340 
FLORA AND SVLVA 
inches in length and almost as variable in 
shape, dark-green above and silvery grey be- 
neath. The flowers are in flattish clusters 
arranged as rounded tails 6 to 30 inches in 
length and depending freely from every shoot. 
Their colour varies from lilac to bright violet- 
purple, and in the better forms the mouth and 
throat of each flower is bright orange. The 
individual flowers are small but what they lack 
in size is made up by their number, and a well- 
grown plant of this species, with its pleasing 
fragrance, is a charming addition to any gar- 
den. It is common in Central and Western 
China, occurring as high as 9,000 feet, but 
this is in sheltered river valleys which en- 
joy a warmer climate than is usual at such 
an elevation. Though first found by Dr. Henry 
near Ichang in Central China, it came into 
cultivation at St. Petersburg, passing thence 
to the Jardl/i des P /antes, and from there to 
Kew where it flowered in 1897. This early 
form is very poor, of straggUng and semi- 
prostrate habit, and clusters washy in colour 
and thin ; it is however the first to flower. 
In 1893 M. Vilmorin received from the 
late Pere Soulie, seeds of a Buddleia which 
flowered in the following year and proved to 
be a much better form of variabilis. In habit 
this was more erect, with denser spikes and 
finer colour, and from the description given 
in Vilmorin's Fruticetimi it would seem to be 
identical with the plant known in this country 
as var. veitchiana. While travelling for Messrs. 
Veitch in Central China I constantly met with 
this Buddleia and its variabihty was remark- 
able, with the result that the following fine 
forms have been introduced : Variety typica., 
the commonest form in Hupeh, of erect and 
robust habit, with rather lax tails of lilac- 
purple flowers in which the orange of the eye 
and throat is but slightly developed. It flow- 
ers in the latter half of August, and is much 
superior to the first-known form, which it 
will in time replace ; magnijica is a very dis- 
tinct plant, having larger bright violet-purple 
flowers, with deep orange eye and the margins 
of the petals reflexed. In habit it resembles 
the above but blooms a week earlier. Those 
who saw it at the Royal Horticultural So- 
ciety's Hall in August last, will not readily 
forget this noble plant. Variety veitchiana is 
again distinct in many ways. Its habit, at 
first erect, becomes gracefully arched as the 
flowering time approaches. The clusters are 
more dense and their colour several shades 
darker and with a bright orange centre to the 
individual flowers. It is the earliest of the 
Hupeh forms to flower, being quite three 
weeks earlier than var. typica. A fourth form 
Wilsoni, with flower-clusters 30 inches long, 
and differing markedly in other ways from 
other forms. Its habit is quite distinct, with 
stems tall and arching, the inter-nodes very 
long, and the leaves longer and more taper- 
ing. The flowers are half as large again as in 
var. typica, of a bright rose-lilac colour with 
intense orange eye. The corolla-lobes are not 
flat and spreading, but half erect, crinkled, 
and the margins reflexed. The clusters are 
drooping, longer than in any other form, and 
the latest of all to open, being at their best 
throughout September. The four forms here 
described are all wild forms of one type and 
not varieties of one another, and still less mere 
garden selections. They were raised from 
different packets of seed, and are quite distinct 
one from another. E. H. WILSON. 
THE ALOES. 
Those who have seen the Riviera in 
early spring, and know the famous 
garden at La Mortola, will remember 
with pleasure the brilliant Aloes then 
in flower. No one can mistake them, 
for so vivid are their long spikes, rising 
from large rosettes of greyish leaves, that 
i no other plants even at this time of the 
year can rival them. They enjoy the 
bright sunshine of our southern summer 
and are content with little water, their 
stems and thick fleshy leaves serving as 
storesof moisture, and whenotherplants 
wither they look fresh and happy. Such 
sun-lovers are not designed to thrive in 
the dim light of a glasshouse under a 
cloudy sky, nor can they display their 
true beauty undersuchconditions. Still, 
those who own gardens on the Medi- 
