February ii, 1S91.] 



Garden and Forest. 



65 



Fig. 14. — Clethra alnifolia, var. tomentosa. — See page 64. 



The question naturally arises, How is it that so few good plants 

 are introduced now, compared with the rich harvest each year 

 brought, say, in Dr. Lindley's time or even later? Have nur- 

 serymen and others interested discovered that more can be 

 made out of the material already at hand by cross-breeding, 

 selection, etc., than out of new introductions ? It cannot be 

 that the ground is exhausted ; that everything worth having 



has been secured. There are scores, 

 one may safely say hundreds, of 

 beautiful plants known to botanists 

 which have never yet been seen in 

 the garden. China, upper Burma, 

 New Guinea, Madagascar, Africa 

 and South America teem with good 

 garden-plants of all kinds. Even 

 ground already beaten over by col- 

 lectors contains many beautiful 

 plants unknown in horticulture, 

 while among early introductions, 

 which have since disappeared from 

 gardens, there are a great number 

 of first-rate things. 



Of course we have an enormous 

 number of beautiful plants in every 

 department of the garden, and, as 

 many would say, more than suffi- 

 cient for our needs. Yet a new in- 

 troduction of sterling merit is cer- 

 tain to find general favor, and while 

 we all love old favorites we are all 

 of us always ready to welcome 

 new friends. 



Orchids. — Perhaps the most in- 

 teresting new Orchid of 1890 is 

 Moorea irrorata, a new genus, which 

 flowered at Glasnevin, and is named 

 in compliment to the Curator, Mr. 

 Moore. It is allied to Houlletia, has 

 a spike eighteen niches long, bear- 

 ing a dozen fleshy flowers, two 

 inches across, and colored rich red- 

 dish brown. Unfortunately, Mr. 

 Moore's plant is unique, and we do 

 not even know of what country it 

 is a native. Dendrobittm Macfar- 

 lanei, introduced and flowered by 

 Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, is beauti- 

 ful in flower, but it comes from New 

 Guinea, and, like almost all the Den- 

 drobiums from that region, it is, 

 unfortunately, too difficult to man- 

 age to ever find general favor. 

 Among Cattleyas the only new in- 

 troductions of note are C. Wa- 

 rocqueana, C. Lindeni and C. Rex, 

 of the Messrs. Linden. The first- 

 named is an improved C. Gaskelli- 

 ana, the second a good C. labiata, 

 and the third not unlike the white 

 C. aurea, known as C. Imschootiana. 

 Cymbidium Traceyanum is a big- 

 flowered C. Hookerianum, the older 

 name for which is C. grandiflorum. 

 Three new Sobralias, named S. 

 Loivii, S. Sandera and S. Wilsoni, 

 differ only slightly in color from 

 species already known in gardens. 

 There are only two newly intro- 

 duced Cypripediums — C. Schom- 

 burgkii and C. Siamensis — and 

 these are scarcely more than bo- 

 tanical curiosities. The same may 

 be said of the seven new species of 

 Masdevallia. This genus is attract- 

 ing an unusual amount of attention 

 just now, as is shown by the fact 

 that more new species have been 

 introduced lately than of any other 

 genus of Orchids. The pick of the 

 lot is M. Lowii, which has the habit 

 of M. Chimcera, tailed flowers, three 

 inches across, and white with pur- 

 ple spots. 



Varieties of species already estab- 

 lished in gardens continue to appear 

 among the numerous plants an- 

 nually imported, and some of these are valuable. Cattleyas 

 have produced C. Lawrenciana, var. Vinckii, with flowers of 

 a decided bluish or magenta hue ; C. aurea, var. Imschootiana, 

 with white sepals and petals and a richly colored lip ; C. granu- 

 losa, var. Buyssoniana, with white sepals and petals. Lselia 

 have revealed several excellent varieties, particularly in L. 

 prastans alba and L. elegans Broomeana. 



