April 13, 1882. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
805 
Hyacinth Blossoming Underground. —Mr. Smee of Wallington sent 
a specimen which, in consequence of being under a stone, had blos¬ 
somed G inches below the soil. The leaves were quite white, but the 
flowers of a deep purple. 
Telopea speciosissima. —Mr. Green exhibited a fine head of this 
scarlet-flowered Proteaceous plant from Australia. It is common 
about Sydney, but much less fine than the specimen exhibited. It 
was first figured in 1808, but has rarely flowered in this country. A 
botanical certificate was awarded it. He also exhibited a fine speci¬ 
men of the Monkey Orchis from Italy. A vote of thanks was 
accorded to Mr. Green. 
At the lecture in the afternoon the Rev. J. Henslow described the 
Rhododendrons and other plants brought before the Scientific 
Committee. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM LEEANUM. 
A VERY beautiful and distinct Odontoglossum bearing the above 
name was exhibited at Kensington on March 28tb, and the follow¬ 
ing day at the Royal Botanic Society’s Show by the introducers, 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, and at each Exhibition it was 
honoured with a certificate. The plant shown is considered to be 
the only specimen in this country, and it has been transferred from 
Chelsea to the fine collection of Orchids at Downside, Leatherhead, 
in honour of the proprietor of which (W. Lee, Esq.) this Odonto¬ 
glossum has been named. 
In the colour and markings of the flower it is suggestive of the 
new species O. excellens in the possession of Sir Trevor Lawrence, 
Bart., but the form of the flower and the size of the dots render it 
quite distinct. The sepals and petals are spreading and wavy, of 
a bright pale yellow colour, with numerous small rich chocolate 
spots. The lip is lighter than the body colour of the flower, some¬ 
what triangular in form, long, and has a few blotches slightly 
larger than those in the sepals and petals. The flowers are borne 
in short racemes, the habit of the plant being very neat and com¬ 
pact. In our engraving an outline reduced sketch showing the 
habit of the plant i3 given, with a single flower of the full size. 
HAREBELLS. 
The common wild Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) is one of 
the prettiest of a very beautiful class of plants. It is represented 
in the mountains of central and southern Europe by several closely 
allied varieties or species of which I shall speak presently. The 
British Harebell is common throughout the island, but especially 
in the north, the Bluebells of Scotland being famous. It will 
not flourish except on a dry or a well-drained spot, and for this 
reason it puckers hillsides and banks. It likes to grow through 
the crevices of stone-facing walls and in the fissures of perpen¬ 
dicular rocks, and is common to the very summit of the highest 
Welsh mountains. Few plants are better adapted for cultivation 
on dry banks or the higher parts of sunny rockeries, and as it 
does not spread fast or overgrow its neighbours, it is well worth a 
place. 
The many varieties both in the form and in the size of the bell 
are remarkable, their peculiarities of flower being constant when 
the plants are transferred to cultivation. Every degree may be 
found, from a nearly flat saucer-shaped bell to a long narrow 
bell more contracted at the mouth than at the base. The size also 
varies as much as the shape, the largest I have ever seen being, 
I think, those which grow on the perpendicular sides of the rocks 
at the Little Orme’s Head. There are also many shades of colour; 
in fact, every shade from dark blue to the purest white. Many 
plants having blue flowers or purple flowers produce white varieties. 
If the type is blue, the intermediate shades pass through lavender 
and mauve ; but if purple, then they pass through rose-colour or 
light red. To those who understand the composition of colours 
the reason for this is obvious. I never saw a rose-coloured Hare¬ 
bell, though the Canterbury Bell, being more purple than blue, 
passes into rose-colour when the colouring matter is deficient. 
Many Veronicas, the common Self-heal, the purple Mullein (Ver- 
bascum phoeniceum), and some others do the same, but there is no 
tinge of red in any of the varieties of the Harebell. The pure 
white form is common on the banks here, and a very beautiful 
flower it is. 
Nursery catalogues contain altogether about a dozen names of 
Campanulas which the gardener may fairly class together as Hare¬ 
bells. Some of them are more robust and less particular about a 
dry situation than the British form, and for some the botanist may 
claim characteristics distinguishing them as species ; but after 
collecting all I have been able, I am at a loss what line of dis¬ 
tinction to adopt. If we are rightly told that the Gigantic Self- 
heals (Prunella grandiflora), which come to us from the south are 
only local enlargements of our native species, we need not make 
any difficulty about difference of size in the Harebells. 
In giving the names, I give them as they came to me, mostly 
from well-known nurserymen, and I am not further responsible 
for them. We have Campanula Hostii, both blue and white, a 
stiff-growing strong form, but in other respects similar to our own 
Harebell. We have C. azurea, sometimes sold as C. alpina (the 
true C. alpina being very distinct), and C. rhomboidea or rhom- 
boidalis, and C. tenella. These three seem alike. They are much 
taller and more leafy and have much thicker stalks than our form, 
but have a connecting link with it in a plant which I bought from 
Mr. Ware as C. rotundifolia major, which resembles them in nearly 
