THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SEMES.] DECEMBER, 1878. 



HOETTCULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



Thanks to the Royal Horticultural Society for its 

 monthly meetings, for by means of these the periodical 

 succession of Horticultural Exhibitions is maintained 

 throughout the year. The autumn gatherings of the 

 Society are always pleasant, but they have been pre- 

 eminently so during the past two months. 



Chysanthemums formed the leading feature of the 

 meeting on November 19th. A few new varieties were 

 staged, but all of the Japanese section ; and we are 

 glad to find that this fine type, so well adapted for 

 house decoration, is being improved both by home and 

 foreign raisers. A First-class Certificate of merit was 

 awarded to Mons. Crousse, a variety that we think 

 differs but very slightly indeed, if at all, from Salter's 

 Hero of Magdala, which was awarded a First-class Cer- 

 tificate of merit by the Royal Horticultural Society in 

 1868. It is a peculiarly shaped and distinct looking 

 variety, the petals being in many instances curiously 

 twisted, and showing the under surface, which is of 

 a pale buff colour ; the upper surface is deep crimson. 

 Mons. Crousse was shown by Messrs. T. Jackson and 

 Son, nurserymen, Kingston, who also had the following 

 new forms of Japanese Chrysanthemums : Mons. Ardine, 

 pale pink, large and very fine ; Arlequin, pale fleshy 

 pink, with golden centre ; Bouquet Fait, pale pink, 

 with light centre ; and Mdlle. Bertie Rendatler, blush 

 and primrose, very pretty. 



It is with something akin to regret that some raisers 

 of new Japanese Chrysanthemums appear desirous or 

 crossing them with the fine incurved English varieties, 

 and so getting them to take the incurved form. 

 Diamond is a case in point ; and when this is reached 

 we think they are in danger of losing their fine and 

 distinct decorative value as Japanese varieties. Such 

 types as James Salter, Fulgore, Gloire de Toulouse, 

 Grandiflora, etc., are very conspicuous and striking, 

 because of their singularly unique appearance, and 

 the farther they are kept away from the monotonous 

 form of the incurved types the better. 



Other novelties produced on this occasion were 

 Cyclamen persicum Mont Blanc, a very fine pure 

 white flowered variety of the large flowered section, 

 certainly the finest white we have yet seen, from Mr. 

 H. B. Smith's Ealing Dean Nursery, Ealing, awarded 



[No. 84. 



a First-class Certificate of merit ; a magnificent new 

 Calanthe, named Sedeni, after their hybridiser, Mr. 

 Seden, who raised it from a cross between C. Vestita 

 and C. Veitchii, the last-named parent being itself a 

 hybrid between C. Vestita and Lunitodes rosea, the 

 former being white, and the latter a rich rose, and the 

 progeny (C. Veitchii) of the richest rose colour. The 

 Gardeners' Chronicle informs its readers that by " cross- 

 ing the latter flower with the white C. Vestita, one 

 would naturally expect the offspring to be interme- 

 diate, in fact a pale form of C. Veitchii j but the 

 strange fact is, the reverse is the case, C. Sedeni 

 being of an intense crimson, an infinitely darker flower 

 than C. Veitchii, and more nearly resembling its grand- 

 parent the Lunitodes rosea. When Professor Reichen- 

 bach described C. Veitchii, in 1859, he said that " of 

 all the beautiful Orchids obtained by hybridising, this 

 curious plant stands first," an assertion which was 

 true enough up to last Tuesday (November 19th), but 

 which holds good no longer. This beautiful hybrid, 

 which was exhibited by Messrs. Veitch & Sons, was 

 the admiration of all who saw it, and was most de- 

 servedly awarded a First-class Certificate of merit. 

 Messrs. Veitch & Sons also had a new Cypripedium 

 from Borneo, named C. Laurenceanum, with large bold 

 brightly mottled leaves, and a very broad and well- 

 marked upper sepal. 



A First-class Certificate of merit was also awarded to 

 Odontoglossum Alexandras, var. Perriuii, in which 

 the sepals and petals are heavily suffused with purple ; 

 this was considered very distinct and striking by the 

 Orchid cultivators present ; these qualities gaining for 

 it the certificate. 



Other novelties of a highly interesting character 

 consisted of of Abutilon igueum, a distinct and curious 

 species flowering in panicles, the flowers heavily pen- 

 cilled with black on a pale maroon ground; this pro- 

 mises to make an effective pillar-plant for a con- 

 servatory; Begonia Moonlight, a fine white-flowered, 

 decorative plant, but said to be unsuitable for night 

 work because the flowers take on a green hue ; and 

 Pelargonium La France, a hybrid ivyleaf variet}^ with 

 flowers of a new and novel shade of colour, soft deli- 

 cate pink, very attractive ; these came from the gar- 

 dens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chiswick. 

 A splendid double Primula of the Sinensis section, 

 named Earl Beaconsfield, came from Mr. R. Gilbert, 



