April 29, 1891. j 



Garden and Forest. 



197 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



Iris Robinsoniana. — The flowering of this plant at Kew is 

 an event of considerable interest to English horticulturists, to 

 whom its exceptional size and beauty were long since made 

 known by botanists, but its flowers have never before been 

 produced in England. It is larger in leaf and inflorescence 



The flower-spike is from five to six feet high, branched 

 above and producing from 120 to 200 blooms which expand 

 in slow succession, remaining open only a few hours. This 

 species is a native of Lord Howe's Island, where it was found 

 by Mr. Charles Moore, Director of the Botanic Gardens at 

 Sydney, when on a visit to that island in 1869. In his report he 

 stated : " A large Iridaceous plant, called the Wedding Flower, 

 was found sparingly in two or three situations. Of this seed 

 vessels only were obtained, but the flowers are described as 



F'ff* 35' — Aster Tarlaricus. — See page 196. 



than any other known Iris, the plant at Kew being seven feet 

 high and six feet through, the leaves eight feet long by four 

 inches in width, gracefully curved near the top and of a healthy 

 glaucous green ; they remain fresh on the plant several years. 

 This specimen is growing in a sunny, airy position in the 

 house where Agaves, Aloes, Dasylirions, etc., are grown, and 

 it is planted on a raised mound which is kept fairly saturated 

 by drip from a water-tap close by. It is about six years old. 



very beautiful. . . . In appearance it resembles a large 

 Morcea, but will probably prove a new genus." Bentham 

 described it under the name of Moraa Robinso7iiana in the 

 "Flora of Australia." The expanded flowerisabout fourinches 

 across, pure white, except at the base of the larger segments, 

 where there are some lines of golden yellow. 



It is remarkable that a solitary species of Iris should occur 

 in a small island off the east coast of Australia, thousands of 



