FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. 
215 
way of C. maculatum ; but the parts of the flowers are far minuter, with the sepals and petals 
thrown back, a very singular column, and altogether of a dark pure chocolate colour. It is quite 
the plant for the lovers of strange things ; and is certainly not without beauty. 
Fu'cHsiAS, hybrid. A variety, named Queen Victoria we believe, has been raised by Mr. 
Smith, of Dalston, and is perhaps the best hybrid that has yet been produced. It appears to 
have the good dense habit of the old F. globosa, though rather more luxuriant, and produces 
a great profusion of flowers. These are very large, and have pale pinkish-white expansive 
sepals, with ,bold open reddish-purple sepals. Another variety, called Stanwelliana, has been 
obtained by Mr, Low, of Clapton, from Messrs. Purdie and Merrilies, Stanwell Nursery, Leith- 
walk, near Edinburgh, and is flowering at Clapton, as well as at Mr. Denyer's, Loughborough- 
road, Brixton. It is a very superior kind, of a neat and excellent habit, with a very pale crimsony 
calyx, and an unusually large expansive purplish corolla. The latter feature is quite remarkable, 
and the variety is altogether a very beautiful one. — F. exoniensis, a new and large-flowered 
kind, was figured and described in our September number. — F. Laneii maintains its good character ; 
and, for compactness of growth, with profuseness and general showiness of bloom, is a really 
valuable variety. — F. mngnifica is about equal to F. Laneii in merit. It has short flowers, and 
the petals are particularly well thrown open. — F. Grenvilli and F. Frostii come very near the 
latter, and rank as good second-rate kinds. — Venus Victrix is one of the most peculiar of all the 
hybrids ; and, though the flowers are diminutive, they are extremely pretty. They have a 
whitish calyx, and a very deep purple corolla. The habit is slender and elegant. — F. tricolor is 
allied to the last. It has a little more pink in the calyx, and the corolla is of a kind of crimson 
hue. It is a pleasing variation fi-om Venus Victrix. — F. conspicua arborea resembles F. tricolor 
in the flowers, the corolla of which is, however, redder. It has a very stiff" upright habit, and a 
great quantity of foliage. It is too inelegant in its mode of growth. — F. Eppsii has immense 
flowers, which want more purple in the corolla. It grows too luxuriantly, and to too great a 
size. — As a variety more after the old character, F . formosa elegans, from its graceful habit, 
from having the sepals of the calyx reflexed so as to show the corolla well, and from its intensely 
purple corolla, is one of the sorts most deserving cultivation. What is especially wanted in this 
tribe, now, is some striking novelty, such as the flowers of F. corymbifloraf on a dwarfer and 
smaller-leaved plant, or having a whitish tube. We have no doubt that this species will be found 
one of the best parents in producing something strikingly diff'erent from the present races. 
Gesne^ra caraccasana. Introduced from the Caraccas, and flowered by Mr. Mountjoy, of 
Ealing, while it is now in bloom at Messrs. Young's, Epsom. It is a free-blooming and splendid 
species, growing from two to three feet in height, with downy foliage, and flowers of the usual 
scarlet colour, apparently intermediate in form between such species as G. Cooperi and G. rutila, 
or Douglasii. As it seems to blossom all the summer, it will be a desirable plant for the stove. 
Gladiolus Gandie'nsis. Of the many admirable Gladioli, this is perhaps one of the most 
beautiful. It seems to be an hybrid, raised at Ghent ; or, at any rate, received from thence into 
the English nurseries, where, especially in those of Mr. Knight, Chelsea, and Messrs. Rollisson, 
Tooting, it has blossomed finely, and yet remains in bloom. It has flowers somewhat like those 
of G. communis, though very much larger, with more of an intensely rich crimson in them than 
of scarlet, and very little of the yellow stripes. Grown either in a large pot or in a southern 
border, it forms a truly noble object when in flower. 
Li'lium specio'sum. An experiment made with this plant at Mr. Knight's, King's Road, 
Chelsea, has happily proved it to be hardy enough to stand through our winters unsheltered, and 
only to have its leaves slightly injured by cold winds in the spring. A similar experiment made 
with L. speciosum album, on a large scale, by Mr. Groom, nurseryman, of Clapham Rise, has 
terminated with the like success ; and the plants may now therefore be ranked among our 
established hardy things. They, with the other variety, have flowered magnificently in the 
nurseries this year, and we have observed that the flowers possess an aromatic and agreeable 
fragrance. To cultivate them well, it is quite evident that they must have a very open and turfy 
soil ; such as a light turfy loam, with a good deal of leaf- mould incorporated. A small quantity 
of decayed manure is also useful. If grown in pots, these should be large ; and, draining the soil 
well, pots of sufficient size should be supplied in the spring, to dispense with shifting, which is 
difficult, and probably injurious. By keeping them near the glass, when they are in a greenhouse, 
they will be hindered from becoming so tall, and the specimens will be of more suitable proportions. 
