THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



as to the name, though in a letter received a short 

 time afterwards M. de Smet incidentally mentioned 

 that he should like it named after the gentleman 

 who collected it. Believing it to be, as represented, 

 a new plant, and having purchased, as I supposed, the 

 whole of the existing plants, without any obligation 

 as to naming it, 1 adopted in perfect good faith the 

 name of A. Victorioe Reginse, which was published 

 in the Gardeners' Chronicle, and this name having 

 been used by permission of the Queen, it is impossible 

 for me to withdraw it. I am the more confirmed 

 in this course as the name I have adopted has 

 certainly the priority of publication in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, having appeared therein with a figure and 

 description on October 16th last, whereas the name 

 of A. Consideranti has not, I believe, even yet been 

 published in the botanical sense, though M. Carriere 

 proposes to publish it in the next number of his 

 work. It is to be regretted, for M. Considerant's 

 sake, that this mishap should have occurred ; but 

 it is not my fault. I have throughout acted with 

 perfect good faith, and what is past cannot now be 

 recalled." 



In the Revue Horticole for Nov. 16th the subject is 

 reverted to, and a somewhat detailed history of this 

 fine new Agave is given. The plant, it seems, is a 

 native of Texas, being found near Monterey. The 

 first specimen was introduced by M. Considerant in 

 1872, and was exhibited at the general exhibition held 

 by the Horticultural Society of France in that year. 

 A silver medal of the first class was then awarded to 

 it, and a general description of the plant was given 

 by M. Duchartre in the journal of that society. The 

 original plant died in the course of the winter, and it 

 was not until 1874 that M. Considerant was enabled 

 to procure twelve other plants of the same species, 

 which were deposited in the Jardin des Plantes. In 

 August last M. de Smet bought seven of these twelve 

 plants for 350 francs ; another was sold to M. 

 Guedeney ; one other was presented to the Jardin des 

 Plantes ; the remainder are or were in the possession 

 of M. Considerant. It is clear, then, the plant was 

 known so far back as 1872, and there can be no doubt 

 that it was intended to give the provisional name of 

 A. Consideranti to it. The faot remains, however, that 

 no such name has been published. The question 

 therefore turns on the point whether the description of 

 the plant given by M. Duchai'tre is a description 

 sufficient, in the absence of any name — for none is 

 attached to it — to convey the rights of priority. The 

 description in question is a general one for horti- 

 cultural purposes only, and is not such as a professed 

 botanist would make use of in describing a new plant 

 in technical terms. Moreover, the description is 



unaccompanied by a name, so that Mr. Moore's name 

 — given at the suggestion of Mr. Peacock — and 

 description must take precedence. Had the plant 

 really been named by M. Duchartre, all botanists and 

 horticulturists would have been ready to accept and 

 endorse it ; but this not being the case, the name 

 given by Mr. Moore, our eminent British botanist — 

 Agave Victoria Peginje — must and will stand. 



LILITJM PACKMANNI. 



Mr. Anthony "Waterer has recently flowered a new 

 hybrid Lily under the above name, which is con- 

 sidered to be the finest and most beautiful of all the 

 Lilies which have yet appeared in our gardens. The 

 bloom is equal in size to the largest specimens of 

 Lilium auratum ; but the tints are far more beautiful, 

 for it partakes more of the colour of L. speciosum, 

 which is one of its parents and L. auratum the other. 

 The blooms are truly magnificent, after the style of a 

 blossom of the genuine high-coloured type of L. 

 speciosum increased in size, so that the segments 

 straightened out measure nearly fourteen inches 

 across, the petalous ones being four inches broad, 

 and give to this grand flower the colouring and rich 

 spotting of the plant just referred to — white suffused 

 with rich rosy crimson, and having deep crimson 

 spots freely distributed over the coloured portion — and 

 some idea may be formed of this splendid Lily. To 

 these noble proportions and this charming colouring, it 

 may be added that the scent is delightful, more 

 approaching the sweetness of L. speciosum. A more 

 magnificent Lily has indeed seldom or never been seen, 

 and Mr. Packman, the President of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society and the raiser of the hybrid, 

 may well be proud of the addition he has made to 

 our gardens. Liliurn speciosum (lancifolium) was the 

 female parent, and, according to Mr. Packman's 

 report, impregnation took place readily. Fifty 

 young bulbs were planted in the open ground in 

 the spring of 1869. The genus Lilium is certainly 

 remarkable in the tenaoity with which it preserves the 

 characteristics of the female parent and resists the 

 influence of the male. Mr. Packman was the 

 first person to flower L. auratum in America. A 

 large page illustration is given of this truly magni- 

 ficent plant, from the pencil of Mr. "W. H. Fitch, in 

 the Gardener.-? Chronicle for Oct. 16th last, where 

 the plant is described as " without doubt one of the 

 grandest flowering plants which has ever been intro- 

 duced to our gardens, and appears to be quite as 

 hardy and as easily grown as its parents, auratum and 

 speciosum." 



