333 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 23, 18 5. 
members and their friends, who closely examined the many interesting 
exhibits which graced the tables. The meeting was called more especially 
to give the members an opportunity of showing anything they might po3S333 
of interest amongst spring flswers, and a lovely display there wis, 
the invitations sent by the energetic Hon. Secs., Messrs. J. Don and E. 
Steward, being heartily responded to. Mr. C. A. Pearson, Chilwell, was 
called to the chair, and at once opened the business of the evening by- 
describing some of the exhibits and appealing to the exhibitors to indivi¬ 
dually give a description of their productions as well as thiir mode of 
cultivation. 
Mr. T. S. Ware, Tottenham, sent a magnificent box of hardy spring 
flowers, amongst them being a great variety of Narcissus, Fritillaria, Scillas, 
and other lovely things, which was much commented upon and admired by 
all present. Messrs. Cannell & Sons, S wanley, Kent, also sent a great variety 
of Narcissuses, Cinerarias, Pelargoniums, and other cut flowers, all of which 
was much admired. A vote of thanks was awarded for these two interesting 
exhibits. Mr. Anderson, gardener to H. R. Clifton, Esq., Clifton Hall, 
exhibited a dozen finely grown Cinerarias grown in 6-inch pots, each of 
which carried massive heads of bloom measuring from 3 to 4 feet in circum¬ 
ference, the flowers being remarkably brilliant and of great size. The same 
exhibitor had handsome blooms of Camellia Bealii rosea. Mr. Ande-son 
briefly described his mode of culture. Mr. Samuel Thacker sent a small but 
choice group of flowering Orchids, amongst which were several well-flowered 
plants of Cattleya Trianas, Cattleya Sanderana, and Cattleya Mossise, also a 
very fine variety of Dendrobium nobile. Another interesting group was 
sent by Mr. German, gardener to T. B. Cutts, Esq., Malvern House, who is 
the President of the Society; amongst them were well-flowered examples of 
Phalsenopsis amabilis, Oncidium Marshallianum, and Odontoglossum trium- 
phans, &c. Mr. J. H. Walker, gardener to J. W. Lewis, Esq., Hardwick 
House, Nottingham, sent a most beautiful bouquet of Rose buds (Lamarque), 
also a well-grown plant of Anthurium Schertzerianum giganteum ; and Mr. 
Meadows, gardener to C. J. Cox, Esq., Basford, a noble basket of Dendrobium 
chrysotoxum and a good stand of cut flowers of Gardenias, the former of 
which was awarded the Society’s certificate of merit. Messrs. J. R. Pearson 
and Sons, Chilwell Nurseries, sent a stand of spring flowers. Captain 
W. Lambert, Mapperley Hall, had some fine hybrid Rhododendrons, the 
qualities of which were fully discussed by the members. 
Several new members were elected, and a vote of thanks to the exhibitors 
and Chairman brought one of the most successful gatherings of the year to 
a close. 
VEGETATION IN CHILI. 
[The following interesting letter was recently communicated to the Pall Mai 
Gazette from Chanlion, Chili, by the celebrated botanical artist Miss Marianne North.] 
Mr chief object in coming to Chili was to see and paint the old forests 
of Araucaria imbricata, known in England as the Puzzle-Monkey Tree, 
rather unreasonably, as there are no monkeys here to puzzle ; probably 
they crossed the Cordilleras in disgust at the general prickliness of all 
plants here, especially the Araucarias, and never came back again. It 
was not easy to make out how to reach these forests. Some people talked 
of difficulties and even dangers ; they said I must sleep out, be eaten by 
pumas, or carried off by Indians, a noble race which has never yet been 
conquered by the white man ; others declared the trees no longer existed, 
having been all sawn up into sleepers for railways. 
But, as usual, I found all impediments vanish as I got nearer the spot, 
and four hours of easy and delightful riding from Angole, the present end 
of the railroad, brought me to the comfortable farmhouse of the Irish family 
who now own the Araucaria forests, which could be seen from the windows 
fringing the tops of the hills some five miles off with delicate, long stilted 
umbrellas. Nothing could exceed the hospitality of Mrs. Smythe and her 
brother Mr. Nixon, and no more perfect quarters could be found than those 
they gave me. The house was very roomy, built as usual in one storey, 
with a verandah all round, on a bare little knoll rising from green meadows, 
and surrounded by hills covered with trees resembling Oak and Beech, 
growing separately and in groups, so that the sun could peep through and 
sweeten the grass under them, which gives the best of food to some 2000 
cattle which are straying over the property, and to about a hundred cows, 
which at that time were giving quantities of milk and cream, and the butter 
was already famous. In the winter the cows are divided and given over in 
charge to the different cottagers on the estate, who take care of them, and 
make cheeses, giving back half the profits and keeping half for their trouble. 
The house might have been more picturesquely situated, but it was built at 
a time when the Indians were troublesome, and it was necessary to keep a 
good look-out, and have no bushes for them to hide in near at hand. 
A BOTANISTS PARADISE. 
It was a lovely ride from Angole and its terrible dust. First we 
mounted over rocks and more dust for some 2000 feet, among Puzas and 
succulent and prickly plants (which prepare themselves for the long dry 
season by hoarding moisture and growing weapons of defence to prevent 
other thirsty creatures benefiting by it), and then leaving a glorious view of 
snowy volcanoes behind us we entered the mixture of forest and pastoral 
scenery I have just described, passing stream after stream of clear running 
water and more lovely flowers than I had seen in all Chili before. The 
Embothrium, or Burning Bush, was in full beauty, growing in long sprays 
of 6 or 8 feet high, quite covered with the purest vermilion flowers formed 
something like Honeysuckle. But I saw none grow into such a tree as I 
saw in my cousin’s garden in Cornwall last year ; perhaps it may enjoy a 
new soil and climate, and treat England as our common weeds do Chili; 
they have quite driven the natives out on the great plain or valley of 
Santiago, and show unbroken masses of Camomiles, Thistles, Turnips, and 
Cornflowers far stronger than those of Europe. Near the streams were 
masses of huge Gunnera leaves (whose stalks are eaten like Rhubarb), 
lovely Ferns with pink furry stalks and young leaves, and a most exquisite 
scarlet flower, something like a Mimulus, which dipped its roots in the 
running water and grew nowhere else. A small Bamboo and many other 
graceful plants grew over these things, and overhead hung from the 
branches of the Oaks a most beautiful Lauranthus, with bright green leaves 
and pale green buds, changing as they opened to yellow, then turning 
orange, and becoming deep red before they dropped. The flowers were 
often half-smothered in the Grey Lichen, commonly called “ Old Man’s 
Beard,” which waved in every wind, and grew in masses on all the Oaks. 
The Beech had its own pet parasite—a tiny Mistletoe, forming perfect balls 
of every shade of green and gold, and over the bushes climbed many species 
of Pea, Lapageria, and lovely pink star flowers, which hooked themselves 
up by the long tendrils at the ends of their leaves, while some yellow stars 
seemed to have no leaves, only tendrils. Tall Fuchsia trees were there, too, 
and Budlea with its golden balls, sweet as honey, and whose leaves when 
toasted and pounded form the popular cure for all wounds and so:es. 
Another bush called the Pinche looks like a Lilac and white Heath, and is 
said to be a cure for all diseases. The Grass was in flower, quite red and 
lilac, and sprinkled over with exquisite scarlet Lilies, Alstroemerias of many 
tints, Tropseolum, and four species of Orchids so handsome that I persuaded 
my host to send roots to Mr. Veitch ; it seemed a shame that the Chilians 
(who do not appreciate native flowers) should alone possess such treasures. 
A FOREST OF PUZZLE-MONKEYS. 
Soon after reaching the first Araucarias we found ourselves surrounded 
by them and all other trees gave way to them, though the ground was 
still gay with purple Peas and orange Orchids, and many tiny flowers 
whose names I did not know, and which I had not time to paint then— 
such flpwers when picked die almost directly. Many hills and the valleys 
between were covered with old trees, covering some miles of space, and 
there are few specimens to be found outside this forest. I saw none over 
100 feet high or 20 feet in circumference, and, strange to say, they seemed 
all very old or very young. I saw none of those noble specimens of 
middle age we have in some English parks with their lower branches 
resting on the ground. They did not become flat-topped like those in 
Brazil, but were slightly domed like those of Queensland, and their shiny 
leaves glittered in the sunshine, while their trunks and branches were hung 
with white lichen, and the latter weighed down with cones as large as one’s 
head. The smaller cones of the male trees were shaking off clouds of 
golden pollen, and were full of small grubs, which, I suppose, attracted the 
flights of parroquets I saw so busily employed about them. These birds 
are said to be so clever that they can find a soft place in the great Bhells 
of the cone when ripe, into which they get the point of their sharp beaks, 
and fidget it until the whole cracks and the nuts fall to the ground. It is 
a food they delight in, and men too, when properly cooked, like Chestnuts. 
The most remarkable thing about the trees was the bark, which was a 
perfect child’s puzzle of knobby slabs of different sizes, with five or six 
decided sides to each, and all fitted together with the neatness of a honey¬ 
comb. I tried in vain to find some system on which it was arranged. 
A MOUNTAIN PICTURE. 
After wandering about the lower lands we climbed through the bogs and 
granite boulders to the top of one of the hills and came suddenly on a most 
wonderful view, with seven snow cones of the Cordillera piercing their 
way through the long line of mist which hid the connecting mountains 
from sight, and glittering against the greenish blue sky; each one looked 
perfectly separate and gigantic, though the highest was only 10,000 feet 
above the sea. Under the mist were hills of Oak and Beech forest, and 
nearer those of the Araucaria domes, while the foreground consisted of 
noble old specimens of the same tree grouped round a huge grey boulder 
covered with moss and enriched with sprays of scarlet Embothrium. No 
subject could be finer if it could only be painted. But that “ if ” is the 
plague of my life, and every year has proved more and more that it cannot 
be. We saw a guanaco feeding quietly under the old trees, and it looked 
strange enough to be in character with them, and made me wonder how long 
such a Noah’s ark kind of beast would be allowed to remain in such a 
civilised land as Chili, where nothing indigenous is valued. On the other 
side of the Cordilleras it is still so abundant that it is used as a beast of 
burden, though so weak that ten of them cannot carry the load of a donkey. 
A TITANIC FLOWER. 
The Puza or Chaguale was the other plant I wanted most to paint. One 
wretched specimen flowered at Kew last spring, and excited much attention, 
and I struggled to draw it in all the glare and discomfort of the Cactus 
house, not venturing to ask that so precious a plant should run the risk of 
catching cold by being taken to my room there. Here there are three kinds 
growing in quantities, each in its peculiar locality. The largest has a 
yellowish-green flower, and is seldom far from the seaside. Its proportions 
are those of a London gas lamp, the flower head esmn longer than the lamp, 
often over a yard long, and it is a most noble object when seen standing 
above its rosettes of Pine-like leaves, among the rocks and cliffs, with the 
sky and sea behind it of that deep blue and purple one only finds among 
volcanic rocks. The blue variety grows farther inland in the valleys and 
rocky clefts high up; whole hillsides are often covered with it, and I have 
seen twenty-five flower stalks rising from one mass of leaves, which are 
silvery and most beautifully curved like some of the Bilbergias, its cousins. 
I shall never forget the first time I saw them growing when climbing in 
search of them near the Baths of Apoquindo ; the clouds overtook me and 
hid everything for awhile, till I saw those tall flowers like ghosts close to 
me, then a snow peak far beyond, and then I got into a new world of 
wonders, with blue sky overhead and a mass of cotton-wool clouds hiding 
all I had left below, and the strange Puza flowers for company and plenty 
of time to study them. About sixty branchlets are arranged spirally round 
the central stem, each a foot long, and covered with buds wrapped in flesh- 
coloured bracts. These open in successive circles, beginning at the base ; 
the three flower petals at first opening are of the purest turquoise blue, 
then they become darker, a mixture of arsenic green and Prussian blue, the 
third day a greyer green, and then they curl themselves up into three 
carmine shavings, and a fresh circle of flowers takes their place outside, so 
that the longer the plant has been in bloom the larger its head becomes, 
and as the heads of the spikes or branchlets bloom last it loses its form and 
looks ragged and disreputable. Its stamens shine like gold in their 
polished metallic blue caps, and it is marvellously beautiful at first. The 
third kind is smaller, and its flowers thin and of a very dark blue, but its 
bright pink stalk is very effective when seen against the grey stones. The 
gum of the Puza is valuable as a medicine, and resembles gum arabic. Near 
the Puza the tal Cactus generally grows its pillais, often 6 or'8 feet high, 
