1 14 



Garden and Forest. 



I Number 474. 



well and the flowers last and keep their color. Its near 

 ally, Rosy Bell, is almost as useful. These two plants are 

 hybrids, tor which we are indebted to Messrs. Davies, of 

 Ormskirk, near Liverpool. R. Nobleanum is also excep- 

 tionally good this year, the flowers being large and bright 

 in color. It has been in flower out-of-doors since the 

 middle of February. 



Cypripedium Fairreanum. — As bearing upon the subject of 

 raising rare and valuable Orchids from seeds obtained arti- 

 ficially and without crossing, which I suggested in one of 

 my letters as worthy consideration, the following is interest- 

 ing : In the Journal of the Agricultural-Horticultural Society 

 of India for December, 1896, p. 534, it is stated that Messrs. 

 F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, will give .£1,000 for an impor- 

 tation of Cypripedium Fairreanum, the habitat of which is 

 unknown, but is suspected to be Burma. The same firm 

 also offer ^"1,000 for a good plant in flower of C. insigne, 

 with the flower pure white and of normal size. The 

 albino is not likely to be forthcoming, although seeing 

 how many albino sports among Orchids are now known, 

 such a plant may possibly be found. The importation of 

 C. Fairreanum, however, ought not to be difficult. It is 

 estimated that a pod of Cypripedium contains about four 

 million seeds ; Cypripedium seeds vegetate freely and 

 plants are quickly grown from them ; a pod of ripe seeds 

 of C. Fairreanum ought, therefore, on this showing, to be 

 worth a considerable sum. 



Bertonerila. — This is a composite name for a bigeneric 

 hybrid between Bertoloma and Sonerila. Bertolonia is a 

 genus of some six species, all South American, while Son- 

 erila is East Indian and comprises some fifty species. Ac- 

 cording to the Genera Planlarum, the two genera belong 

 to different sections of Melastomacese. We owe the cross 

 to Monsieur Linden, of L 'Horticulture Internationale, Brus- 

 sels, who publishes figures and descriptions of six varieties 

 with popular names. The characters of the two parents 

 are evident in the foliage of the hybrids, which are blotched 

 and spotted with white and rose on a green ground. The 

 names of the parents are not given, but I suspect they are 

 B. maculata and S. Hendersoni, or near allies of these. For 

 furnishing the surfaces of large pots in the Orchid-house or 

 stove we findSonerilas and Bertolonias most suitable, and, 

 no doubt, these Bertonerilas will be equally serviceable. 



Pitcairnia corallina. — The Pitcairnias are considered 

 either weedy or too botanical by cultivators, but this spe- 

 cies deserves to be ranked with handsome winter-flowering 

 stove plants. It forms a tuft of erect lanceolate Curculigo- 

 like leaves a yard or more high, and in February it develops 

 its flower-spikes ; these are short, horizontal or turned sud- 

 denly at right angles just above ground, projecting out- 

 ward about a foot and clothed with bright crimson tubular 

 flowers from one to two inches long. A well-grown speci- 

 men in a shallow pot a foot across will produce half a 

 dozen flower-spikes, which last in perfect condition several 

 weeks. There are also two hybrids between this species 

 and P. Altensteinii, which were raised by continental 

 growers a few years ago and which possess most of the 

 good points of P. corallina. This species is a native of 

 Colombia, whence it was introduced by Monsieur Linden 

 in 1874. 



Cyclamen Persicum Papilio. — I mentioned this new 

 sport a few weeks ago, when examples were submitted to 

 the Royal Horticultural Society by the raiser, Monsieur 

 Vervaene de Langhe, the Brussels nurseryman. He has 

 lately forwarded a collection of the flowers to Kew, to- 

 gether with an account of the origin and development of 

 the sport. Twelve years ago he started to select and breed 

 the Persian Cyclamen for an improved leaf coloration. 

 Among the seedlings thus obtained he observed one which 

 showed broad horizontal petals with crisp margins. These 

 characters were reproduced in the seedlings obtained from 

 this sport, but they were all mauve-colored. To get variety 

 of color he crossed them with other colors and selected the 

 best from the progeny, breeding from these again. He has 

 now numerous seedlings of varying shades of color from 



white to purple, and all showing the peculiar pose and 

 crispness of petal which distinguishes this from all other 

 sports obtained from the Persian Cyclamen. Either we are 

 better acquainted with the cultural requirements of this 

 plant than we used to be, or, what is more likely, breeders 

 have improved the constitution of the plant by crossing 

 and selecting, for it is cultivated with far more success 

 than formerly, some growers producing easily in about 

 twelve months from seeds plants which twenty years ago 

 would have been considered miracles by the most expert 

 growers. 



London. W. WatSOH. 



Plant Notes. 



Begonia Lyncheana was introduced from Colombia about 

 1877 by Monsieur Roezl, who sent it to Monsieur Bernary, 

 of Erfurt, Germany. It was distributed under the name of 

 B. Roezlii, but as there was already a Begonia of that 

 name, Sir Joseph Hooker renamed it in compliment to Mr. 

 Lynch, the curator at Cambridge, who had been the means 

 of its becoming known in England. Mr. John Coulson, of 

 Worcester, Massachusetts, says that he has grown B. 

 Lyncheana from the original stock of Bernary and finds 

 that it is almost the same as B. semperflorens gigantea 

 rosea. 



Begonia semperflorens gigantea rosea is one of Lemoine's 

 hybrids introduced in 1888, being a cross between B. sem- 

 perflorens and B. Lyncheana. It is one of the very best 

 greenhouse plants we have, has beautiful deep green foli- 

 age, and produces an abundance of flowers of a rich shade 

 of rosy red. As it flowers from October to May, it is espe- 

 cially valuable for winter decoration of all kinds. I am of 

 the opinion that the hybrid has almost reverted back to 

 B. Lyncheana, or that the semperflorens type has not 

 entered sufficiently into the cross to enable us to keep them 

 distinct. A description of this hybrid, from plants growing 

 at Cornell, is appended : 



Rootstock woody, stems succulent, about three feet high, 

 smooth, green. Leaves on short petioles, ovate or reniform, 

 toothed at the margins, about seven inches across, bright 

 green, with a spot of red at the base of the sinus, tinged with 

 red on the under side. Peduncles axillary, stout, four to eight 

 inches long, bearing large panicles (six to eight inches in diam- 

 eter), of large rosy red flowers. Males with two ovate petals 

 three-quarters to one inch across ; females with two to four 

 petals somewhat smaller, ovary three-angled with broad 

 rounded wings. We are able to determine no greater differ- 

 ence between Begonia Lyncheana and the Gigantea rosea 

 than would occur between plants arising from the samestock. 

 For further information regarding these plants, I would refer 

 to Botanical Magazine, t. 6758 ; journal Royal Horticultural 

 Society, xv., 15, January, 1893; Kegel Gartenflora, 1876, page 

 194, plate 871 ; Nicholson Diet. Gar.; The Garden, xxiv., page 

 162, plate 402 ; xxv., pages 4S9 and 534 ; xxvii., pat;e 417 ; xxix., 

 page 206; Gardeners Chronicle, 1S84, page 774 ; Garden and 

 Forest, ii., page 113, March 6th, 1889; American Gardening, 

 xv., page 346, October 12th, 1895. 



Cornell University. 



P. B. Kennedy. 



Cultural Department. 



American Trees for Ornamental Planting. 



AT the meeting of the Lenox Horticultural Society, on 

 the 4th of March, Mr. B. M. Watson, of the Bussey 

 Institute, read a paper entitled "Some Native Trees and 

 Shrubs," in which he commended many of the wild plants 

 growing about the Berkshire Hills as in every respect equal, 

 and oftentimes superior, to imported garden shrubs and trees. 

 He invited attention to the fact that the Arnold Arboretum was 

 a living museum of the woody plants hardy in eastern Massa- 

 chusetts, and that the plantations had now reached a stage of 

 growth from which it is possible to learn many useful lessons. 

 It offers, at least, an opportunity to study our native trees and 

 compare them with each other and with those from other 

 countries. Many foreign trees, like the Scotch and Austrian 

 Pines, the English Oak and the Sycamore Maple, which had 

 been largely planted in this country, do not thrive under New 

 England conditions. European Beeches, White Willows and 

 many Japanese and Asiatic trees and shrubs are thoroughly 



