THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



certificate was awarded. It has large six-rayed flowers 

 of good substance, and is very floriferous, as the small 

 specimen exhibited showed numerous plump downy 

 buds. It will form a lovely companion to the lighter- 

 coloured forms of the type, as one of the most beautiful 

 of all hardy varieties. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM YEXILLARIUM. 



This is undoubtedly the most floriferous species in the 

 genus to which it belongs, just as it is one of the most 

 lovely in colour ; and like most other Orchids it has the 

 additional charm of variety, scarcely two individual 

 plants bearing flowers exactly alike in either colour 

 or shape. Messrs. Veitch and Sons have now several 

 fine forms in flower, one of which is so soft and chaste 

 in colouring that it fairly rivals all the others in 

 delicate beauty. One of Messrs. Yeitch's specimens 

 — a very vigorous one — bears ten strong flower-spikes, 

 and Mr. David Thomson, of Drumlanrig, writes to 

 tell us he has a plant which has produced sixteen 

 fine flowers from a single bulb. This noble species 

 having recently been imported in quantity and in fine 

 condition, we may soon hope to see it in every collec- 

 tion of Orchids from the New World. 



SAXIFRAGA PELTATA. 



We have recently seen this large growing and com- 

 paratively newly introduced species blooming in Mr. | 

 W. Bull's nursery at Chelsea, its pale rosy-lilac flowers 

 being borne in compact cymose clusters at the apex of 

 a Seshy scape, which varies from a foot to eighteen 

 inches in height. The peltate leaves are produced 

 after the flowers, and are nearly circular in outline, 

 irregularly lobed and serrate around the margins, 

 and of a bright green colour. Both leaves and flower- 

 stems are produced from thick creeping rhizomes. 

 The plant is a native of California, and one of the 

 most noble of all the species, being found on the 

 margins of mountain streams, where its foliage attains 

 a large size. It is perfectly hardy, and is likely to be 

 very useful for decorative purposes, the best positions 

 for it being the spongy margin of the bog garden or 

 by the side of ornamental water, positions in which its 

 noble foliage may be seen to the best advantage. The 

 plant is figured in the "Botanical Magazine," tab. 

 6074, from which we learn that it was originally 

 discovered by Ilartweg, in the Sacramenta mountains, 

 and living plants appear to have been first introduced 

 to European gardens by M. Benedict Roezl in 1872. 



REVIEW. 



Botanical Names for English Readers. By Randal 

 H. Alcock. L. Reeve and Co. 



This will be a very useful book to beginners and 

 amateurs, especially to those who have not had the 

 advantage of a classical education, to whom botanical 

 nomenclature, though full of meaning to the initiated, 

 is an unknown tongue, and consequently a great 

 stumbling-block. " It is much easier," says the 

 author, " to remember names when they convey some 

 meaning than when they are not understood, and the 

 more information they convey the less liable are they 

 to be forgotten." He has therefore attempted in this 

 work to " explain the scientific names of British plants 

 in a popular manner, so as to be useful to those who 

 have no knowledge of any foreign language." He 

 has also added as far as practicable the earliest au- 

 thority for each name, and as this necessitated some 

 account of the authorities themselves, he has devoted 

 the first part of his book to a " History of Botany 

 from the Earliest Times," so far as it has relation to 

 botanical names. This historical portion occupies the 

 first ninety-seven pages, and is not without interest. 

 The second portion contains a list in alphabetical order 

 of the substantive or generic names of British plants, 

 with their derivation and meaning. The third portion 

 consists of a similar list of adjective or specific names. 

 But we apprehend that the difficulties experienced by 

 young botanists arise not so much fro'm the names 

 given to plants as from the terms employed in de- 

 scribing and classifying them. These, though, from 

 their conciseness and precision, extremely convenient 

 to those who know their derivation and meaning, are a 

 source of great perplexity to the uninitiated. If these 

 had been included in the present volume, as they might 

 have been, by greater economy of space, without in- 

 creasing its bulk, its value as a book of reference 

 would have been greatly enhanced. However, gar- 

 deners and others interested in flowers will be glad to 

 learn that — to cull a few familiar examples at random 

 — Belladonna means beautiful lady ; Chrysanthemum, 

 golden-flowered ; Cypripedium, Venus' or lady's 

 slipper ; Iris, the rainbow ; Lycopodium, wolf's foot ; 

 Ophioglossion, serpent's or adder's tongue ; Polypo- 

 dium, many-footed ; and so on. F. L. S. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



E. G. Henderson and Son. — Spring Catalogue of 

 Stove, Conservatory, Herbaceous, Alpine, Bedding, 

 and New Plants of the Year. 



Dick, Radcliffe, and Co. (High Holborn). Plant 

 Catalogue for 1876. 



