THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES.] JULY, 1876. 



FLORAL EXHIBITIONS, 



The May Exhibition of the Royal Botanic Society, 

 Regent's Park, was, despite the showery weather, a 

 most enjoyable one, the plants being arranged very 

 tastefully on banks of cool green turf, beneath well- 

 ventilated canvas — the best of all arrangements for a 

 floral exhibition. Taken as a whole, the show was by 

 no means the best we have seen there, this being in a 

 great measure due to the sameness in the plants 

 exhibited, for not even the most tasteful method 

 of arrangement can make amends for the charm 

 of variety. Among new plants recently exhibited the 

 hybrid greenhouse Rhododendrons of the R. javanico- 

 jasminifiorum type deserve especial notice for their 

 charming variations in colour and general adaptability 

 for greenhouse or conservatory decoration. The colours 

 vary from the most vivid crimson-scarlet, as exemplified 

 in R. " Duchess of Edinburgh," through all the shades 

 of rose, orange, and orange-yellow, to white as pure as 

 that of R. jasmiuifiorum ; and it is singular to notice 

 that while in some cases the colours have blended, in 

 others the yellow element has disappeared almost 

 entirely. This is the case in all the rose-coloured 

 forms which have been produced by crossing the white 

 R. jasminiflorum with the orange-coloured R. javani- 

 cum or R. Brookei and its varieties. The lovely 

 hybrid Begonia Weltoniensis of Col. Trevor Clarke is 

 another instance of a pink-flowered plant being pro- 

 duced from orange and white parents while, in the 

 case of Pelargoniums, pinks or salmon-tinted varieties 

 are the result of crossing orange- scarlet and white 

 kinds. In addition to the above Messrs. Veitch and 

 Sons have exhibited the very beautiful Htemanthus 

 cinabarinus, which fairly rivals the old H. coccineus 

 in beauty. The leaves are lance-shaped and nearly 

 eighteen inches in length, the vermilion-coloured 

 flowers being borne in a dense globose head four 

 or five inches in diameter. It is a Cape bulb 

 and one can scarcely imagine a more brilliant 

 companion for the pearly Eucharis than this plant, 

 and as it grows and blooms freely it ought to be 

 largely grown for decorative purposes. 



Mr. W. Bull has been singularly fortunate this 

 season, taking first prizes in all cases for new plants. 

 Among those shown at the Aquarium exhibition on 

 the 30th ult. we noted Martinezia Roezli, which has 

 fresh olive-green bilobed leaves borne on short spinose 

 petioles ; Bomaria Carderi, a scandent Amaryllid, 

 having pink Lapageria-like flowers ; several new 



[No. 55. 



Cycads ; a light rosy Dipladenia, named D. Regina ; 

 and the very stately Aralia splendidissima, which 

 has dark green glossy pinnate leaves a yard in 

 in length. Mr. Williams had Croton Williamsii, 

 one of the most distinct of all modern varieties, 

 having greenish-silvery blotched foliage ; Astro- 

 caryum murmureum, a beautiful glossy-leaved Palm, 

 having bilobed leaves, silvery beneath the petioles, 

 being armed with stout brown spines. The large 

 white-flowered Cattleya Bluntii of Messrs. Low and 

 Co. deserves notice as being one of the best white 

 Orchids in cultivation, bearing flowers as large as those 

 of C. gigas, but pure white in colour, save a delicate 

 stain of lemon-yellow on the disc of the lip. It will 

 make a charming companion to the bright carmine or 

 delicate rosy forms of C. Mossiae, C. labiata, or C. 

 Warneri, being far superior to the old white variety 

 known as C. Warscewiozi delicata. 



The Royal Horticultural Society's first summer show, 

 held on June the 7th and 8th, was a very attractive 

 one, and among the new plants exhibited we noted a 

 new large-flowered variety of the common Musk-plant 

 (Mimulus moschatus), sent by Messrs. Harrison and 

 Sons, of Leicester, and which is said to be a hybrid 

 between the common Musk and the large-flowered 

 Mimulus maculatus. Its fragrance and profusion of 

 large yellow flowers will make it a useful decorative 

 plant. Mr. George, of Putney Heath, obtained a certifi- 

 cate for his hybrid ivy-leafed Pelargonium Gem, a cross 

 between the ivy-leafed Pelargonium and some variety of 

 P. zonale. It may be described as a shrubby ivy-leafed 

 variety, with large trusses of well-formed flowers, the 

 colour being a delicate silvery-lilac, the top petals having 

 a rosy spot. Another variety, with cerise flowers, 

 named " Progress," was also shown, and both well 

 deserve culture, as showy jpot-plants for decorative 

 purposes. A large pan of the great spotted Iris came 

 from Messrs. Veitch and Sons, some of the flowers being 

 seven inches in diameter, and these great brown spotted 

 flowers were much admired, as also were the plants of 

 the white-spired Saxifraga pyramidalis, sent by Messrs. 

 Jackson and Son, of Kingston. 



The second summer exhibition, held at Regent's 

 Park on the 21st inst., was perhaps the most successful 

 flower-show of the season, and about 10,000 visitors 

 were admitted to the gardens during the clay. Messrs. 

 Veitch and Sons sent a beautiful group of new and rare 

 exotics, among which we noted a very distinct yellow- 

 flowered variety of the old Oncidium crispum. Thid 

 was named Oncidium crispum flavum, and may ba 



