6i8 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



September 24, l898 . 



New Plants, Flowers, and Fruits. 



L^ELIA SPLENDENS. 



A charming hybrid, obtained by crossing L. crispa and L. purpurata, and one 

 in which the former species is very evident. The sepals are narrow, with reflexed 

 margins, pale rose ; petals broad, prettily waved and crisped, also pale rose. Lip 

 long, pure white along the tubular portion, creamy in the throat ; front lobe very 

 long and spreading, deep violet purple with pale wire-edge margin. A.M., 

 R.H.S., September 20. Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, Chelsea. 



Cattleya intertexta. 



A bold and beautiful orchid, obtained by inter-crossing C. Warneri and C. 

 Mossice. The flowers are about seven inches across ; the sepals are narrow and 

 flattened at their apices, rose-purple ; petals broad, somewhat waved at the 

 margins, rose-purple with deeper veins. Lip very fine, two inches wide, and of 

 an intense violet-purple hue stained with crimson-purple and margined with rose. 

 A.M., R.II.S , September 20. Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, Chelsea. 



MlLTONIA BlNOTI. 



A pretty but not very showy miltonia, free-flowering, and of neat habit ; the 

 flowers are about two inches across, sepals and petals buff, with a large and 

 irregular rufous brown area on each ; the bases are stained with rose. The 

 broad and flattened lip is deep rose, shading to paler rose at the apex. This 

 orchid is supposed to be a natural hybrid between M. Candida and M. Regnelli 

 purpurea. A.M., R.H.S., September 20. Mr. W. White, orchid grower to Sir 

 Trevor Lawrence, Bart., Dorking. 



Miltonia leucoglossa. 



A very pretty white-lipped miltonia with flowers over two inches across. The 

 sepals and petals are almost equal, and spreading, creamy or greenish, with a 

 cluster of deep purplish rose spots at their centres. The spreading lip is pure 

 white, save for the rose and red stain near the creamy disc. A.M., R.H.S., 

 September 20. Mr. W. H, White, orchid grower to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., 

 Dorking. 



Dahlias. 



Vicountess Sherbrooke is a bold and handsome cactus dahlia of good form, 

 colour clear and bright orange. A.M., R.H.S., September 20. Messrs. Keynes, 

 Williams, and Co., Salisbury. 



The Clown. This reminds one of Arachne in its colouring of white and scarlet, 

 but it has broader segments, is bolder and of better habit. A.M., R.H.S., 

 September 20. Messrs. Keynes, Williams, and Co., Salisbury. 



Countess of Lonsdale is a charming cactus dahlia with very spiky segments that 



are of a soft rosy-scarlet, a colour that is not far removed from deep salmon. A. M. , 



R. H. S., September 20. Messrs. Keynes, Williams, and Co. 



Progenitor is probably the first of a new race ; it is a cactus form of the 



brightest scarlet colour ; segments long and broad and much divided at the apex 



into a sort of elk's horn arrangement that gives the flower a most distinct and 



pretty appearance. The variety is not likely to be sent out for another year or 



so. A.M., R.II.S., September 20. Messrs. Keynes, Williams, and Co. 



The Duke is a most compact and neat pompon variety of a very bright 



crimson colour. A.M., R.H.S., September 20. Messrs. Keynes, Williams, 

 and Co. 



William Neat is a good self show variety of a curious reddish terra-cotta 



colour. A.M.^ R.II.S. , September 20. Messrs. Keynes, Williams, and Co. 



Watchman is a showy fancy dahlia of good size ; golden ground, striped with 



crimson-scarlet. A.M., R.H.S., September 20. Messrs. Keynes, Williams, 

 and Co. 



Antelope % a rich and deep scarlet cactus dahlia with rosy points to the seg- 

 ments. A.M., R.H.S., September 20. Messrs. J. Burrell and Co., Cambridge. 



Lucius f an orange cactus dahlia, previously described in our columns. A.M., 

 K.I I S., September 20. Messrs. J. Burrell and Co. 



Demon is a compact and very bright crimson pompon dahlia. A.M., R.H.S., 

 September 20. Mr. Seale, Sevenoaks. 



Distinction, a soft rosy-crimson pompon dahlia, purple tinged. A.M., R.H.S., 

 September 20. Mr. Seale. 



Leslie Seale we have already described— a single variety. A,M., R.II.S., 

 September 20. Mr. Seale. 



Peacock is a deep crimson fancy single dahlia with white tips to the segments. 

 A.M., R.H.S., September 20. Mr. Seale. 



Snotv/lake, a white pompon already described. A.M., R.H.S., September 

 20. Mr. Seale. 



Lris, a curious little pompon dahlia with buff ground and rosy tips to the seg- 

 ments. A.M., R.H.S., September 20. Mr. C. Turner, Slough. 



ClariM 9 a pompon variety previously described. A.M., R.II.S., September 

 20. Mr. C. Turner. 7 



Ranji % a splendid dark crimson cactus dahlia of f.ne habit and form. A.M., 

 R.II.S., September 20. Mr. G. Humphries, Chippenham. 



David Jonson, a good rosy buff show dahlia, described in connexion with the 

 N.D.S. A.M., R.II.S., September 20. Mr. G. Humphries. 



Chrysanthemums. 



Adiantum Faulkneri. 



— — — - • ~ * *v 4 a 



A pretty and most elegant adiantum, somewhat after the stvle of A t 

 iana, but of more compact growth ; the pinnse are verv small ^ i^i on " 

 crimped. It should make a useful fern for a variety of uses A M v £ htly 

 September 20. Mr. Tr.omas Rochford, Turnford Hall Nurseries, Broxbourne S#t 



LlGUSTRUM WALKERI. 



An elegant plant when in a small state as shown ; it has simple gre^n 1 

 and an inflorescence that is not effective. The plant is not hardy at Kew h g * 

 it needs greenhouse or temperate house treatment. F.C.C . R H S <^f. \ wtlere 

 Messrs. Paul and Son, Cheshunt. Se P tem ber 20. 



Hibiscus syriacus totus albus. 



This is a well known pure white flowered variety of Hibiscus syriacus and 

 well worth even more extended culture than it has. A.M., R.H S W^J^ 

 20. Messrs. Paul and Son, Cheshunt. ' *" be P teml *r 



Acer Juhlkei variegata. 



This has very pretty foliage, the younger leaves having quite half their area of 

 a creamy colour, but usually the variegation is very irregular. The backs of the 

 leaves is silvery, so that in a breeze a tree would be very effective. A. M. R H Q 

 September 20. Messrs. Paul and Son, Cheshunt. ' ' ' ,f 



Strawberry St. Joseph. 



This is a late fruiting or perpetual strawberry , fruiting each seasDn from suc- 

 cessive runners. The berries are of medium to small size, conical, scarlet, brisk 

 in flavour, with a pleasant acidity thus late in the season. A.M., r!h.S , 

 September 20. Mi. J. Hudson, Gunnersbury House, Acton ; Messrs. II. Canneii 

 and Sons, Swanley ; and Messrs. Bunyard and Co., Maidstone. 



The Redstart 



c 



This is a very beautiful little bird, and one of our liveliest summer 



visitors, nor is he shy, but frequents gardens and the vicinity of human 



habitations, not, as some have ignorantly supposed, for the sake of 



preying upon the result of the labours of man, but because in such 



situations he is more apt to find a suitable nesting place than he is in the 

 open country. 



The food of the redstart may be said to consist wholly of insects, 

 especially small caterpillars, for the few berries to which he helps himself 

 in the autumn just before his departure from among us, are really 

 unworthy of consideration when looked at in comparison with the armies 

 of noxious insects he destroys during the time of his stay among us. 



The redstart is a migratory kind, arriving about the beginning of April, 



and taking its departure early in September. The nest is made in the 



hole of a tree, wall, building, or even in the heart of a stack of faggots 



under a shed, or out of doors, and the nest is merely a collection of 



leaves and grass lightly piled together and lined with a few feathers, or 



with hair. The eggs are bluish green in colour, and from five to seven 



in number. There are usually two broods during the season, and it is 



not difficult to rear the young ones on ants' eggs and common maggots, 



but to attempt to do so with artificial food is to court utter failure and 

 disaster. 



The redstart has a pleasing little song, which can frequently be heard 

 from the top of a tree in the vicinity of the nest, which can often be 

 discovered by patiently watching for a few minutes the movements of 

 the songster ; but it is almost a pity to disturb the nesting of such a 

 handsome and useful bird, which, moreover, can only be preserved in 

 health for any length of time by feeding it with insects of one sort or 

 another, though it will take a little raw lean meat shredded very finely, 

 or a little bread and milk, or crumbled yolk of hard-boiled egg occa- 

 sionally, but too much of such artificial diet is sure to bring on indiges- 

 tion, and that a fit, before long, therefore care must be exercised in 

 giving them. A few small berries may be supplied in the autumn, such 

 as elder, privet, and rowan berries, also those of the ivy and currants, 

 which are probably taken medicinally, much as cats and dogs occa- 

 sionally eat a little grass. 



The male redstart has the bill, the top of the head, and the breast of 

 a deep black colour, more or less mottled with white when the bird is 



vmmiv K.,«. »u: .'«• . •.« -i : .nAiilt until It 



* uccp uiacK colour, more or less mottled with white wnen uic 

 young, but this mottling grows less with each recurring moult, until i 

 finally disappears altogether. The top of the head is white ; the hack 

 of the neck, the back, and scapnears are light slate-grey. The rum! 

 and all the tail feathers, except the central pair, which are brown, are 

 a, n, , vhkysa.nthemums. russet-brown, with a ruddv sub-tinEre ; the breast is red, and the abdomen 



May Manser, ,z large-flowered early chrysanthemum of Japanese form; the reddish-grey: the unTr Uil roverts are white the legs and feet are 

 5 a 0 m B "o llowershave a yellowish centre, but this quickly fades to soft white. dark slate coverts are wnite, tne ><* 



A.M., R.H. S., September 20. Mr. II. J. Jcnes, Lewisham. 



lj>ms Lemairc, a free-flowering sport from M. Gustave Grunerwald ; it has 

 bronzy or chestnut-yellow flowers of good size and substance. A.M., R.H.S., 

 September 20. Mr. W. Wells, Earlswood. 



Pandands Sanderi. 



• This handsome pandanus has repeatedly been referred to in our columns since 

 its exhibition at the last Ghent show. It differs from P. Veitchi in having creamy- 

 green variegation instead of white, and in having a yellowish rather than a silvery 

 appearance ; it is a handsome and useful plant for table and other decoration, 

 r.c.^., K.H.b., September 20. Messrs. F. Sander and Co., St. Albans. 



Gynerium argenteum aureo lineatis. 



t^VaT f° f wel1 > nown p ampas grass, but differing from it in having a 

 hi It" de L^ an , d leav «tbat ha£ marginal bands of yellow. The phnt 



Mes^^ A.M., R.U.S., September 20, 



' Anoar^hr . „ 4 P ° PU LDS ONTARIO VARIEOATA. 



Apparently a very attrae.iv. ^ nlar> wUh ^ yQung ^ e ffedy sUined and 



The female is greyish brown, not very unlike a nightingale, for which 

 they are occasionally passed off on the unwary. Very old females arc 

 said to assume all the colours of the male. . 



The redstart is nearly six inches long, but sometimes not more tn. 

 five and a-half inches ; the female is somewhat less than the male. 



The young males of the year have no white on the head, and A th ^ e 



E,n Wi , th y cllowis "-g'een. A 

 specimen it is impossible to obtain 



tree should have^ hcenl^ZS"* 1 ? » n a<i *iuate idea of the tree ; a small specimen 

 Kcighley. ^staged. A.M., R.u.S., September 20. Mr. J. Carter, 



j maies ot the year have no wnite on mc u»» 

 white mingled with the black of the throat and the orang 

 breast, which is also mottled with yellowish brown, like the you k 

 nightingales, from which the juvenile redstarts can be readily a 

 tinguished by the white spots on the breast and throat. f 



«A EV ? ^ US Wild state th * redstart is S iven to imitating the n«w 

 other birds, and in confinement becomes a most accomplished mim 

 some .ndivtduals are even said to have learned to speak a few words. 



A female redstart was taken captive one evening as "j^*"^ 

 five young ones in the nest she had made in the hole of a garden #iu , 

 and with nest and little ones was put into a cage, but m the morn 7 they 

 was found quite dead, but covering her infants with her wings, and tn y 

 -ere dead also. Surely Moses was right when he commanded W 

 Israelites not to take the dam and the young birds together. 



T. W. Gk en 



