354 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 341, 



streaks and a yellow throat. It was raised by the exhib- 

 itors, Messrs. Lewis & Co., Southgate. 



Bletia Watsoniana was shown as a new plant by Messrs. 

 Sander & Co. and obtained an award of merit. According 

 to Mr. Rolfe, however, it is B. catenulata of Ruiz & Pavon, 

 a Peruvian species in the way of B. secunda. Although 

 not new to science it is new to cultivation. It has large 

 pseudo-bulbs, plicate leaves, and an erect scape bearing a 

 few medium-sized rose-purple flowers. 



Adiantum amabile plumosum and A. Hemsleyanum. — These 

 two new Ferns obtained certificates this week and are cer- 

 tain to become favorites in the garden. They were ex- 

 hibited by Mr. May, of Edmonton, a famous grower of and 

 dealer in Ferns, with whom they had originated. The 

 first-named has fronds of the same graceful character as the 

 type, but the stipes are shorter and stiffer and the divisions 

 of the frond shorter. It may be described as a form of 

 A. amabile with the habit of ordinary A. cuneatum. It is 

 probably a sport from A. cuneatum. The second, A. Hems- 

 leyanum, has fronds eighteen inches high, semi-erect, with 

 pinnae like those of A. cuneatum, but less crowded and 

 more rigid. It is a perfect plant for dinner-table dec- 

 oration, owing to the grace and looseness of its fronds, and 

 it is likely to become popular with growers of plants for 

 furnishing ball-rooms, etc. 



Pteris biaurita argentea. — This is a distinct and orna- 

 mental variety of one of the most useful, as it is one of the 

 most cosmopolitan, of all Ferns. Mr. May exhibited fine 

 examples of it this week, and it was awarded a first-class 

 certificate. It differs from the type and all other cultivated 

 varieties in having stout, sturdy fronds, the pinnae almost 

 leathery in texture and pleasingly variegated with silvery 

 gray on a green ground. 



Pteris serrulata gracilis multiceps. — This lengthy name 

 is fairly descriptive of an exceptionally elegant variety of 

 this most multifarious Fern. It was shown by Mr. May, 

 and was awarded a certificate because of its drooping, 

 graceful habit, the fronds arching over, and the very nar- 

 row pinnae ending in elegant tassels. It is the prettiest of 

 the many smaller forms of this Pteris. A plant in a five- 

 inch pot had a tuft of fronds nine inches high, a foot 

 through, and these completely hid the whole of the pot in 

 their tessellated ends. 



Begonia Rajah. — The number of Begonias that are popu- 

 lar because of their leaf variegation is considerable. Messrs. 

 Veitch added one of decided prettiness last year in B. de- 

 cora, and now Messrs. E. Sander & Co. have added another 

 of equal promise, though widely different in character. It 

 was shown under the above name this week, and received 

 a certificate. Its origin has not yet been published, but I 

 suspect it is Malayan. It has a fleshy, scale-clad root- 

 stock or stem, from which spring suberect leaf-stalks six to 

 nine inches long, supporting orbicular leaves about six 

 inches across, the surface bullate and colored dark brown, 

 with broad reticulating lines of bright green. 



Begonia Rex-Socotrana. — This is a new hybrid between 

 the two widely divergent species named, which has re- 

 cently been raised in the nurseries of Messrs. J. Veitch & 

 Sons. It is chiefly interesting as proving that such a cross 

 is possible. It was exhibited this week, but obtained no 

 award. 



Asparagus sarmentosus. — One o,f the prettiest of green- 

 house-plants now flowering here is a specimen of this Cape 

 Asparagus, which was brought from near Grahamstown in 

 1887, and which is now an elegant mass of stems two feet 

 high, clothed with numerous branches and falcate green 

 leaves in such a way as to give each branch the outline 

 and fullness of a fine fox-brush. The plant is evergreen, 

 and worth growing for the sake of its elegant branches 

 alone. But when these branches are transformed, as they 

 have been this summer, into delightful plumes of white 

 fragrant flowers, their decorative value is increased ten- 

 fold. There are more than a score of species of African 

 Asparagi in cultivation here, and this is by far the pret- 

 tiest of the larger-leaved sorts. A. sarmentosus is an old 



inmate of gardens, but it appears to be variable, and proba- 

 bly this form now at Kew is a superior one. Except on 

 this theory, it is difficult to understand how this species 

 has been overlooked in modern horticulture. 



Eucryphia pinnatifolia. — This handsome Chilian shrub is 

 flowering exceptionally well in English gardens this year. 

 It is better at Kew than I have ever seen it, bushes five feet 

 high being laden with flowers. It will bear twenty de- 

 grees of frost, possibly more, if ihe growth is well ripened, 

 and it does not like drought. Although introduced from 

 Chili twenty years ago by Messrs. Veitch, it has not yet 

 become a popular shrub with us, but its success this year 

 is sure to bring it into general favor. In Chili it forms a 

 bush ten feet high, clohed with dark green, glabrous, pin- 

 nate leaves six inches long. The flowers are developed 

 with us in July and August, each one being three inches in 

 diameter, pure white, with a large bunch of slender sta- 

 mens tipped with brown-red anthers. They are more 

 cupped than a rose, otherwise they resemble a beautiful 

 white single rose, and are superior to any rose in lasting 

 several days after expanding. 



Rubus Phcenicolasius. — This was shown as a new plant, 

 and was awarded a first-class certificate. It is likely to re- 

 ceive more attention in England than it has hitherto, for, 

 except to very few, it is an unknown plant here, and those 

 who know it have formed but a poor opinion of it. 



[This plant has been known for a great many years in 

 this country, and under the name of the Japanese Wine- 

 berry it has lately been disseminated pretty widely among 

 farmers and fruit-growers. There are varying reports as 

 to its merits, but it is not considered of any value as a 

 market fruit on account of its softness. It has a sprightly 

 acid flavor, which is liked by some people, and it is use- 

 ful for various culinary purposes. It is hardy as far north 

 as New York certainly, and it is worth planting for orna- 

 ment, if for no other purpose. The opinion seems to be 

 gaining ground that it will find a permanent place for 

 home use in a small way in country gardens. — Ed.] 



Carnations. — Every meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society brings forth new and meritorious varieties of these 

 Pinks, a fact which shows the popular interest in them. This 

 week the following received awards : Ellen Terry, a large 

 full white, first-class in every way ; Paradox, a border va- 

 riety with full, broad-petaled, bright scarlet flowers ; Water- 

 witch, a blush-white, good in size and form. These were 

 shown by Mr. J. Douglas, Great Bookham, now a nursery- 

 man, but still devoted to his old favorites — Carnations, 



Auriculas, etc. Trr „. 



London. W. Watson. 



New or Little-known Plants. 

 Nymphaea Sturtevantii. 



THIS is one of the newer varieties of tropical Nym- 

 phaeas and one of the handsomest and most distinct 

 of Water-lilies. Its history, as given by its originator, Mr. 

 E. D. Sturtevant, of Bordentown, New Jersey, is this : 



Nymphaea Sturtevantii is not a hybrid in the ordinary sense 

 of the term ; it is a seedling sport from a hybrid. Its history 

 is as follows : About 1880 I had a plant of the true Nymphaea 

 Devoniensis growing in a tank built especially for the Victoria 

 regia. It was in the open air, and the Nymphaea received the 

 same treatment as would have been given to a Victoria, 

 namely, a large bed of very rich compost and artificial heat. 

 The plant attained great size, covering a space of twenty feet 

 in diameter, having leaves twenfy-five inches across, and 

 flowers of the breadth of twelve inches. I made no attempt 

 at hybridization with these flowers, nor can I remember grow- 

 ing any other plants in the vicinity to whose influence the new 

 variety can be traced. A seed-vessel was allowed to ripen, 

 and the next winter the seed from it was sown. Numerous 

 young plants were raised, and among them one, and one only, 

 appeared with leaves entirely distinct from the parent. This 

 proved to be a new variety, and from its immediate ancestry 

 it seems that it may be a reversion toward some prehistoric 

 type, or an evolution of a new one. The cup-shaped form of 

 the flower, the great breadth of the petals, the increased size 



