from the flowers sent me during the season. After a 

 little experience in growing pink Nymplueas in different soils 

 and ditferent seasons it has been impressed on me that one 

 can speak of them only as they average, and that caution is re- 

 quired in describing the color of varieties from slight material. 

 From Mr. Sturtevant I have had fine flowers of a new variety, 

 a bold solid flower with broad petals and a very clear, uniform 

 suffusion of pink of a delicate shade. There came from Dr. 

 H. T. Bahnsen a flower of similar character with a tinge of 

 salmon. Both of these are very promising. Monsieur Marliac 

 has two new Nymphaeas which he claims are hybrids of N. 

 chromatella fertilized by N. rubra of India. As they are said 

 to be as hardy as N. chromatella, with deep carmine flowers 

 of the largest size, they will add a new zest to water-gardens 

 next season. From William Tricker there comes a new hybrid 

 tender Nymphsea, evidently N. dentata, colored by N. rubra, 

 which gives a new night-bloommg variety with the bold loose 

 habit of N. dentata, of a light rose shade, which should light 

 up well. As a friend says, the possibilities of hybridization 

 among the Nymphaeas seem infinite, and constant accessions 

 of new and desirable hybrids may be expected to crowd our 

 collections. ^ ,r ^ 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N. Gerard. 



Choice Hardy Plants. 



T7ROM early spring until late in the fall, our herbaceous 

 ■*■ borders are made bright and attractive with some species 

 of the Speedwell family. In the early summer a large num- 

 ber of the European species are in bloom. Veronica longi- 

 folia subsessilis is beautiful at this time. In my estimation it 

 is the best of all the hardy Veronicas, and deserves a prom- 

 inent place in our borders. This Speedwell was introduced 

 from Japan in 1878; it is quite hardy, easily propagated, and 

 has large, conspicuous racemes of blue flowers. It is scarce, 

 and not often enough seen in collections of hardy plants. 

 It grows from two to four feet high ; its serrated leaves 

 are from three to four inches long and a deep dark 

 color. The flowers are of the deepest blue and are pro- 

 duced freely in large dense racemes. The plant has good 

 habit and is easily increased by division of the roots early in 

 the spring or late in the fall. It thrives best in a good, deep, 

 rich soil, and prefers an open situation. This is altogether a 

 good perennial and deserves a place with our choicest hardy 

 plants. 



Young plants of V. longifolia, raised from seeds sown last 

 spring, are blooming profusely now, and the long racemes of 

 blue flowers are very effective. Although this is the most 

 common species in gardens, it is, nevertheless, a handsome 

 border-plant, and grows and flowers freely in any good soil. 

 Another Speedwell in bloom is V. Virginica, the large \"irginian 

 Speedwell. In color, its flowers are not as pleasing as those 



