June 23, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



245 



Robinsonella divergens.* (See figure 32, page 247). 

 This species is a small tree eighteen feet high. It will 

 be found in many herbaria under the name of Sida Lin- 

 deniana, from which, however, it is wholly distinct. R. 

 divergens is confined to Central America, and differs from 

 the above in its leaves, flowers and carpels. It appears 

 to be very common in Central America and Guatemala. 



Robinsonella Lindeniana. J" This species is described as a 

 shrub, but we know very little regarding it. It seems to be 

 confined to the lowland of Mexico, being reported from the 

 state of Vera Cruz and the valley of Cordova. It cannot 

 be widely distributed, for Mr. Pringle, who has traveled so 

 extensively in Mexico, has never met with it. It has been 

 collected, however, by Linden, Galeotti, Bourgeau and Bot- 

 teri. The specimens of the latter two collectors are repre- 

 sented in the United States National Herbarium. R. Linden- 

 iana has always seemed to us to be anomalous in Sida. It 

 was first studied by Turczaninow (in 1858), who described 

 it under three different names in the same paper — twice as 

 Sida and once as an Abutilon. The flowering specimens 

 were referred to Sida, while the fruiting one was placed in 

 Abutilon. The carpel much resembles those of Abutilon, 

 but differs in having one ovule instead of several. Dr. Gray, 

 in his revision of our United States species in 1887, con- 

 structed a separate section in Sida for this species in these 

 words: " Abutilastrum is a name quite appropriate for 

 another section, namely, for Sida Lindeniana, which would 

 be essentially an Abutilon of the section Gayoides, except 

 for the uniovulate carpels." 



This view was taken by Mr. Baker in his recent Revision of 

 Malvaceae in the Journal of Botany , where he added several 

 species to the section. A good illustration of this species 

 may be found in Hemsley's Biologia Centrali-Americana, 

 t. 9. It differs from Robinsonella divergens in having, 

 perhaps, larger leaves, with the pubescence on the under 

 surface very soft and villous, the inflorescence more open, 

 with more slender and longer pedicels, the sepals broader, 

 the flowers smaller and white instead of blue, and the car- 

 pels more compact, etc. 



Sida lepida (Fr. Muell. Frag., vi., p. 168), from Australia, 

 differs in habit from the members of this genus ; the leaves 

 are small and orbicular, the structure of the carpels is, how- 

 ever, somewhat similar, being inflated, globose and one- 

 seeded and the seed pendulous. It appears to be an ally 

 of some of the globose-fruited species of Abutilon, such as 

 A. graveolens, W. & A., differing, of course, technically in 

 the number of ovules. 



Sida densiflora (Hook. &Arn., Bot.Misc, iii., i55)was first 

 described from Borga in the Missions, where it was collected 

 by Baird. It is said to be a beautiful tree, and the type is in 

 the Kew Herbarium. This plant is closely allied to S. 

 myriantha, PI. & Lind. ; both species are much smaller- 

 flowered than Robinsonella cordata, R. divergens and R. 

 Lindeniana, and according to Dr. K. Schumann (Fl. Bj-asil, 

 XII., pt. iii., p. 287) S. densiflora differs considerably 

 from them in the structure of the carpels, while S. myriantha, 

 PI. & Lind., so far as we are aware, has not yet been col- 

 lected in fruit. 



Dr. Schumann, 1. c, p. 280, makes a section of Sida for 



* Robinsonella divergens, Baker & Rose, sp. nov. A small tree 18 feet high : 

 lower leaves 3-Iobed, 6 to 8 inches long, including the petiole (2 to 3 inches long), 

 acute, serrate, cordate at base ; upperleaves lanceolate, simple, slightly serrate or 

 entire, somewhat scabrous above, short stellate-pubescent beneath ; inflorescence 

 cymose-paniculate ; pedicels short, 2 to 6 lines long ; calyx deeply 5-cIeft ; sepals 

 lanceolate, 2>£ to 3 lines long, acute, reflexed in fruit ; carpels 9 or 10, strongly 

 spreading and widely separated at apex, the summit wing-like. 



Specimens examined. Costa Rica: San Jose 1 , John Donnell Smith, April, 1894 

 (No. 4751); SanJose\ Tonduz, February, 1893 (No. 7311), and November, i8So(No. 

 1452) ; SanJose,"H. Pittier, December, 1893 (No. 8471) ; San Rafael, H. Pittier, June, 

 1890 (No. 2600); San Rafael, Tonduz, February 13, 1890 (No. 1977). Guatemala: 

 Santa Rosa, Heyde & Lux, November, 1893 (No. 6299) ; Santa Rosa, Heyde & Lux, 

 January, 1893 (No. 4326). 



t Robinsonella Lindeniana (Turcz.), Rose & Baker ; Sida Lindeniana (Turcz.), Bull. 

 Sac. Nat. Most., 31; pt. 1,200 (1858); S. Ghiesbreghtiana, Turcz. I . c; Abutilon (?) 

 ambiguum, (Turcz.), 1. c, 205. Shrub; lower leaves large and palmate-lobed* the 

 upper three-lobed above ; dark green, somewhat scabrous beneath ; pale, densely 

 and softly stellate-pubescent ; lobes entire or more or less dentate, four to six 

 inches in diameter on petioles as long or longer; inflorescence ample, cymose- 

 paniculate. its branches and pedicels slender ; pedicels six to twelve lines long, 

 jointed a iittle below the flower; calyx five-lobed ; sepals broadly ovate, acute or 

 obtusish, two lines or less long; corolla white; carpels eleven to thirteen, inflated, 

 four to five lines long, somewhat compact. State of Vera Cruz and Valley of Cordova. 



S. densiflora, H. & A., calling it Bastardiopsis and charac- 

 terizing it as follows : " Flores gynodioeci, i. e., plurimi post 

 anfffesfn caduci ; carpidia longe caudata, caudis flexuosis 

 pilosis carpidiis pluries longioribus, dorso et ventre dehis- 

 centia, contigua tardius soluta.'' 



Sida densiflora, H. & A., differs from S. myriantha, PI. 

 & Lind., in having the calyx externally much more densely 

 cinereo-tomentose and in having a much longer staminal 

 column. It comes from Brazil (Minas Geraes and St. Paulo), 

 and from Paraguay. 



Sida myriantha, Planch. & Linden, ex. Tr. & PI. in Ann. 

 Sc. Nat. St'r., [v., xvii. (1862), p. 179, comes from New 

 Granada, the localities given by the authors being " Prov. 

 Ocana. Schlim, No. 359 " and " Onebrada de los Corales," 

 Gondot. It is in the British Museum Herbarium, from 

 Prov. Ocana, Schlim, No. 376. 



In our study of this genus we have had access to the 

 material at Kew, in the Gray Herbarium and in Captain John 

 Donnell Smith's Herbarium, as well as that of the British 

 Museum, and in the United States National Herbarium. 



/. N. Rose and E. G. Baker. 



Cultural Department. 



Chrysanthemum Notes. 



/CHRYSANTHEMUMS intended for specimen plants should 

 ^-' be making rapid growth now, and stopping must be con- 

 tinued regularly; a shoot overgrown, and then topped, breaks 

 badly. Varieties like Garza, W. H. Lincoln and Glory of the 

 Pacific make good plants with little training, Others are diffi- 

 cult to manage, no matter how much care is used to get them 

 into shape, and some of the choicest kinds are unruly in this 

 respect. It is seldom, out of a dozen novelties, that more than 

 one or two are found useful for bush specimens. New varie- 

 ties may be tried, but they should not be relied upon ; though 

 the color and form of the flowers may be entirely satisfactory, 

 the habit of the plant may be undesirable. 



We continue stopping through the greater part of July, and 

 even in August, if we find any shoots getting away. No rule 

 can be made for either early or late varieties, and the culti- 

 vator must become acquainted with the different kinds to be 

 able to judge in respect to stopping. Many early varieties 

 break poorly ; strong-growing and stocky varieties, as G. W. 

 Childs and Minerva, almost always do so. As these generally 

 make good-sized flowers on smaller stems, we continue to 

 pinch them back until August. Others, such as Ivory, G. 

 Daniels, Arethusa and W. H. Lincoln, are naturally bushy, and 

 need little attention at any time. Later varieties, as John 

 Shrimpton, S. T. Murdock and all those that come best on an 

 intermediate bud, or second crown, like Crystallina, G. Pitcher, 

 Golden Hair and Clinton Chapant, must be let alone after the 

 middle of July. 



Yellow thrips are more troublesome than usual. As a 

 remedy I use whale-oil soap — one pound to ten gallons of 

 water, with an infusion of tobacco and a pound of sulphur. 

 This pest is hard to kill, but by continued application we ex- 

 pect to get rid of it. The soot of bituminous coal, used in 

 place of sulphur, was effectively used. 



Plants intended to be grown for exhibition blooms to a single 

 stem should be planted during the month of June. July will 

 be early enough to plant for commercial and decorative pur- 

 poses. Not less than nine inches each way should be allowed 

 for exhibition blooms. For decorative purposes and later 

 planting six inches apart will do. The heights and colors of 

 the flowers may be arranged to harmonize effectively. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



More June Irises. 



^PHERE are other Iris species interesting in the garden in 

 -*- early June besides the Spanish varieties. The most stately 

 one and among the tallest of Irises is I. ochroleuca, which 

 flowers at a height of four feet. The blooms are pure white, 

 with orange-yellow markings. The claws are long, falls obo- 

 vate, and standards not very prominent. Each stem usually 

 bears four flowers opening in succession. This Iris is also 

 grown as I. gigantea, but according to precedence it should be 

 known as I. orientalis. I. Kerneriana, collected near Smyrna, 

 for which I am indebted to Mr. Whittall, is supposed to be the 

 wild form of I. ochroleuca, and differs from this well-known 

 Iris only in being narrower in all its parts, the leaves as well 



