August 5, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



365 



some parts of this country, although not the coldest, the winds, 

 which are generally most unpleasant on account of their 

 strength and prevalence, are the west and south-westerly 

 ones. From these some shelter is most desirable, but as, on 

 the other hand, the afternoon sun shines from this direction, 

 some discrimination is necessary that in cutting off the effects 

 of the wind the sun is not excluded as well. There is no rea- 

 son, however, why the advantage of both should not be gained, 

 as by the suitable arrangement and selection of subjects 

 there need be no great difficulty in the matter. — The Garden 

 (London). 



New or Little-known Plants. 



New Orchids. 



Odontoglossum X EXCELLENS, Rchb. f. — It is interesting to 

 observe that the parentage of this handsome natural hybrid 

 has now been proved. Mr. Seden, the well-known hybridist 

 of the firm of Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, has 

 obtained it by crossing 0. Pescatorei with the pollen of 0. tri- 

 umphant, the plant having flowered for the first time during 

 May of the present year. — Gardeners' Chronicle, June 20th, 



p. 754- 



Zygopetalum guttatum, Rchb. f. — This long-lost species 

 has apparently reappeared, a specimen having been sent to 

 Kew for identification by Mr. J. O'Brien, of Harrow-on-the- 

 Hill, which, although not quite identical with the original form, 

 still appears to belong to the same species. It belongs to the 

 section Promenoea, and bears much resemblance to the elegant 

 little Z. xanthinum, with which it grows, as both appeared out 

 of the same clump of plants. The flowers are light yellow, the 

 sepals and petals with numerous light brown spots, the base of 

 the column dark purple, and the basal half of the lip marked 

 with the same color. — Gardeners' Chronicle, June 27th, p. 784. 



Odontoglossum X Leroyanum, Castle. — This interesting 

 hybrid, in reality a variety of 0. x Wilckeanum, and proves 

 the parentage so long suspected, was raised by Monsieur 

 Leroy in the collection of Baron Edward de Rothschild, of 

 Armainvilliers, near Paris, by crossing 0. crispum with the 

 pollen of 0. luteopurpurcum. There is an excellent colored 

 plate in the April number of & Orchidophile, p. 112. 



Aeranthus brachycentron, Regel. — A species said to have 

 been imported by Messrs. F. Sander & Co., of St. Albans, 

 probably from the Comoro Islands, and received at the St. Pe- 

 tersburg Botanic Garden as A. Grandidierianus, Rchb. f., 

 which, however, is quite different. I do not see any character 

 by which the supposed novelty can be distinguished from 

 A'eranthes (not Aeranthus) grandiflorus, Lindl., with which I 

 believe it to be synonymous. — Gartenflora, xl., pp. 323, 324, 



Kew. ' R- A. Rolfe. 



Plant Notes. 

 Some Recent Portraits. 



The July issue of the Botanical Magazine will not, from the 

 nature of the plants figured, be found as interesting, per- 

 haps, as usual to horticulturists. It contains portraits of 

 . Musa Basjoo (t. 7182), a species which has the habit and gen- 

 eral characters of the common M. sapientum, although differ- 

 ing from all other cultivated Plantains and Bananas in struc- 

 tural details. This plant, which was introduced into England 

 from Japan by the Messrs. Veitch, in whose nursery at 

 Coombe Wood it stood in the open ground for a number of 

 years, is supposed to be a native of the Liu-kiu Archipelago, 

 a group of islands which stretches from Japan nearly to For- 

 mosa, and to be the plant cultivated in southern Japan for the 

 fibre yielded by its leaves ; Hibiscus venustus (t. 7183) is de- 

 scribed as a magnificent species whose native country is 

 doubtful, it having first been made known from a plant cultivated 

 in Java. The portrait is from a specimen grown in England, 

 and supposed 10 have been procured from the island of Tahiti. 

 H. venustus is a large shrub clothed with short, close pubes- 

 cence, stout branches, large, nearly orbicular, deeply lobed 

 leaves, and pale yellow inclined flowers three inches in diam- 

 eter ; Synadenium' arboresccns (t. 7184), a Euphorbiaceous 

 shrub of Natal, rather curious than beautiful ; Masdevallia 

 platyglossa (t. 7185), a small and very inconspicuously flowered 

 species of no more garden value than many others of this now 

 popular genus. The leaves are three or four inches long, 

 oblong or elliptical-lanceolate, acute and coriaceous. The 

 flower-stems are as long or longer than the leaves, and are 

 pendulous, as thick as crow-quills, sheathed with pale green- 

 ish yellow sheaths and bear pale yellow flowers streaked 



bright red on the ovary ; Stenoglottis longifolia (t. 7186), a ter- 

 restrial Orchid from Natal, with lilac-purple flowers. The 

 genus to which it belongs has hitherto been represented by a 

 single species, the S. fimbriata of Lindley, also a native of 

 Natal, and distinguished from the present plant by its shorter 

 oblong leaves, narrowed at the base and blotched with black, 

 a slender scape, and fewer and smaller flowers. 



A beautiful colored plate of Nepeta Mussini is published in 

 the 1st of July number of the Revue Horticole, accompanied 

 by a note from the pen of Monsieur Andre\ who recommends 

 this small Caucasian Labiate as an admirable subject to grow 

 in the rock garden in sunny and exposed situations. Like the 

 other species of the genus, the whole plant possesses a strong 

 and aromatic odor. The flowers, which are light blue and 

 contrast pleasantly with the pale puberulous foliage, appear 

 from May to July in the neighborhood of Paris. If the flower- 

 stalks are removed, the plants will produce another crop of 

 flowers toward autumn. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle of July 4th contains two figures of 

 Acer Vloxemi, a fine Maple discovered by Mr. Jean Van 

 Vloxem in the Caucasus, and heretofore generally believed to 

 be merely a form of A. Pseudo-Platanus, although Dr. Masters, 

 in whose garden it has been growing for a number of years, 

 has always considered it distinct from that species. His idea 

 is now confirmed by the character of the inflorescence, which 

 has been produced in Mr. Van Vloxem's garden, and which, 

 instead of being racemose and pendulous, is erect and corym- 

 bose, with glabrous filaments. Whether this handsome tree, 

 which is remarkable for its robust and rapid growth and for 

 the silvery whiteness of the under surface of the leaves, is dis- 

 tinct from A. insigne of Boissier, is a question which Dr. Mas- 

 ters promises to discuss in connection with the figure of this 

 last species, which is to appear, he tells us, in an early issue of 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle. Whether A. Vloxemi is a distinct 

 species or not, it is certainly a beautiful and distinct plant from 

 the horticultural point of view, and well worth growing 

 wherever the climate suits it. 



Cultural Department. 



Stray Notes from the Arnold Arboretum. — VII. j 



"\1TE are accustomed to think of the fruits of ornamental 

 ^ * trees and shrubs as if they belonged to the autumn or to 

 the winter, and do not always remember that some of the most 

 beautiful of them ripen in summer, and so do not always suffi- 

 ciently consider shrubs from this point of view in studying the 

 composition of our shrubberies. Many shrubs, however, are bet- 

 ter worth cultivating for the display of fruit they can make than 

 for the flowers which cover their branches earlier in the year. 

 The earliest hardy shrub which makes any great show of 

 fruit in this climate is the Mezereum (Daphne Mezereum). This 

 is a small plant which belongs to the colder parts of Europe 

 and Asia, and is so hardy that it is able to grow on the borders 

 of the Arctic region itself. The flowers are pink or sometimes 

 white, and they appear (by the middle of April in this climate) 

 in little clusters, which cover the stems formed during the 

 previous summer. One of these plants in flower is a bright 

 and beautiful object, and it is all the more beautiful because 

 the flowers open very early in the season, sometimes before the 

 snow has disappeared and when flowers are scarce, and there- 

 fore more valuable than they are a week or two later. But 

 this plant is more beautiful two months later, when the large 

 bright red, lustrous fruit ripens. This quite covers the branches, 

 and makes a fine contrast to the dark green leaves. It is a 

 hardy and beautiful little plant, which has been cultivated in 

 European gardens for three centuries at least, and yet we 

 rarely find it in those of this country. There is no better 

 plant for a small garden, especially for the garden of the 

 man who, like many Americans, is away from home during 

 the summer months and wants his garden attractive before 

 the hot weather drives him to the sea-shore or to the moun- 

 tains. Now, a plant like D. Mezereum, which does its work 

 for the year between the first of April and the first of July, 

 showing all its beauty during these few weeks, is the plant of 

 all others for the spring garden. It is hardy ; it flowers every 

 year ; it is not very particular about soil or exposure, and it 

 only grows two feet high. These would seem to be qualities 

 which would make a plant popular ; and it is remarkable 

 that florists and small nurserymen, who make a business of 

 supplying plants for the door-yards and small gardens of our 

 cities and their suburbs, have not yet got hold of the Mezereum. 

 Perhaps it is because it takes some time to make a plant 

 large enough to sell, as the Mezereum cannot be struck from 

 soft-wood cuttings like Hydrangeas, Spirasas, and other coarse- 



