520 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 26, iS 



under very simple treatment. They are scarcely ever out of 

 bloom, and just now they are unusually good, which is a point 

 greatly in their favor when considering- their claims as garden 

 plants. C. lutesccns has leaves a foot long, half an inch broad, 

 green and fleshy ; the scapes are a foot long, each bearing an 

 umbel of from si.\ to nine flowers of a soft lemon-yellow color 

 which are one and a half inches long, narrow tubular, the six 

 short segments refiexed, the stamens as long as the tube, the 

 style a little longer. Each flower keeps fresh over a month, so 

 that for bouquet, and like purposes, they would prove of great 

 value. C. Mackenii is similar, but pure white, the tube slightly 

 bent, and the segments not reflexed ; the flowers measure 

 nearly one inch across. In a cool green-house, with the same 

 treatment as suits Vallota, these two plants are certain to prove 

 successful. 



Hippeastriun auUcum. — Everybody is looking after the new 

 and flashy hybrid Amaryllises, but no one appears to care 

 for the species. And yet some of them are first-rate flower- 

 ing plants, with plenty of color attractions. Such a one is the 

 above, and when one recollects that this and H. reticulatnm 

 are the only two which bloom before Christmas, its claims as 

 a garden plant are undoubted. There are some fine examples 

 of it in bloom at Kew now. They have plenty of full sized 

 foliage (another good point), the scapes are stout, nearly two 

 feet high, and bear each two flowers, six inches long and six 

 inches across, of a deep crimson color, with darker shadings, 

 and a green star at the base inside. The flowers have been 

 open a fortnight and are still good. 



Orchids. — We have as many named varieties of Lalia an- 

 ceps as of Cattleya Mossics, and some of them are as much 

 alike as two peas. There are good, well-marked varieties, 

 also, and we do not seem to have reached the end of them 

 yet, for the Orchid of the week is a very beautiful and distinct 

 variety of L. anceps which has flowered with Mr. Sander at 

 St. Albans, and which he has named Amesiana, after Mr. 

 Ames, of North Easton, Massachusetts. The width of the 

 flower is four inches ; the sepals, one-half inch broad, nar- 

 rowed to a long point ; the petals, one and one-half inches 

 broad, also long-pointed ; both sepals and petals are ivory- 

 white, tipped with rose-purple. The labellum is smaller than 

 in the type, the lateral lobes are incurved, white, with lines of 

 red inside, the front lobe small, narrowed almost to a stalk at 

 the base, and colored rich maroon-purple. There is also 

 a very prominent ridge-like crest running from the front 

 lobe into the throat which is colored bright yellow. This 

 variety is considered the equal in beauty of L. anceps Daiu- 

 soiii. Its value is shown by the price paid for it by Mr. Sander — 

 200 guineas — although, in 1883, this same plant was pur- 

 chased from Mr. Sander for two guineas ; but it had not then 

 flowered. Another addition to the list of sensational Orchids, 

 Odontoglossiim Schrcederianum, is also in flowerin theSt. Albans 

 nursery. It is an unusually stately plant, standing between 

 two widely distinct species, O. Karwlnski and O. Iceve. It 

 resembles both in growth and has a long paniculate inflores- 

 cence; each flower measures three inches across, the sepals 

 and petals are one and one-quarter inches long, one-half an 

 inch wide, pointed, spreading, the three upper ones curved 

 upwards, the two lower curved down and inwards ; they are 

 colored yellowish-white, with large and numerous blotches of 

 purple. The lip is pandiu'ate, an inch long, nearly as broad, 

 the basal half a bright crimson, the apical half pure white. It 

 is a remarkable and handsome species, certain to become a 

 popular Orchid for the cool house. It was introduced and 

 flowered in 1887. 



Odontoglossuin Harryamcin has bounded into the very front 

 rank of Orchids. It is a most delightful plant, full of charming 

 variety, quaint and attractive in form, fantastically yet richly 

 colored, and, withal, as easily grown as O. ci-ispu/ii, and almost 

 as cheap. A good garden plant ought always to be abundant 

 and cheap. The plant of O. Harryanii/n which first flowered 

 had but two blooms, and those not of the best, yet they made 

 the eyes of Professor Reichenbach twinkle with delight when 

 he saw them (he was staying at Kew at the time). But we 

 have now spikes with eight, nine and eleven flowers, and 

 collectors say there are even more. A fine variety with 

 eleven flowers on the spike is now in bloom at Kew. 



Masdevallias are general favorites in England, even the 

 small "botanical" species finding many admii'ers. At Kew 

 we have over eighty species, about a dozen of which are in 

 flower now. Three of the most remarkable are, M. macrura, 

 a large-flowered, long-tailed species, the sepals united at the 

 base and forming a shallow cup, one inch across, and then 

 separating into three narrow tails six inches long. Inside 

 there are lines and warts of a purplish color, the rest of the 

 flower being yellowish green ; the petals and lip are very 



diminutive. The leaves are one foot long, two inches across, 

 thick and leathery. The peduncle is as long as the leaves. 

 M. Mooreana is another large flowered kind belonging to the 

 Peristeria and Coriacea group. The sepals form a cup one 

 inch across, with a prominent chin ; they then separate into 

 three projecting tails three inches long, the lower ones united 

 by their inner edge and then turned outwards; these are pur- 

 ple, the upper one being yellow with purple lines. The lip is 

 large, tongue-shaped, and colored dark purple. Leaves are six 

 inches long, one and one-quarter Indies wide, thick, fleshy, and 

 very dark green. The last of the trio is M. piilvinaris. It is a 

 very singular species, quite distinct from any other cultivated 

 Masdevallia. The scape is one and one-half feet liigh, purple, 

 clothed with close-fitting bracts and covered with a whitish 

 scabridity, rough as sandpaper, but slightly glutinous. The 

 flowers are produced on the upper six inches of the scape, 

 about a dozen on each scape. They are an inch apart, and 

 each one is an inch long, reversed, so that the labellum is 

 uppermost; the two upper sepals are united and form a boat- 

 shaped hood. Inside they bear two oblong, fleshy, yellow, 

 cushion-like processes, the object of which is not clear ; the 

 lower sepal is concave and as long as the upper ones. Color 

 purple and dull yellow. Botanically, this Orchid is the most 

 interesting plant now in flower at Kew, but its lack of bright 

 color will prevent it from ever becoming a popular garden 

 plant. 



Cattleya Gaskelliaiia is worth growing as a market plant, or, 

 at all events, for the sake of its liowers, which are deliciously 

 fragrant, beautiful in form and color, very freely produced, 

 and at their best in October and November. In Messrs. Low 

 & Co.'s Nursery at Clapton there are many thousands of this 

 Orchid, occupying a very large house, and from them bushels 

 of bloom have been cut and marketed this autumn. The 

 species is very easily managed, as easily as C. Mossice. 



Disa raceinosa. — There are only two good garden Disas, 

 namely, the superb old D. graiidijlora, of which every 

 garden possesses, or should possess, dozens, and D. raceinosa. 

 This is a recent introduction, but it bids fair to become a popu- 

 lar Orchid. It is easily grown, requiring the same treatment 

 as D. grandiflora, and blooms abundantly in spring. Each 

 growth produces one or two tall spikes, each bearing from six 

 to twelve deep-rose flowers, whicli last three or four weeks. 

 It is a native of the east side of the Cape. 



I'anda Amesiana is a delightful plant, of which little is 

 known yet, but quite enough to satisfy one that it will prove a 

 first-class garden Orchid. It was introduced and flowered by 

 Messrs. Low & Co. in 1887, and a second imported one in 

 excellent health has recently arrived. The narrow flesliy 

 leaves are six inches long, the erect crowded spike of flowers, 

 each one and one-half inches across, with pure white sepals 

 and petals, and a large rosy-red lip ; these give this species a 

 character distinct among Vandas. It is also easily grown if 

 placed in the same house with Pliala?nopsis. 

 London. U'. Watson. 



New or Little Known Plants. 

 Syringa villosa. 



AN account of this beautiful Lilac, of which an illustra- 

 tion appears upon the opposite page, was pub- 

 lished upon page 222 of this journal. It is a native of 

 northern China, and the plant from which our illustration 

 was made was raised in the Arnold Arboretum from seed 

 sent from Pekin by Dr. Bretschneider. Syringa villosa is a 

 vigorous and very hardy shrub, now five feet high here, 

 by as much through the branches, with stout, erect, pale 

 brown shoots, marked with white spots, broad and ample 

 pale green strongly reticulate-veined leaves, and narrow, 

 and rather obtuse, often interrupted clusters of pale rose or 

 fiesh-colored flowers, which are decidedly less fragrant than 

 those of the common Lilac. They appear here towards 

 the end of May. 



.S'. villosa is a valuable and desirable addition to gardens. 

 The only drawback which it has yet developed as an orna- 

 mental plant is found in the fact that its leaves fall very 

 early, or after the first frost, without any change of color. 



Our plant seems identical with the one recently figured 

 in the Revue Horticole (November ist) under the name 

 Syringa Emodi rosea, which has flowered in X\\e Jardin des 

 Plantes, in Paris, and was raised from seed sent also by 

 Dr. Bretschneider. As was pointed out in the description 

 already referred to, the .S. Emodi of the Himalaya, in spite 



