THE ELOEAL MAGAZINE 
NEW SERIES.] JULY, 1874. [No. 31. 
FLOWER SHOWS. 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, May 27. 
At the Show held on May the 27th, by the Royal Horti- 
cultural Society, Messrs. Haage and Schmidt, of Erfurt, 
exhibited a series of Double Cinerarias, which give great 
promise of becoming very useful plants ; the colour was 
rich and varied, but the contrast of colour, especially the 
circle of white so striking in the single varieties, was lost 
in the double forms. 
The great Summer Show, which took place on June 
4th and 5th, was one of the best that has been held for 
some years. In the great Davis competition, Mr. Baines 
secured first honours, with unsurpassed plants of Ixora 
coccinea; I. aurantiaca ; Allemanda Chelsoni ; Bougain- 
villea glabra; Dipladenia amabilis; Clerodendron Bal- 
fourianum ; Franciscea confertiflora, and Boronia pin- 
nata. Next in order came plants from Messrs. Cutbush 
and Kemp. Stove and greenhouse plants were well re- 
presented by Messrs. Williams, Jackson, and Son, and 
Moore. Of Orchids and fine foliage plants and Ferns, 
there was a very fine display sent by several of our best- 
known nurserymen and amateurs. Messrs. Paul and Son 
and Mr. Turner were the only exhibitors of Roses in pots ; 
whilst of show Pelargoniums there was a capital dis- 
play. Amongst new plants Mr. Bull sent Phyllotaenium 
Lindeni, and many others; Mr. Williams, Alsophila 
Williamsii, referred to in another place, with many new 
plants; and Messrs. Rollinson, of Tooting, an unnamed 
Pandanus, &c. The first prize, for six new plants not 
yet in commerce, a gold medal (and the only one 
awarded), fell to the share of Mr. Bull. A magnificent 
group of new and rare plants, occupying the central 
position of the large tent, was shown by Messrs. Veitch 
and Sons, of Chelsea ; and Mr. Peacock, of Hammer- 
smith, forwarded a select number of his famous Agaves, 
Aloes, &c. 
On June 17th, Mr. Barr sent a large series of named 
Lilies, in continuation of the plants before exhibited by 
him, and on which Professor Dyer commented. A first- 
class certificate was awarded to Mr. Lidgard, of Ham- 
mersmith, for a dwarf free-flowering white Lobelia, 
Duchess of Edinburgh; to Messrs. Veitch and Sons, 
for a Lily named Lilium purpureum ; to Mr. Chitty, 
of Stamford Hill, for a striking new Coleus, also named 
Duchess of Edinburgh. Mr. R. Dean showed cut 
flowers of Antirrhinum, of great beauty and merit, and 
a good strain of seedling Penstemons, which was com- 
mended. 
THE FLORENCE INTERNATIONAL 
EXHIBITION. 
We are glad to hear that Messrs. Veitch and Sons, of 
Chelsea, have been awarded four gold medals, two silver, 
and one bronze, for the new Plants, Orchids, and Im- 
plements exhibited by them in Italy. 
DENDROBIUM AMCENUM. 
This lovely and seldom seen stove epiphyte has recently 
been exhibited, in fine condition, by Mr. William Bull, 
of Chelsea, and most deservedly awarded a first- 
class certificate. The flowers are white, sepals tipped 
with purple, and the labellum adorned with a yellow 
blotch. Its odour is strong and peculiar, being exactly 
like that of sweet violets. 
NEW WEEPING TREE FERN. 
Mr. B. S. Williams has recently exhibited a new 
Weeping Tree Fern, of great beauty, under the name 
(given to it by Mr. Moore) of “ Alsophila Australis, var. 
Williamsii.” Our readers will remember that the two 
best known Weeping Tree Ferns, and which have re- 
cently attracted so much attention, are African, and 
come under the genus Cyathea. These are C. Burkei, 
and C. Dregei; but Mr. Williams’s Alsophila, illustrated 
in the Gardeners’ Chronicle for June 6th last, is de- 
cidedly more graceful in habit than either of the two 
former. 
TILLANDSIA ZAIINII. 
This plant, introduced by Messrs. Veitch and Sons, from 
Costa Rica, through their collector, Mr. Zahn, after 
whom it has been named, is one of the most exquisitely 
beautiful of all plants we have seen. Its habit appears 
more regular and geometrical than other Tillandsias ; 
but to us its chief beauty resides in its translucent 
amber-coloured foliage, beautifully and minutely striped 
from base to apex with fine, sharp, regular, unbroken 
lines of crimson-red. As the plant advances in growth 
to the flowering stage, these leaves change in colour to 
rich scarlet. The clusters of flowers are rich golden 
yellow. Tillandsia Zahnii received the first prize, as 
