192 



JOUENAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICLTLTUEAL SOCIETY. 



summer — a continental rather than an insular climate. They were just 

 coming into bloom in the latter part of April. It is possible that the 



A. rustica section would stand the wet climate better, but I failed to note 

 a single plant of this section whilst I was in Cornwall. 



Evergreen Ehcdodendrons flourish wonderfully, and reproduce them- 

 selves freely from self-sown seedlings. Yet it seemed that they carry 

 fruit more freely in the Fal valley than round Penzance. Colonel 

 Tremayne assured me that the display of his Rhododendrons in the spring 

 of 1905 was much below the average, which he attributed to the amount 

 of fruit carried the previous autumn. At Trewidden I was told that no 

 ill eflects had ever been traced to over-fruiting. Yet it must be borne 

 in mind that the latter is a comparatively new garden, whereas at Carclew 

 the Rhododendrons have in many cases attained their maximum growth, 

 and consequently to the period of maximum fruit-production. 



At Trewidden one very beautiful natural hybrid was in flower, a 

 spotless pink self, carrying an eight-flowered umbel of tubular flowers, 

 each 4 inches span. The putative parents were B. Thoinpsoni and 



B. Aucklandii, and the hybrid was growing just where it had sprung up, 

 close to the parent plants. 



At Carclew I noticed some splendid forms of B. camjjyiocarjjum in 

 which the flowers were of a fine yellow colour with a red base. Also 

 some charming forms of garden origin, such as i?. (hort.) " Manglesii" 

 (blush to white, large flowers), and B. indicmn " Hexe " (a dwarf 

 floriferous variety, very decorative for pot work inside). 



The New Zealand Coedylixes. 

 I noted four species : 



(1) Cordylinc austmlis : In almost every garden. At the period of 

 flowering, which occurs at Penzance from May onwards, the plants break 

 off into two or three leading growths, and this occurs when they have 

 been planted out perhaps ten years. I have a pair in my garden at 

 Isleworth which have been planted out for ten years, and have grown 

 to a height of nearly 1-5 feet without flowering. Yet I am sure that 

 this plant will not endure a really hard winter without protection, for 

 I had a specimen equally tall in my York garden, which endured 20° of 

 frost, but was cut down to the ground by 25° of frost. Nevertheless 

 this same plant, having been thrown upon the rubbish-heap as dead, 

 sprang up again, and I believe these are the identical plants which have 

 now grown to fine specimens at Isleworth. However, it is only occasion- 

 ally such severe frosts occur in the South of England, and the plant will 

 withstand them if all the leaves are tied together upwards to a stick 

 and covered by an Archangel mat (in the form of a cap), with another 

 round the stem. But this covering must only remain on whilst un- 

 broken frost continues. 



(2) Cordyline indivisa {vera) : A splendid specimen grows at Tre- 

 widden. Although planted out only three years ago (when 1 foot high), 

 it is already 7 feet high, with leaves 4 inches wide, markedly glaucous 

 beneath, and ornamented with a bright orange midrib on the upper side. 

 Undoubtedly the finest of all the hardy (or semi-hardy) cordylines, this 



