HARDY CYCLAMEN. 



169 



to grow, by which he meant that there were plenty of people to 

 be found who would go into raptures over a well-grown specimen, 

 but very few who would take the trouble to grow such a specimen. 

 He agreed in the main with the remarks of Mr. Walker, and 

 believed a great deal in the spiral form of the seed-vessels, and 

 the way in which nature had provided for the plants taking care 

 of themselves so as not to become too dry. As to hybridising 

 C. persicum with C. Couvi, he believed this was as far off as 

 ever, owing perhaps to just a slight difference in the size of 

 pollen grains, for which we cannot account. As to humidity, the 

 plants liked it at one period of their existence, namely, when they 

 are young, but not at another — when they are old. A tempera- 

 ture of 70° Fahr. had been recommended as suitable ; but 

 Mr. Martin preferred a cooler one of 50°, so as to allow the seeds 

 to germinate more slowly, and thus have sufficient time to absorb 

 the nourishment required for a later stage in their growth. As 

 to the length of time seed could be kept without any deterioration, 

 Mr. Martin said he had kept some Cyclamen seed for ten or 

 twelve years, and he found that it germinated as freely as seed 

 that was fresh. He had seen many people trying to grow 

 Cyclamen, but the number who were successful might be counted 

 on the fingers of one hand. Cyclamen are the first plants a man 

 will attempt to grow, and they are also the first he will leave off 

 growing. When Mr. Paul said they were lime-loving plants, he 

 "hit the right nail on the head." To be successful with 

 Cyclamen, lime must in some form or other be introduced into 

 the soil. 



THE GERMINATION OF CYCLAMEN. 



Dr. Maxwell T. Masters, F.R.S., has kindly drawn our atten- 

 tion to the following interesting remarks from his pen which 

 appeared in the Gardeners' Chronicle in November 1887, p. 596: 

 The ordinary mode of germination in Cyclamens differs from 

 that of Dicotyledons in general, and has, moreover, been 

 differently interpreted by different observers. Gaertner and his 

 son,* as well as Treviranus,f describe the germination as taking 

 place thus : — The radicle is first of all protruded, its upper 

 portion (or more properly speaking the caulicle) becoming dilated 

 * Gacrtn. Fruct., 3, 25, t. 183 k. f Sijmbol Phytol, 86. 



C 



