32 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



the pollen of the self-fertilised flowers. Radia- 

 tion would likewise be almost entirely pre- 

 vented by the net, and the dew would conse- 

 quently fail to fall on the anthers. The impor- 

 tance of this influence cannot be over-estimated. 

 In the mornings of early spring, after clear 

 and still nights, we have frequently found the 

 flowers of the Primrose bedrenched with dew. 

 Occasionally the dew deposited on the anthers 

 of the short-styled form has been so great as to 

 lie upon the anthers and entirely to fill the ori- 

 fice of the corolla. Thus the anthers of neither 

 form could attain under such conditions their 

 natural condition for fertilisation. The stigmas 

 would likewise be similarly affected, as the cups 

 of their flowers were likewise very frequently 

 filled with dew." 



As regards the other chapters of the book, 

 we regret we have not space to attempt to do 

 justice to the author's very clear and incisive 

 arguments, notably Chapters XX. -XXIII., in 

 which the Darwinian theory of a special rela- 

 tion between the stamens and pistils of the 

 same length in trimorphic flowers (different 

 flowers of the same species, in which there are 

 three different lengths of styles and stamens) is 

 shown to be untenable. 



BEAUTIFUL AND RARE TREES AND 

 PLANTS * 



We all know the many good things that come 

 from the North of Ireland, particularly the men 

 and women of that region, but at first sight it 

 might not seem to be a genial home for trees 

 and plants of warmer countries. Lord Annes- 

 ley, however, has made his picturesque and 

 beautiful home a very treasure house for lovers 

 of such things. No doubt the sea helps him, 

 as it always does by protecting with its friendly 

 mantle the things that grow near it. It is a 

 well-printed book, illustrated with the best 

 "process " cuts, giving an account of some of 

 the most beautiful hardy plants and shrubs in 

 cultivation, and the plates give an excellent idea 

 of their habit. Some of them are extremely rare, 

 others, like the Lawson's Cypress and Metake 

 Bamboo, are not so; the Poison "Ivy "com- 

 mon in American hedges, we should have pre- 

 ferred to see omitted, as it is not a rare plant. 



Dwarf forms of the Common Spruce are also 

 quite useless, and the same may be said of the 

 variegated forms of the Redwood and other 

 variegated conifers. The botanical names of 

 various authors are given fully in this book, but 

 we miss the English names. Amongst the rare 

 plants figured and described areLomatia pinna- 

 tifolia, a beautiful evergreen shrub, very diffi- 

 cult of propagation, but quitehardy andshown 

 as a fine bush. Eucryphia pinnatifolia, also diffi- 

 cult to raise except from seed, though the fine 

 plant at Castlewellan flowered in 1 901, and a 

 number of seedlings have been raised. A hand- 

 some shrub from New Zealand is Brac/iyg/ottis 

 repanda, with bold indented leaves 9 inches by 

 6 inches, pale green and white beneath, but, 

 being tender, it can only be used in the open 

 in mild districts. A fine evergreen Oak from 

 Japan [Quercus acuta) is well shown, also a very 

 large tree of Rhododendron arboreum, 30 feet 

 high and 1 30 feet round. Other scarce shrubs 

 are Daphniphy//um g/aucescens, an evergreen 

 from Japan ; Idesia polycarpa, a deciduous tree 

 from the same country, bearing on the female 

 plant pretty blue berries ; and Fagus cliffbrtio- 

 ides, a rare and graceful Beech from New Zea- 

 land, with small leaves giving fine colour effect 

 in spring. Several kinds of Pittosporum are also 

 noticed, including the dainty P. Co/ensoi, which 

 is quite hardy at Castlewellan. Thunberg's 

 Vine (Vitis Thunbergii) is also figured. 



Much of the book is devoted to conifers, 

 and amongst the rarest of these are Glyptostrobus 

 heterophyllus 5 feet high, and perhaps the rarest 

 conifer in British gardens ; a fine Abies brac- 

 teata, rare even in its native country of Cali- 

 fornia ; and the beautiful Pinus Montezuma of 

 Mexico, which is only hardy in such favoured 

 spots as this. Some other kinds which rarely 

 do well, such as the Japanese Umbrella Pine 

 [Sciadopitys vertici/Iata) and Juniper us recurva 

 are finely shown, and Fitzroyapatagonica, a rare 

 and slow-growing tree of deep green colour 

 from the extreme of South America. The 

 volume concludes with a list of plants proved 

 hardy at Castlewellan, which is of interest to 

 planters as showing the wonderful adaptability 

 of many plants to careful experiment such as 

 that carried on by the author. 



" Beautiful and Rare Trees and Plants," by Earl Annesley. Illustrated. 



New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 



Country Life, Tavistock Street, W.C. 



