494 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 355. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



ORCHIDS and Chrysanthemums are the principal at- 

 tractions in the indoor garden at this time of year. 

 Outside there is nothing except berries of various kinds, a 

 few late autumn-tinted leaves and here and there a strag- 

 gling Rose or Chrysanthemum. There is, however, one 

 shrub of exceptional interest now, namely, Pernettya mu- 

 cronata, and its varieties. We have two large beds of them 

 in a conspicuous place on a lawn, and they are now heavily 

 laden with berries of the most vivid colors — crimson, ma- 

 genta, red, pink, violet, china blue and creamy white. This 

 year they are better than I have ever seen them at Kew. 

 Some well-berried branches of them were exhibited last 

 week and they attracted a good deal of attention. 



In my last letter I noted the best of the Chrysanthemums 

 shown at the Drill Hall. In this I will describe some of 

 the best of the Orchids which formed a feature at the same 

 meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society : 



Epil.elia Hardyana. — A bigeneric hybrid was shown un- 

 der this name last week by Messrs. Sander & Co., who have 

 raised it from Lselia anceps crossed with Epidendrum 

 ciliare. It will have an interest for systematic botanists, as 

 it proves the near relationship of Epidendrum to Laelia, and, 

 of course, toCattleya also. Indeed, Reichenbach did once 

 merge Cattleya in Epidendrum. The present subdivision 

 has its advantages horticulturally, but it is as well that we 

 should recognize the fact of the near consanguinity of 

 Laelia to Epidendrum. Asa garden Orchid, Messrs. Sanders' 

 new hybrid is no great gain. It is more attractive than the 

 Epidendrum, less so than the Lselia The pseudo-bulbs 

 are cylindrical, two-leaved, and the scape is erect, six 

 inches long, with two flowers, each four inches across and 

 formed of narrow spreading segments colored pale rose, 

 with a tinge of buff. The lip is pale rose and folded over 

 the column with a small wavy front lobe colored rich ame- 

 thyst-purple. 



Oncidium Wheatleyanum. — This new species was de- 

 scribed in The Garden last year by the late Mr. W. H. 

 Gower from a plant flowered by Mr. F. Wheatley, of Teign- 

 mouth, who had purchased it for Oncidium Gardneri. Last 

 week Mr. Wheatley sent it to the meeting of the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society, where it was recognized as a distinct and 

 beautiful Orchid, in the way of O. Gardneri. In general 

 characters it resembles the last named species ; the flowers, 

 of which there are about thirty thickly set upon the spike, 

 are each nearly two inches across, with ovate sepals, obo- 

 vate wavy petals and a broad bilobed lip. The sepals and 

 petals are colored a uniform bright chocolate-crimson ; the 

 lip is golden, yellow margined with crimson, and there is a 

 large blotch of velvety maroon spreading over the whole 

 claw, the basal auricles being yellow. It is to be hoped 

 that collectors will be able to find this plant in quantity, as 

 it is a beautiful Oncidium, quite as beautiful as the rare 

 O. Gardneri, which was first introduced from the Organ 

 Mountains in 1846. 



Catasetum Bungerothii. — The range of variation in this 

 species is extraordinary. It is one of the largest-flowered 

 and one of the handsomest of the many species of Catase- 

 tum now known, and since its introduction, some ten years 

 ago, it has been the means of turning the attention of cul- 

 tivators and collectors to this remarkable and interesting, 

 but previously neglected, genus. Messrs. Linden, who 

 have already figured and described in Lindenia several 

 well marked varieties of it, exhibited in London last week 

 a group of splendidly flowered specimens which was truly 

 astonishing to connoisseurs. Fully a dozen distinct forms 

 were represented from the type, with its large, shell-like, 

 creamy yellow lip three inches across, to others which in 

 structure suggested the old C. macrocarpum. There were 

 white, yellow, purple-tinged, red-spotted, green-tinged 

 flowers among them, and some of the spikes bore a dozen 

 flowers. The pick of them were named Lindeni, splendens 



regale, Luciani, aurantiacum and O'Brienianum. The spe- 

 cies is a native of Venezuela. 



Cymbidium cyperifolium. — A plant of this rare species was 

 shown in flower last week by Mr. R. I. Measures, and 

 obtained an award of merit. It is an ally of C. longifo- 

 lium, and is characterized by linear, arching, bright green 

 leaves two feet long, and a scape eighteen inches long 

 bearing five flowers, each three inches across, with curved 

 sepals and petals colored pale green, with red-brown lines, 

 the lip being ivory-white, with dark crimson spots on the 

 front lobe, and crimson parallel lines on the inside of the 

 side lobes. Although described many years ago by Wal- 

 lich, and apparently common in the subtropical regions of 

 the Himalaya, it has somehow been missed by collectors, 

 the only plant I remember of having ever seen being one 

 at St. Albans a few years ago. Possibly this is the same 

 plant. It is an Orchid worth popularizing, being elegant 

 in foliage as well as attractive in flower, and it will, no 

 doubt, be as easy to cultivate as its useful, good-natured 

 relation, C. Lowianum, etc 



Cattleya labiata elegans. — This is a distinct addition to 

 the numerous named varieties of this Cattleya. It has 

 flowers of medium size, good in substance, ivory-white, 

 with a dark purple lip margined with white. In effect it is 

 not unlike the charming C. Rex. It was shown last week 

 by a Cheshire amateur. There are many thousands of 

 plants of C. labiata in flower now in the neighborhood of 

 London alone. At Clapton, St. Albans and Chelsea the 

 display made by its large richly colored blooms is a sight 

 that would astonish Orchid-growers of a decade ago, whose 

 houses in November were almost devoid of flowers. This 

 Cattleya tills a large gap in the cooler houses, while in the 

 warm house the queenly Dendrobium Phalaenopsis plays 

 an equally valuable part. These two Orchids should be in 

 every garden where there are glass houses, whether 

 Orchids generally are in favor or not. 



Odontoglossum crispum F. Masereel. — Flowers of this 

 extraordinary variety were shown last week in London by 

 Messrs. Vervaet & Co., Ghent, and easily obtained a first- 

 class certificate. It differs from all other named forms of 

 this most variable Orchid in the color of its flowers, which 

 have a groundwork of gray-white covered all over with 

 large blotches of chocolate-red. The edges of the seg- 

 ments are very crisp, and there is a conspicuous blotch of 

 yellow on the disk of the labellum. It is one of those 

 Orchids which sell for sensational prices whenever they 

 come into the market. 



Pescatoreas. — Messrs. F. Sander & Co. are exceptionally 

 successful in the cultivation of these plants, and they have 

 a good collection of them in flower now, Pescatorea Dayana, 

 P. Lehmanni and P. Klabochorum among them. The se- 

 cret of their success is, so the cultivator told me, a shaded 

 position in a hot moist stove, looseness at the roots, which 

 revel in fresh sphagnum, and plenty of water always. 

 " Water, water, water ; that is the chief thing." 



London. W. WaiSOtl. 



Plant Notes. 



The Garry Oak. 



THIS Oak, Quercus Garryana, is a native of the Pacific 

 slope, and reaches its greatest perfection in Oregon 

 and Washington. It ranges through a wide territory, from 

 the dry hillsides of the Cascade region, where it becomes 

 more or less scrubby, to the wet bottom lands of the region 

 to the west. 



The tree varies widely in form and habit, and the illus- 

 tration (see page 495) shows what may be regarded as a 

 good type, although there may be room for difference of 

 opinion as to this. One frequently finds specimens, 

 grown out in the open for a long time, with a very sym- 

 metrical, rounded form. But if, after arriving at a good 

 age, a growth of Douglas Spruce springs up, the lower 

 branches, being robbed of the light, will die and rot, leav- 



