NOTES ON FLOWERS. 
135 
what excuse can be given for the names of 
Jehu, Cherubim, Og King of Basan, King 
Ahasuerus, and such like? There is nothing to 
recommend them, nothing euphoneous; it seems 
a kind of familiarity net at all creditable, a dis- 
respect openly shown to a book in which millions 
place their hopes of happiness now and here- 
after, and it is to them highly offensive. We 
are not going to open up a theological question, 
for religion is a subject not to be touched upon 
in works like these, except so far as religion 
may be defended anywhere, against any per- 
sons who make horticulture the means of 
offending. We know that in one or two in- 
stances the name has been given thoughtlessly 
by people who meant no harm. We have 
touched upon the subject with a view of put- 
ting a stop to, at the best, a foolish, and, so far 
as example goes, a mischievous act, that may 
grow into a practice. If we put it on no 
worse footing, it is extreme bad taste ; there 
are persons who would not even grow a flower 
under a name at the bare mention of which, 
we are told on the highest authority, every knee 
shall bend. We approve of the taste that 
selects appropriate names from dramas, from 
novels, from histories ; and these are inex- 
haustible. A single play would suggest half 
a score,— Sir Peter Teazle, Lady Teazle, Sir 
Benjamin Backbite, and the rest of the dra- 
matis persona? in the School for Scandal 
Avould last a very lucky man some time, and 
such names are far better than those of popu- 
lar idols. The Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert 
Peel, Lord John Russell, Queen Victoria, 
Prince Albert, and many equally important 
persons and personages, have had their names 
given to twenty things the same season; and it 
is far better that names, not of such temporary 
or such great interest, as the case may be, should 
be taken, as the less likely to be imitated. It 
should also be a sort of principle among 
florists to avoid naming things the same as 
others are already named, or likely to be 
named, and even to make choice of something 
that will afford a series. A steam-boat com- 
pany has set an example worth following ; one, 
with nine or ten boats, names the whole after 
flowers ; we have the Lily, Snowdrop, Pink, 
and so on : then there is a company which 
names all after the stars, such as Venus, 
Mercury, &c. ; another after precious stones, 
Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, Topaz, &c. ; and 
the Iron Steam-boat Company, with their first 
four boats, had Starlight, Daylight, Twilight, 
and Moonlight, and having exhausted the 
lights, began on what some people call the 
dark side of the case, Matrimony, Bachelor, 
Bridesmaid, Wedding Ring. All these fancies 
are well enough, but it is as well to commence 
with something that will supply enough, so 
.that the source should not require changing. 
And while upon the subject of naming flowers, 
we would suggest the propriety of attaching 
to them a brief but unmistakeable description, 
that should stick to it like its name ; in fact, 
one should be identified with the other ; it 
would prevent many mistakes. It would be 
advisable also in Pansies, Tulips, and many 
other flowers, to let the title in every respect 
show what it is; for instance, Bizarres should be 
always masculine names, Roses all feminine, 
and Byblomens all neuter ; in Pansies, the yel- 
low grounds all masculine, the white grounds 
all feminine ; in Picotees, heavy edges all mas- 
culine, and light ones all feminine : something 
of this kind would be generally useful, and 
make us all familiar with the main class from 
the hearing or reading of their names. Taste 
ought to have done this ; but when we con- 
sider the various grades of life from which 
some of the best florists have sprung, and how 
many of the very ignorant and humble classes 
have been concerned in the naming as well as 
the raising of our best flowers, it is not to be 
wondered at. Let us express a hope that these 
few remarks may be of some use among those 
who rarely give themselves the trouble to 
think, for however simple a thing we may 
have to do, there is nothing worth doing that 
is not worth a consideration of what is the 
best way to do it. 
NOTES ON FLOWERS AND FLOWERING 
PLANTS. 
Trichomanes radicans, Sivartz (rooting 
Bristle fern.) — Polypodiacese § Hymenophyl- 
leas. — A small fern, almost transparent in 
texture, and one of the most beautiful kinds 
in cultivation. It has a long tomentose, 
creeping stem, from which the fronds grow 
nearly erect, of an ovate outline, membranous 
texture, and two, three, or four times pinna- 
tifid, the ultimate segments being linear 
oblong ; the frond has a kind of crisped or 
curled appearance, and though of a deep green 
is nearly transparent in a fresh state. A very 
widely extended species, occurring in slightly 
varied forms in Jamaica, Martinique, Brazil, 
Mexico, Sandwich Islands, Nepal, and various 
parts of Europe, including England and 
Ireland. It bears many names, of which the 
most common are : — T. scanclens (Hedwig), 
T. diaphanum (Humboldt), T. sjoeciosum 
(Willdenow), T. brevisetum (Brown), T. ala- 
tum (Hooker), T. europceum (Smith), T. pyxi- 
diferum (Hudson), Jfyrnenophyllum alatum 
(Smith),andDidy7nogIoss2imalatum(Des\aux). 
Culture. — Should be kept in a greenhouse, 
covered with a bell glass, and the pot set in a 
pan, frequently but not constantly supplied 
with water ; rough peat soil mixed with free- 
stone and silver sand ; propagated by division 
of the plant. 
