THE FLORAL MAGAZINE 
NEW SERIES.] 
•JANUARY, 1880. 
[No. 97. 
HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 
At the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on 
December 16th, the leading feature was a very fine 
collection of Cyclamen Persicum from Mr. H. B. Smith, 
Ealing Dean Nursery, Ealiug. In this large collection, 
white varieties, having flowers altogether pure, were 
prominent, and very sweet and pretty they were, 
despite the horrible dullness, fog, and cold without. 
The horticulturists present admired them exceedingly; 
alas, there was scarcely any one else present besides 
them, for the resident Fellows appear to take but little 
interest in these meetings. A very fine pure white 
variety, with broad stout segments, and a delicious 
purity of colour, was awarded a First-class Certificate 
of Merit. It was named Baroness Burdett-Coutts. 
This was decidedly the gem in Mr. Smith’s collection. 
From Mr. Henry Little, Hillingdon, Uxbridge, came 
some singularly-beautiful crimson and purple-coloured 
varieties of Cyclamen Persicum, that will in all pro- 
bability grow into splendid things by spring. Mr. 
Little also had a fine lot of cut blooms of Japanese, 
Lai’ge-flowered, and Pompone Chrysanthemums, in 
good condition, showing how late in the present year 
these things can be had in flower. 
Of new plants proper there were but few. A First- 
class Certificate of Merit was awarded to Oncidium 
Edwardi, a small pale purple-flowered species, with 
the sepals and petals somewhat reflexed, the lip slightly 
yellow, and the blossoms beautifully scented. Herein 
laid its great charm. It came from Mr. Osborn, 
gardener to H. J. Buchan, Esq., Southampton, who 
also had the curious pale-yellow Odontoglossum Lin- 
deni. 
Some new Japanese Chrysanthemums were shown 
by Messrs. T. Jackson and Son, Nurserymen, Kingston, 
to one of which, Mons. Lemoine, a First-class Certifi- 
cate of Merit was awarded. It has quilled florets, the 
centre ones cerise-amber, the exterior ones pale yellow ; 
it was probably its distinctness, rather than its size, 
which gained it this award. A fine lot of cut blooms 
of the newer Japanese Chrysanthemums were shown 
by Mr. J . W. Moorman, Combe Bank, Kingston. 
Mr. H. Cannell’s collection of eighty bunches of cut 
Zonal Pelargoniums, contained such remarkably fine 
flowers, that they appeared to be of finer quality than 
when grown in summer. The colours were wonder- 
fully rich, the dull weather appears to deepen the hues 
in a remarkable manner. While so much is being said 
and written about winter-flowering plants, the names 
of some of the best Zonals in Mr. Cannell’s collection 
may be given as well-adapted for the purpose. Of 
crimson shades there are — David Thomson, very deep 
and rich in colour; Charles Schwind, John Gibbons, 
Henri Jacoby, Commander-in- Chief, very fine; H. H. 
Crichton, Titania, and General Grant. Of scarlet 
shades — Polyphemus, Tom Bowling, Mrs. Whiteley, 
Gnome, C. Teesdale, Robert Burns, very fine ; Lizzie 
Brooks, and CEnone. Of cerise-tinted flowers — The 
Baron, Hettie, Mars, very fine ; Circulator, and Mrs. 
Brown, very fine. One purple-tinted variety stood out 
from all the rest for its marked individuality of cha- 
racter, viz., Dr. John Denny, a crimson-flowered sort 
that takes on a rare purple hue at this season of the 
year. Another variety, named Guinea, is the nearest 
approach to a yellow Zonal, and is wonderfully fine and 
distinct. The best pink-flowered varieties were — 
Heather Bell, Mrs. Strutt, Olive Carr, Lady Sheffield, 
Sybil Holden, and Louisa. The best salmon-tinted 
varieties— President McMahon, Sophie Birkin, Mrs. 
Clifton, Marguerite Ponton, and Gustave Merlet. The 
best whites — Evening Star, Remus, and Miss Glad- 
stone. 
Abutilon Rose Queen, from Mr. J. George, is a 
pretty, free-bloomiug variety, but much like others. 
From Mr. Ollerhead, gardener to Sir H. Peek, Bart., 
M.P., Wimbledon House, came a group of excellently- 
grown plants of Poinsettia pulckerrima, and with 
them a group of what is termed the rose-coloured 
variety, but it is not nearly so good or so effective as 
the former. A group of plants of a Zonal Pelargonium, 
named West Brompton Gem, pretty and well-grown 
plants, with five heads of bloom, came from Mr. W. 
Miles, West Brighton Nursery, Clifton Ville. It is 
said to be a seedling from the well-known Vesuvius, 
and while there is a great resemblance between it and 
this old favourite, it was yet sufficiently distinct. We 
think it a valuable variety for winter-flowering and for 
cutting from, as some of the plants had six and eight 
fine trusses of flowers. 
