NINETEENTH CENTURY 287 



to all. The Botanical Society of London was incorporated 

 in 1839. That part of the grounds devoted to the illustration 

 of the Natural Orders was arranged by James de Carle Sowerby 

 (son of the author of the fine work on English Botany), then 

 Secretary to the Society, assisted by Dr. Frederick Farre and 

 others. The ornamental part, designed by Marnoch, became a 

 fashionable resort in the sixties. The first show for spring 

 flowers was held there in 1862, and for many years this Society's 

 " Floral Fetes " were extremely popular. 



The names given to florists' varieties are often justly com- 

 plained of. Although " a rose with any other name would 

 smell as sweet," it is not poetical to have to refer to one of 

 the most charming of the tribe as " William Allen Richard- 

 son." Yet the names are in themselves very often a kind 

 of history. No one will deny that the finder of a new species 

 should be remembered, even though it involves such a combina- 

 tion as Lilium Maximowiczi, so it is only just that the producer 

 of a florists' flower, whether an amateur, a firm, or a head- 

 gardener, should be privileged to have their triumphs com- 

 memorated. Thus such names for roses as " Dean Hole " 

 or " Paul's carmine pillar," Gladiolus Brenchleyensis, 1 or 

 " Gilbert's green flesh melon," must be tolerated. Nursery- 

 men who for a number of years have been devoted to the 

 improvement of a particular flower, have played such a part 

 in that plant's history that their names deserve record. More 

 Rhododendrons, for instance, are due to the firm of Waterer 

 than to anyone else, and they will be kept in remembrance 

 by one of their own hybrids, " Anthony Waterer." Barr, in 

 the same way, who has done much to improve daffodils, will 

 not be forgotten where Narcissus Barrii is planted, and so on. 

 The names of celebrities of the day attached to a flower will 

 often serve to date its appearance. The " Jenny Lind " 

 picotee and the " Cerito " cineraria came out in 1848 ; the 

 Henry Irving Daffodil and the " Lord Roberts " geranium, 

 it is obvious, must have appeared about fifty years later. 



In the early days of showing plants and bringing out of florists' 

 varieties much difficulty was often experienced by growers 



1 Gladiolus Brenchleyensis, a cross between Psittacinus floribundus, 

 raised by Mr. Hooker, Brenchley, Kent (Midland Florist, 1848). 



