THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
scarlet variety, the other violet-tinted • a strong plant 
of Restrepia antennifera bore four large, richly spotted 
brown flowers ; a plant of Epidendrum vitellinum 
majus had eight spikes, one of them branched; and 
on a very large specimen of the purple-striped Zygo- 
petalum Mackayi, there were over twenty remarkably 
robust spikes ; a plant of Odontoglossum Pescatorei 
was furnished with a large branched spike, and was 
accompanied by its allies, Odontoglossum crispum 
and O. gloriosum. A supposed new Dendrobe was 
also shown with this group, seemingly intermediate 
between D. tortile roseum and D. nodatum, inasmuch 
as it had the flowers of the first and pseudobulbs 
very similar to those of the last-named kind. A 
pretty plant of that most graceful of all Odontoglos- 
sums, O. roseum, bore four spikes of bright magenta, 
white-columned flowers. The chaste little Eria coro- 
naria was shown with a two-flowered spike, and the 
weird-looking Masdevallia chimsera, var. Wallisi, was 
represented by a strong plant bearing one of its lurid 
purple, hispid-looking, long-tailed flowers, its slipper¬ 
shaped lip being creamy-white. This group was 
admired as much for the healthful vigour of the plants 
as for the profusion of richly-tinted flowers which 
they bore, and it was recommended that a Davis medal 
be awarded it. Mr. Parker, Tooting, sent two pot¬ 
fuls of Aponogeton distachyon, a plant which he has 
growing in pots of soil set in pans of water, under 
which treatment they flower quite as freely as if in 
their natural watery element. With these came two 
plants of the evergreen, shrubby-habited Iberis sem- 
perflorens, which is now flowering freely in the open 
air at Tooting, the specimens exhibited having been 
but recently dug from the beds out of doors. Mr. 
Ollerhead, Wimbledon House, furnished two finely- 
flowered specimens of Plumbago rosea, some of the 
spikes on which were fully 3 ft. in length. These 
plants were 7 ft. in height, and clothed from top to 
bottom with leaves and flowers. They were struck 
from cuttings last year, and have been grown on the 
back wall of a melon-house. Associated with these 
were some fine spikes of the orange-scarlet-flowered 
Euphorbia (jacquiniaeflora) fulgens, which had been 
grown in the bed of a pine pit. Messrs. Yeitch and 
Sons exhibited a dozen well-grown Poinsettias, and a 
beautiful collection of cut flowers of Pelargoniums 
came from Mr. H. Cannell, of Swanley. Mr. Green, 
Holmesdale Road, Reigate, furnished a seedliug from 
his hybrid Streptocarpus Greeni having six flowered 
spikes of delicate azure-tinted blossoms, the limbs of 
which measured quite 1 in. in diameter. A collection 
of dried American maple and other coloured leaves. 
and dried sprays of Lygodium palmatum, and the 
Bird’s-foot Maiden-hair (Adiantum pedatum) were 
exhibited by Mr. W. Howard, 29, King Street, 
Covent Garden. These are well adapted for decora¬ 
tive purposes or for albums, their natural colours 
being remarkably well-preserved. 
NOTES. 
-Growth op Pollen Grains. —Slender fertilising 
tubes are emitted from pollen grains in about half an 
hour after they are placed in Hoya nectar on a strip 
of glass or microscopic slide, and those tubes grow 
very quickly until the nectar dries up. They are 
transparent, and a circulation may be seen passing 
down one side of the tube to the point where the 
current turns and passes up the other side to the 
pollen grain. Placed in the nectar distilled by Hoya, 
Fuchsia, or other flowers, pollen grains form very 
attractive and instructive objects under a good 
microscope. 
- Novel Way op Budding Roses. — The insertion 
of growing or pushing buds or grafts in the spring is 
recommended as being preferable to the old plan of 
putting in dormant eyes or buds during the summer 
or autumn. Their superiority is said to be owing to 
a very luxuriant growth; indeed, their vigour the 
first season is said to be equal that of two-year old 
plants worked on the old plan. 
- Something about Colour. — The ‘ Gardened 
Chronicle 5 says, “ In illustration of the widely different 
views held by individuals as to the shades of colour, 
Dr. R. C. A. Prior exhibited at the Linnean Society 5 s 
meeting, November 2nd, a few Dahlias of a common 
variety. These had been shown to thirty-four dif¬ 
ferent persons, few of whom agreed as to the precise 
tint; indeed, thirteen different names of supposed 
shades of colour were given in reply by the thirty-four 
persons. One of the flowers, moreover, had been 
placed before a family and friends comprising eleven 
people, and these, though related by blood, education, 
etc., were by no means unanimous, for in the written 
answers seven various names of the colour were used. 
Some attribute such facts as due to colour blindness; 
but the truth possibly lies in the fact that with most 
persons there is no very clear appreciation or standard 
of names and shades of colour. 55 
DSI 
