THE FLORAL MAGAZINE 
NEW SERIES. 
DECEMBER, 1877. 
HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 
On Tuesday, November lOtb, the Royal Horticultural 
Society held another interesting meeting, remarkable 
for the variety and quality of the subjects brought to¬ 
gether ; and though new plants were somewhat scarce, 
which is to be expected during the autumn and 
winter months, there were yet many things peculiar 
to the season that had a warm interest for horti¬ 
culturists. Among the new plants produced, the 
following were awarded First-Class Certificates of 
Merit:—Sarracenia Chelsoni, a beautiful bronzed¬ 
leaved hybrid, raised at the Chelsea nurseries, 
obtained from a cross between S. rubra and S. pur¬ 
purea, and much resembling the first-named parent 
(Messrs. Yeitch and Sons); to Dicksonia Berteroana, 
a graceful habited tree fern from Juan Fernandez, and 
reported to be distinct from any yet put into com¬ 
merce (Messrs. Yeitch and Sons) ; to Primula capi- 
tata, an Alpine species, something in the way of P. 
farinosa, having mealed stems, bearing heads or 
whorls of violet purple flowers, and likely to be use¬ 
ful for cutting from ; it was raised at the Gardens of 
the Royal Horticultural Society (by whom it was ex¬ 
hibited) at Chiswick from seed sent home from the 
East Indies. 
Messrs. Yeitch and Sons showed a group of plants 
of great interest, including good examples of winter¬ 
flowering Calanthes, and a new hybrid, the result of 
a cross between C. vestita and C. Yeitchii, with 
flowers remarkable for their brightness of colour; also 
some fine Oncidiums and Indian Crocuses (Pleiones) 
in capital condition; a garden variety of Adiantum 
cuneatum named Lawsoni, the pretty Yriesia brachy- 
stachys, the singular Pavonia Wioti (figured in the 
f Floral Magazine' for September) ; and some Pelar¬ 
goniums in fine bloom for the season of the year. 
From Mr. Ollerhead, gardener to Sir H. W. Peek, 
Bart., M.P., Wimbledon House, came a good group 
of Orchids, comprising Calanthe Yeitchii. C. Yestita 
rubra; Oncidium pulverulenta, Odontoglossum 
bictonense, 0. Roezlii, Cypripedium Sedeni, Lycastes, 
the handsome Cattleya Dowiana, Pleiones, etc. From 
Mr. W. Smith, gardener, to C. Lane, Esq., Badgemore, 
Henley-on-Thames, came a magnificently flowered ex- 
[No. 72. 
ample of Yanda coerulea, having two fine growths on 
which were six spikes and eighty-nine flowers. The 
Floral Committee recommended the Council to award 
a Medal to this grand specimen. Sir Trevor Law¬ 
rence, Bart., M.P., showed a superb specimen of the 
dark-flowered Oncidium crispum, with half-a-dozen 
remarkably fine spikes of bloom; a cultural commen¬ 
dation was awarded to it. Mr. Robert Parker, 
Exotic Nurseries, Tooting, had a similar acknowledg¬ 
ment for a very choice collection of cut flowers of 
various hardy herbaceous plants, which included a 
dozen species of the showy Asters, such as A. multi- 
florus, horizontalis, Ericoides, laxus, Amellus, novae- 
belgii, Reevesii, pendulus, discolor, novse-anglicae, 
spectabilis, etc., and examples of such fine bedding 
varieties of Chrysanthemum indicum, as scarlet gem, 
Madame Pecoul, Hendersoni, Cassy, and Frederick 
Pell; also Lithospermum prostratum, Helleborus 
niger maxima, Trollius asiaticus, Aponogeton dis- 
tachyon, etc., an excellent collection of autumn flower¬ 
ing plants. From the Gardens of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society also came some capital examples of 
Colonel Trevor Clarke's new hybrid Begonia Moon¬ 
light, which promises to be an invaluable winter 
flowering plant, bearing large white flowers in a very 
profuse manner. From Mr. R. Dean came a plant of 
the new annual Godetia, Lady Albemarle, to show 
what a fine thing it is for flowering in pots. Some 
fine Cyclamen persicum from Mr. H. B. Smith, 
Ealing Dean Nursery, and cut blooms of Japanese 
Chrysanthemums from Messrs. E. G. Henderson and 
Son, Pine Apple Place Nurseries, were much admired 
for their high-class quality. 
Among new fruits produced on this occasion was 
a green-fleshed melon, named Exquisite, forwarded 
by Mr. C. Tyler, gardener to W. R. Gosling, Esq., 
Hassobury, Bishop's Stortford, and awarded a First- 
Class Certificate of Merit. It had a thin rind, and 
a particularly luscious and high-flavoured pale-green 
flesh. Some new apples came from various ex¬ 
hibitors, but they were not considered good enough 
to merit awards. 
