66 
FLORICULTURAL NOTICES. 
Cro v ct. A collection of five very curious Crocuses is represented in the " Botanical Register " 
for January, under the names of Crocus Chrysanthus, a small orange flower with a dark-coloured 
limb to its corolla ; C. nivalis, larger than the last, but also small, for the most part violet-coloured ; 
C. VeluchensiSf pale and deep violet, with the sepals and petals of the flower of the former shade 
tipped with white, and those of the latter crimson ; C. Salzmannianus, with large pale violet 
flowers, whose sepal margins are shaded white ; C. Byzantinus, a very singular flower with violet 
sepals and white tipped with violet petals. — Bot. Reg. 4. 
Cyana'nthus lobatus. " C. lobatus appears to be a native of the higher range of the 
Himalayas. It was raised in the garden of the Horticultural Society, from seeds received from 
Captain William Munro, in April, 1845, and said to have been c collected in Chinese Tartary, on 
the Snowy Passes, at an elevation of 12,000 feet, in October, 1844.' It proves to be a delicate 
hardy little herbaceous plant, with small fleshy roots, like those of some species of Campanula." 
This plant is a member of a genus whose station in the Natural System is undetermined. It has 
small leaves alternately arranged on slender stems, which bear terminally a solitary flower, the 
limb-segments of whose corolla are widely spread, for the most part bluish purple with a pale blue 
base and tube. — Bot. Beg. 6. 
Da'phne Fortu'ni. This charming deciduous shrub was introduced from China in 1844 by 
Mr. Fortune, who first discovered it in a nursery garden, near Shanghae, in the winter of 1843. 
It was then leafless, but having taken it to the south, with other plants, for the purpose of for- 
warding them to England, the warmth forced this plant into bloom before it was sent off. Returning 
through the northern provinces in the spring of the following year, he found it wild on many of the 
hills in the province of Chekiang, forming a dwarf shrub, two or three feet high, losing its leaves in 
autumn. In March and April the flower buds expand, and then the whole of the hill sides are 
tinged with its beautiful lilac-coloured blossoms, and have a very gay appearance. Before they 
fade, the Azaleas burst into bloom, and give those northern hills a description of beauty quite 
peculiar. The Chinese name is Wu-lan-ee. Like the Mezereon its bark is extremely acrid and 
poisonous, and is used by the natives to produce blisters on the skin, particularly in cases of 
rheumatism. It is easily cultivated, growing freely in loamy well-drained soil, and strikes freely 
from cuttings. The main points in its cultivation are — a well-drained soil, full exposure to the 
sun when forming and ripening its wood during the summer months, and rest during winter when 
the leaves fall off. Attention to these matters will always secure a fine show of bloom in the early 
part of the spring. It will probably prove quite hardy. — Hort. Jour., vol. ii., 34. 
Diely v tra Specta'bilts. This plant is beyond all comparison the handsomest of the natural 
order of Fumeworts. It was discovered in a state of cultivation in China by Mr. Fortune. It 
grows eighteen inches high, and has three or four axillary racemes of beautiful flowers, each 
raceme beiug from four to six inches long. The flowers are a full inch long, and nearly three 
quarters of an inch wide, with the two saccate petals of a delicate rose colour, and the intervening 
narrow one white with a purple tip ; probably a hardy plant. — Hort. Jour., vol. i., p. 233. 
Dendro v bium triade x jmium. " In characterizing this species, a few weeks since," says Dr. 
Lindley, " we spoke of it as a lovely plant, with the habit of Dendrobium crumenatum, but with a 
very close racemose panicle of flowers, transparent, about as large as in D. adnncum, nearly white, 
with a tinge of rose, a violet spot on the end of the petals and lip, and a three-lobed yellow tubercle 
in the middle of the latter." An East Indian species, but from what locality is unknown. Noticed 
at page 165 of last volume. — Bot. Reg. 1. 
Erythri^na Bid'willii. Of the plant bearing this name the Hon. and Very Rev. the Dean of 
Manchester thus writes :— " This plant was sent to me at Spofforth, by Mr. Bidwell, from 
Sydney. I am not sure whether it was raised by himself or Mr. Macleay. It is a 
hybrid production, from E. herbacea, impregnated by E. Crista- gcdli, and is remarkable as being, I 
believe, the only certain hybrid papilionaceous plant we have. It is a very beautiful plant of 
intermediate habit. Its vigorous shoots die down to the root after flowering, and have leaves of 
an intermediate form approaching in colour and gloss rather to those of the Carolina E. herbacea. 
The flowers- are of intermediate size and colour ; but like those of E. Crista galli, borne by threes 
at the axils of the leaves as well as on a terminal spike, while those of E. herbacea are borne on a 
leafless spike proceeding from the root. I hope to multiply it by cuttings, and consider it to be a 
great acquisition. The figure necessarily gives a very inadequate representation of an inflorescence 
