270 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 172. 



New Orchids. 



Cypripedium x Dauthieri, var. Poggio Gherardo, Ross, 

 is a very pale form of Cypripedium Dauthieri, in which the 

 purple-brown of the upper sepal is confined to its lower half, 

 the upper part being green with a white border ; the petals and 

 lip are also paler than usual. It appeared in the collection of 

 Signor H. G. Ross, of Florence, Italy. — Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 April 4th, p. 426. 



Cycnoches Rossianum, Rolfe. — This is a very interesting 

 species of this sportive genus, which has flowered in the col- 

 lection of Signor H. G. Ross, of Florence, on several occasions. 

 In 1889 male and female flowers were produced on either side 

 of the same pseudo-bulb, though on other occasions the males 

 only appeared. The male racemes are pendulous, long and 

 slender, with somewhat distant flowers, which are heavily 

 barred with reddish brown, on a yellowish green ground. The 

 female flower was erect and solitary, much larger and wholly 

 green. It was purchased as C. Warscewiczii, which, however, 

 is quite distinct, having very much denser male racemes of 

 wholly green flowers. This makes, at least, the fifth species 

 of which both sexes are known. — Gardeners' Chronicle, April 

 nth, p. 456. 



Masdevallia Rolfeana, Kranzlin, is a pretty species, said 

 to be allied to M. velifera, Rchb. f., which flowered in the col- 

 lection of Messrs. F. Sander & Co., of St. Albans, during last 

 July. The flowers are of a rich chocolate-brown, except the 

 base of the tube, which is honey-colored ; their length is two 

 and a half inches, of which more than half belongs to the tails. 

 Its native country is not recorded. — Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 April 1 8th, p. 488. 



Odontoglossum x dellense, O'Brien, is a pretty form of 

 0. X excellens, in which the sepals and petals are more spotted 

 than usual. It appeared in the collection of Baron Schroder, 

 of The Dell, Egham. The variability of O. x excellens is now 

 very well known. 0. Pescatorei and 0. prcenitens are given 

 as the supposed parents of the present plant, but after com- 

 paring an authentic flower with Botanical Magazine, t. 6229, I 

 am quite satisfied that 0. triumphans, and not 0. prcenitens, 

 is the other parent. The lip of the last-named rare species is 

 quite distinct in character. — Gardeners' Chronicle, April 25th, 

 p. 521. 



Masdevallia macrochila, Regel. — This is figured and 

 described as a new species, allied to M. bella, Rchb., f. It 

 appears to me identical with M. Chestertoni, Rchb.,f., a species 

 discovered by Chesterton in New Granada, and imported by 

 Messrs. F. Sander & Co., of St. Albans. The present plant 

 has the perianth somewhat less spotted than the form figured 

 in the Botanical Magazine, t. 6977, but the species is variable 

 in this respect. — Gartenflora, xl., p. 170, t. 1344, figs. 4 and 5. 



Stanhopea graveolens, var. Lietzei, Regel, is a pale yel- 

 low form of this somewhat variable species, with the front 

 lobe of the lip densely spotted with reddish brown, and a 

 narrow orange band round the hypochile. It is said to have 

 been imported from Brazil. — Gartenflora, xl., p. 201, t. 1345. 



Kew. R. A. Rolfe. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. , 



ENGLISH horticulture has risen to the dignity of possessing 

 a " Worshipful Company of Gardeners," a kind of City 

 Guild which has been " resurrected" in the hope that it may 

 be able to afford some assistance to gardening in this country. 

 It has begun to do something by proposing " to make provi- 

 sion for the due and proper teaching of the technique of the 

 craft, and to examine and issue certificates of efficiency to the 

 craftsmen." How this is to be done has not been divulged. 

 The "technique of the craft" can only be taught by actual ex- 

 perience in good gardens. There is no sure and certain road 

 to success in horticulture through the lecture-room, and ex- 

 aminations, as generally conducted, often place the theorist 

 and mere paper man in front of the practical and genuine 

 gardener. A man must begin at the potting bench and wheel- 

 barrow and work right through the whole if he wants to have 

 a real grip of the technique of good horticulture. 



Cape Bulbs. — A lecture on these plants was recently given 

 at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society by Mr. James 

 O'Brien, whose knowledge of and skill in growing them is ex- 

 ceptional. The lecture was devoted chiefly to cultural matters, 

 such as temperatures, resting seasons, soils and water. Many 

 cultivators are apt to overdo the more delicate Cape Bulbs in 

 the matter of water and temperature. It is true that in Eng- 

 land the climate is not such as to render the cultivation of 



Cape plants an easy matter, but there are, nevertheless, means 

 by which it is possible to grow most of them. In America, no 

 doubt, you would do Cape plants better and easier than we do, 

 as you have more sunlight in winter and hotter summers than 

 we have here. Cape Crinums, Haemanthus, Nerines, Cyrtan- 

 thus and many similar plants would be splendid garden-plants 

 in lands where there is plenty of sunlight and hot summers. 

 The most beautiful and varied of bulbous plants are found at 

 the Cape, but we do not pay very much attention to them in 

 England. Cape plants are almost certain to be introduced 

 again in quantity in consequence of the recent rush of English- 

 men to that part of Africa, so that there is some hope that 

 many more beautiful and useful additions may be made to 

 the few Cape Bulbs we have already. A few Crinums, Vallota, 

 Nerines, Lachenalias, Ixias, Sparaxis, Freesia and A?naryllis 

 belladonna are the pick of these, but they are only a modicum 

 of what is known to be good among the bulbous plants of that 

 region. Gladiolus, Watsonia, Cyrtanthus, Crinum, may be in- 

 dicated as genera of which the few known in cultivation are 

 only a small fraction of what are known to botanists. Only 

 last year three new and very beautiful species of Gladiolus and 

 one of Cyrtanthus were added to the cultivated collections at 

 Kew, where their distinctness at once attracted the attention 

 of specialists. 



Gesneriads. — The Belgians can teach us how to grow these 

 plants. In the nurseries of Monsieur Louis Van Houtte one 

 may see house after house filled with beautiful examples 

 representing scores of different genera, such as Gesneria, 

 Dicyata, Ligeria, Naegelia, Tydcea, etc. The bright colors and 

 great variety of the flowers of all these plants are charming, 

 and they are so easily cultivated that beginners can grow them 

 quite successfully. Monsieur Van Houtte says : " From July 

 to October our houses are filled with every kind of Gesneriad 

 in flower. They are mostly the result of hybridization in our 

 nursery. Their colors are bright and charming, and, without 

 exaggeration, they may be said to include all the colors of the 

 rainbow." 



I am indebted to Monsieur Van Houtte's manager, Monsieur 

 Eckhaut, for the following details of cultivation as practiced 

 by him : 



Plant all the tubers in small pots on March 15th in light 

 soil. Give little water at first, and keep the temperature of 

 the house at about seventy degrees. In about a fortnight 

 plunge the pots in a hot-bed of about eighty degrees, and in 

 six weeks from the time of starting the plants should be re- 

 potted into three-inch pots. This time use a compost of rot- 

 ten horse-dung or cow-manure, two parts, and one part of 

 peat or leaf-mold, with a good sprinkling of silver sand. " But 

 don't be afraid of manure, for these plants revel in it." Give 

 them a temperature of seventy-five degrees now and plenty of 

 water. Repot again in a month, and, after plants are estab- 

 lished, give plenty of sun and air. 



I have seen these plants as grown by Monsieur Van Houtte, 

 and very charming they are. 



Anthurium Scherzerianum. — I recently saw in the garden 

 of Monsieur Warocque, Mariemont, near Brussels, a magnifi- 

 cent group of large specimen plants of this Anthurium. Each 

 plant was a yard or more in diameter, and bore from thirty to 

 sixty flowers. They were all of the very best varieties, the 

 spathes being exceptionally large and banner-like, and rich in 

 color. The plants entirely filled a large lean-to house. The 

 value of this Anthurium was never more abundantly demon- 

 strated, for the house itself was a beautiful picture ; the flowers 

 are of the very best for room-decoration, as they remain fresh 

 several weeks when cut and placed in water. Would not this 

 plant be a good subject for the grower of -flowers in quantity 

 for market ? It is easily managed, it blooms freely and regu- 

 larly every year, and its flowers have sufficient brightness of 

 color and singularity of form to recommend them to every one. 



Cacti. — These plants have hitherto been so neglected by 

 English horticulturists that they are scarcely ever seen except in 

 botanical gardens. There is, however, a prospect of their be- 

 coming popular again, as several of the London nurserymen 

 have begun to grow them, and one firm — namely, Messrs. 

 Carter & Co., the well-known seed merchants — have issued an 

 illustrated catalogue of the most striking species. Meanwhile, 

 in Germany, Cacti have become so popular that a monthly 

 journal is to be devoted entirely to them, under the title of 

 Monatsschrift fur Kaktunkundi. It is edited by Paul Arendt, 

 and issued from Berlin, and every number contains an original 

 drawing of a Cactus. The first number contains articles upon 

 1. Cacti at Exhibitions ; 2. Watering Cacti ; 3. Mamillaria longi- 

 mamma and M. uberiformis ; 4. Echenocactus contractus, with 

 illustration; 5. Soils for Cacti; 6. How and Why Cacti are 

 Grafted ; 7. Notes on Cacti. 



