May 15, 18S4. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
889 
Hill, some handsome tuberous Begonias ; Mr. R. Phillips, The Gardens, 
The Deodars, Meopham, a collection of well-grown Gloxinias; and Mr. Gray 
Cragg, Crouch End Road, plants of a double Wallflower named Souvenir of 
the Duke of Albany. Mr. R. Dean, Ealing, showed specimens of the charming 
Iberis gibraltarica hybrida from the open ground, the lilac or white flowers 
being of considerable size and borne in dense heads. From the Society’3 
garden at Chiswick pretty groups of Gloxinias, Ferns, Cape Pelargoniums, 
and a specimen of the strong-growing Todea africana were also contributed. 
First class certificates were awarded for the following plants :— 
Carnation Mrs. Maclaren (Turner).—A crimson bizarre with large sub¬ 
stantial blooms ; well formed and even. 
Phlox setacea Vivid (Ware).—One of the dwarf Phloxes, very free with 
bright pink flowers having a deep red centre. An excellent variety, one of 
the best coloured forms. 
Calochortus Bentliami (Ware).—Yery distinct and pretty, and well worth 
a higher award than the second-class certificate granted. The flowers are 
1£ inch across ; the sepals tapering petals ovate, bright yellow, brown at the 
base, having on the upper surface a nnmber of large hair-like appendages. 
Mimitlus moschatus Cloth of Gold (Dean).—A dwarf pretty flowering 
variety with large yellow blooms. 
Odontoglossum Alexandra delliense (Baron Schroder).—Chiefly remarkable 
for the dark chocolate prominent spots and the purplish tinge, as the 
flowers are of moderate size, though well formed. 
Odontoglossum Alexandra Ballantynei (Baron Schroder).—A handsome 
variety ; flower large, petals and sepals broad, white, with a dark central 
blotch of chocolate ; lip large and beautifully formed. 
Brassia antheroites (Williams).—A remarkable Orchid. The flowers are 
7 inches in diameter from tip to tip of the sepals. Sepals and petals narrow, 
one-eighth of an inch broad, tapering, yellowy brownish black at the base. 
Petals 1£ inch long. The lip is triangular, yellow, barred with brown. The 
spike was strong, over 2 feet long. 
Saccolabium curvifolium superbum (W. Lee, Esq., Downside).—A richly 
coloured variety, the spike 6 inches long, and the flower of a clear reddish 
scarlet hue. 
Cattleya Mendelli selbornensis (W. Lee, Esq.).—Yery beautiful, sepals and 
petals pale purplish crimson, the latter very broad. The lip is delicately 
fringed, rich crimson at the point, gold and white in the throat. 
Masdevalli Chelsoni (Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart.).—A neat, freely flowering 
Orchid, the flowers somewhat like a small M. Yeitchii, red scarlet, with a 
yellow tinge, a peculiar colour. 
Phalanopsis sumatrana purpurea (Sir Trevor Lawrence).—Flowers 2 inches 
in diameter, white with bars of brown ; the lip is a warm crimson purple. 
Yery distinct and pretty. 
Cypripedium grande (Sir Trevor Lawrence).—A wonderfully strong plant, 
which, owing to its fresh green leaves, is handsome even w'hen out of flower 
It had two spikes with three to four flowers each, the petals 9 inches long, 
narrow, and twisted, of a rosy tint. The sepals are large, of a very pale 
brownish colour with darker veins. The lip is greenish, very pale, with spots 
on the margin. 
Asplenium horridum (Williams).—A bold and effective Fern, with fronds 
18 inches to 2 feet long, pinnate, with dark brown or black stipes ; pinnas 
4 to 5 inches long with rounded segments. 
Zonal Pelargonium Belle Nauceinne (Laing).—A double salmon-coloured 
variety, bearing a remarkably large dense truss of full flowers. 
Acer japonicuni aureum (Veitch).—Very distinct; the leaf is 3 to 4 inches 
across, and has eight or nine short lobes neatly serrated. 
Acer polymorphum septemlobum elegans purpureum (Yeitch).—A dark- 
coloured form, the leaves having 5 to 7 deep, narrow serrated lobes. 
Variegated Sycamore (C. Kershaw, Brighouse).—The leaves of this were 
of a reddish tinge, but as they seemed to be but half expanded, it was in the 
opinion of many persons scarcely worthy of a certificate. 
Scientific Committee. —Dr. M. T. Masters in the chair. 
Aloe ferox attacked by Death-watch Beetle (Anobium striatum).—Mr. 
Maclachlan showed a piece of stem from Kew. The beetle apparently con¬ 
fined itself to the exterior dead wood, and was therefore presumably not 
injuring the living plant within. Kerosene was recommended as the best 
thing to apply. 
Larva of Lepidoptera.—Ka. also showed some very remarkable “ cases,” 
some exactly resembling a Helix or Cyclostoma elegans, others like that of 
the Caddis worm. They were made by species of Psychidm, and came from 
Mpwaipwa, about one hundred miles from Zanzibar. 
Potatoes Growing in the Dark. —Mr. Houston exhibited some Potatoes 
in which the sprouts were short, and producing a dense mass of coral-like 
branches instead of developing into elongated shoots. It was probably due 
to pressure under confinement. 
Canker in Service Tree. —Mr. Grote exhibited a bough of Pyrus Sorbus 
or P. domestica sent by Mr. Frere of Roydon Hall, Norfolk. As the cause 
was not apparent Mr. Grote will acquire more information and report 
upon it. 
Plants Exhibited. —Mr. Loder showed the following A fine spike of 
Fritillaria Thomsoni grown in a cold pit; Primula dolomitis, Muscari lati- 
folium, and M. atlanticum (?), Scilla nutans var. bracteata, &c. Those with 
doubtful names were referred to Kew. 
Dietes bicolor (?).—Col. Clarke forwarded a blossom, as it was doubtfully 
correctly named. Mr. Ridley undertook to report upon it. 
Cankered Bose. —Mr. Plowright sent a branch of a Rose, requesting if 
any insect agency was present. Mr. Maclachlan could detect none, and the 
cause was apparently not fungoid. . . 
Caoma Laricis and (Ecidium Pint. —He also sent specimens of these fungi. 
The former, Mr. Plowright observes, is new to this country. “It is very 
abundant at Lynn at the present time, hardly a Larch I have yet examined 
being free from it; but it is never very abundant in point of quantity.’ The 
GUcidium Pini he describes as being fairly abundant, and that it is the sub¬ 
sequent condition of Coleosporium Senecionis. 
Pu'cinia suaveolens on Carduus arvensis. —Mr. Plowright sent specimens of 
this sweet-smelling fungus. . 
Bhododendron lanatum. —Several fine trusses of this Himalayan species 
were sent by Mr. W. Farrant from the Isle of Man. The blossoms were 
larger than those figured by Hooker. Mr. Mangles observed that he only 
knew of five large plants in this country, but the flowers sent we. e excep¬ 
tionally fine. He also sent a truss of the sweet-smelling R. Fortunei and 
some of R. niveum. 
NARCISSUS ABSCISSUS (N. muticus). 
One of the latest of all the Daffodils, and for that reason especially 
valuable, is the variety shown in fig. 91, which, though long an 
inhabitant of England, is comparatively unknown in many gardens. 
The engraving was prepared from plants in Mr. T. S. Ware’s nursery 
at Tottenham, where several beds a week since were just becoming 
attractive when the majority of other Daffodils were either fading or 
quite out of flower. It is there grown under the name of N. muticus, 
which was bestow T ed upon the plant by Mr. J. Gay many years since, 
when it was described in a French botanical work. In most English 
collections, however, it bears the title of N. abscissus, which is a 
rendering of Parkinson’s “ dipt trunk ” Daffodil, that is reasonably 
supposed to be identical with 
thi3 plant. At the recent Daf¬ 
fodil Conference it was ad¬ 
mitted as a botanical variety 
of N. Pseudo-Narcissus, rank¬ 
ing with cambricus, lobularis ( 
Telamonius, and princeps. It 
is, however, so distinct in 
appearance that some have 
been tempted to regard it as 
a species, and such an opinion 
is excusable, though having 
regard to the surprising diver¬ 
gencies obtained in this group 
it cannot be considered as 
more than a variety. 
No special treatment is needed ; any ordinary garden soil suits it, 
and with very moderate care it will grow and flower as freely as could 
be wished. The blooms are pale yellow, the petals lighter than the 
crown, which is remarkably long, straight, and tube-like. 
Fig. 91.—Narcissus abscissus. 
English Giant Oaks. —In an article by Mr. \V. Senior in Cassell a 
“Picturesque Europe” on “The Forest Scenery of Great Britain, he 
states that at Welbeck there is the Greendale Oak, an Oak estimated to be 
by one authority seven hundred, and by another one thousand five hundred 
years old. This Oak is probably the Methuselah of his race, although it 
may be noted that there are new forests which do. not, throuah their local 
historians, advance plausible claims for a like distinction, the Greendale 
Oak, nearly one hundred and fifty years ago, was deprived of its heart by. 
the eccentric detire of a former owner to make a tunnel through the trunk 
