352 



Garden and Forest. 



[September 19, 1888. 



being not more than six inches high and complete masses 

 of bloom, and one double white variety was singled out as 

 the best of all the dwarfs. The Wallflower, cleaved sec- 

 tion, which have shining, not hoary, leaves (as in ordinary 

 Stocks), are a failure as far as this trial is concerned, and 

 so is what is called the Dwarf Bouquet section. They are 

 not to be compared with the tall and dvi^arf doulde-flowered 

 sorts. 



Among the China Asters we found only a few that were 

 in a fit condition to judge, the plants not being in full 

 bloom. But these very early kinds in full bloom just now 

 are of great value, as they pfolong the China Aster season, 

 and what we want is a very late strain which would extend 

 the season over six or eight weeks. The dwarf strains 

 are very popular, as they are compact in growth and ex- 

 tremely floriferous. A few uncommonly fine ones received 

 to-day the full number of marks. Among these in the 

 Dwarf Chrysanthemum section were : Crimson, Scarlet 

 Red, Rose and White, all with large,. full flowers, abund- 

 antly produced on plants about nine inches high. There 

 is also a strain called the Dwarf Queen, ranging through 

 crimson, carmine rose, purple and white. But the most 

 beautiful Asters, in my opinion, are yet to bloom, and we 

 shall inspect these a fortnight hence. These comprise 

 the Pteony-flowered, Tall Chr)^santhemum-fltiwered, Vic- 

 toria, Pyramidal, Quilled Pompone and Cockade sections. 

 These China Asters seem to become more po])ular every year 

 since such fine strains have been obtained. They are 

 capable of producing very beautiful effects in the flovi'er- 

 border and require the simplest culture. The present 

 moist season has suited them well, as they have seldom 

 been finer at Chiswick. 



No advance whatever seems to have been made lately 

 in improving the bedding Lobelias, as the varieties on 

 trial, including novelties, do not show any improvement 

 over the old strains. 



A collection of Tomatoes is again on trial and a won- 

 derful display of fruiting plants is to be seen. The princi- 

 dal house (100 feet by 30 wide) is crowded with plants in 

 beds and trained to upright stakes. They range from six 

 feet to ten feet high and are profusely hung with fruits, 

 though only to-day 200 pounds had been cut. Of the 

 almost countless varieties two stand out prominently as 

 the finest of the collection. One is called Horsford's 

 Prelude, an American variety, having been sent by Messrs. 

 Horsford & Pringle, of Vermont. It is a wonderfully 

 productive sort, the fruit numbering as many as a dozen 

 or more in a cluster, hanging at regular intervals all up the 

 stem. The fruit is of medium size, smooth, bright red, 

 very succulent and of good flavor. It is pronounced first- 

 class, and is likely to supersede all others, especially for 

 the market. The other favorite sort is Perfection, known 

 under numerous aliases, for it is so good that every firm 

 seemed anxious to call it their own Perfection. It is a 

 very large sort, with perfectly smooth fruits, very fleshy 

 and well flavored. It is showy, and therefore gains a 

 point upon Prelude, though it is not so productive. The 

 value, however, of such a fine fruited sort, is that the 

 fruits fetch fully a penny a pound more in the market 

 than the small kinds, like Prelude, which sells at the 

 moment at six, while Perfection sells at seven pence per 

 pound. A prolific sort is President Garfield, called also 

 King Humbert and Chiswick Red, but it is nowhere, now 

 that Prelude is in the field. All credit is due to the 

 American seedsmen for sending us such a valuable fruit. 



London, August 24th, 1888. fp Qoldrhio- 



New or Little Known Plants. 



Pseudophoenix Sargenti. 



ON the 19th of April, 18S6, in company with Mr. C. E. 

 Faxon, Mr. A. H. Curtiss, and Lieut. Plubbard, of the 

 United States Navy, I landed from the Light-house Tender 

 " Laurel " near the eastern end of Elliott's Key, one of the 



larger of the Florida Reef Keys, at the house and Pineapple 

 plantation of Mr. Henry Filer. Our attention was at once 

 directed to a solitary plant of a small pinnate-leaved Palm, 

 leftstandingin the clearing, which,at first sight, was mistaken 

 for an Oreodoxa, but the large orange-scarlet fruit at once 

 showed that we had stumbled upon a tree unknown before 

 in the North American Flora, and quite unlike any of the 

 species of Palms known to us. Specimens of the fruit, which 

 ■was not, unfortunately, fully ripe, were sent to Dr. Wend- 

 land, of Hanover, who provisionally pronounced our Palm 

 to be the representati^■e of a new genus, for which he pro- 

 posed the name oi Pscudophcenix. A short account of this 

 discovery, with the announcement of Dr. Wendland's new 

 genus, but without characters, was published in the issue 

 of the Botanical Gazette, for November, 1886, but it was not 

 until a year later that I received through Mr. Curtiss ripe 

 seed of the Pseudophoenix, which was sent to Dr. Wendland, 

 who has drawn up from it generic characters.* 



Pseudophanix Sargenti is a slender, low tree, twenty to 

 twenty-five feet high, with a trunk ten to twelve inches in 

 diameter, and abruptly pinnate leaves four or five feet long, 

 the pinnae lanceolate-acuminate, twelve to sixteen inches 

 long, bright green above and glaucous on the lower surface. 

 The branching spadix appears from among the leaves ; it 

 is (in the onl)' specimen seen by me) thirty-six inches long 

 liy thirty inches broad, the main and secondary branches 

 light yellow-green, flattened, and the latter thickened at 

 the base, especiall}^ on the upper side, into an ear-like 

 process. The three-lobed fruit, often one or two-lobed by 

 abortion, is a half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter, 

 bright orange-scarlet, and very showy. Only the withered 

 remnants of the flowers have been collected. 



A few individuals were discovered scattered through the 

 woods in the neighborhood of Mr. Filer's plantation, and, 

 late in the same year, a grove of them was discovered near 

 the east end of Long's Key by a gentleman from Bay 

 Biscayne whose name I cannot recall. There are about 

 200 plants, large and small, in this grove, which is repre- 

 sented in the illustration upon page 353, from a photograph 

 made by Mr. James M. Codman at the time of our visit to 

 Long's Key in the spring of 1887. These are the only sta- 

 tions where Pseudophanix is now known, but as the flora 

 of the Florida Reef Keys is Bahaman in its constitution, 

 and probably in its origin, it would be a singular fact if 

 this tree was not found in some of the Bahama group, the 

 plants of which are still very imperfectly known. 



The figure of the fruit (see page 355) is engraved from a 

 drawing made by Mr, Faxon. C. S. S. 



Cultural Department. 



Cultivation of Native Ferns. — IV. 



Aspidiinii Goldianum. — As Eaton says, " This is one of the 

 very finest and largest species of the Eastern States." In even 

 choice collections this species will always be one of the prides 

 of the owner on account of the size, color and beauty of the 

 fronds and comparative rarity of the species. Its early summer 

 growth is tipped and bordered witli vivid golden gxeen. The 

 mature frond takes on a deep, rich green of much beauty. 

 Rich soil. Two and a half to four feet. Fronds on one fine 

 specimen measure four feet two and a half inches. 



Aspidiuin Filix-mas. — A strong, fine-growing, half-ever- 

 green species of great beauty. LJnder lugh cultivation this 

 produces splendid masses of fronds. Thirty to fortv inches. 



Aspidiuin inarginale. — An attractive common species. The 

 half-evergreen fronds grow in a handsonie vase form. Grows 

 finely in rich soil ; but will grow in extremely poor and dry 

 situations. Eighteen to twenty-nine inches. 



^- Psctidopha'iu'je Noz'. C7*v/., Herni. Wendl. Gaussia? affiiiis. 



Fructus siij>itittus driipacens cerasiforniis aurantiacus, e carpellis 1-3 glohosis 

 stit^niatuni residuis basilaribus vel in frucltbus lobatis lateralibus vel centi'alibus, 

 epicarpio coriaceo, niesocarpio grumoso, endocarpio teimiter viireo-criistaceo. 

 Semen liberum subgtobosuni erectum, hilo basilar!, raphe adscendente 7^/r?>;5'w^ 

 7-a»us 2-3 manifestis curvatis, albumine Eequabili ; embryo basiiai-is. 



Fl. fem. in fructu ; calyx- parvus pateriiiormis leviter 3-deuticuIatus. Petala 3 

 ovata obtusa, viiidia refracta. Staminodia 6 fjiani/esta apice atropurpuieo. 



Palina mediocris, erecta, foliis pinnatisectis, segnienlis duj-iusculis itiia basi 



■z'alde repliceiis. 



Species i. P. SargeiUi, Ilerm. Wendl. Elliott's Key, Florida. 



