GLEANINGS AND ORIGINAL MEMORANDA. 



Gymnogramma. Laucheana grandiceps. Ferns are naturally so constructed that when 

 brought under conditions of high cultivation they cannot show the effect it has on them in 

 the way that many other plants do — that is, by a duplication and change in form of the 

 internal parts of the flowers, usually termed doubling, and which is seen in the many plants 

 that, after a more or less lengthened time of production from seed, produce double varieties. 

 The minute character of the reproductive organs in Ferns are such as to render them unable 

 to act as the depositories of this superabundance of vigour. Hence we see them appearing 

 with a duplication in the leaves, or, as expressed in gardening phraseology, the fronds become 

 crested. In the plant above named we have a golden Gymnogramma assuming this form, the 

 terminal segments of the fronds being very much crested; it is thickly coated with the yellow 

 powder common to the family, and is very pretty and interesting. 



Coryanthes MACRANTHA. In these times, when a limited number of plants become so 

 far fashionable as to all but exclude from cultivation many others that are alike beautiful in 

 appearance, as well as remarkable for their singularity of construction, it is pleasing to see this 

 little-known Orchid, which, for the wonderful formation of its flowers, and their effective 

 colouring, stands unsurpassed amongst this proverbially singular division of the vegetable 

 family. The flower-scapes, as in the Stanhopeas, are pendulous ; the colour of the flower is 

 a combination of yellow, purple, and pale crimson ; when fully open the sepals measure from 

 five to six inches across, the whole flower presenting an appearance like nothing but itself. 

 It comes from the Caraccas, consequently requires a moderate heat to grow it. 



Catalpa Kzempferl Flowering trees of merit, sufficiently hardy to stand our climate, 

 only make their appearance at long intervals. Those who are acquainted with the beautiful 

 Catalpa sy ring m folia will appreciate the plant under notice, which bears a near resemblance 

 to the American species, particularly in the form of the flower. It will no doubt succeed over 

 the southern portion of the kingdom, but whether or not it will flower in the northern 

 counties is uncertain. At all events it is worth trying, especially as Japanese plants 

 generally are extremely free bloomers. Introduced from Japan. 



A middle-sized tree, twenty-five to thirty feet high, with spreading rather brittle branches and copious foliage. 

 Leaves about six inches long and broad, of a bright pale-green colour ; petiole two to five inches, round ; nerve-axils 

 pubescent. Panicle terminal, erect. Flowers two or three together at the ends of the branchlets of the panicle, 

 horizontal or drooping, pale yellow sprinkled with minute red spots within. Calyx very small, lips rounded. Corolla 

 campanulate, three-quarters of an inch long, mouth oblique, upper lip short, recurved, lower spreading. Capsule a foot 

 long and one-third of an inch in diameter, cylindric, straight, smooth, brown. Seeds compressed, velvety, produced 

 at each end into fine silky hairs. —Botanical Magazine, 6611. 



Acacia cyanophylla. Liiulley. A noble Swan River tree, with long glaucous leaves, 

 and spikes of bright yellow flower-heads. Blossoms in February and March. (Fig. 155.) 



According to Preiss, this plant inhabits wet sandy flats near Swan Eiver, where it is called Black Wattle, and forms 

 a small straggling tree from 12 to 18 feet high. He adds that the leaves of the wild plant are much smaller and 



