. - - - - -~ ' ' " ' 'T " ■' ■' - 
November ig, 1882 .] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 455 
plant in blossom in the Botanic Garden of Cambridge, U.S.A., wher& 
it threw up a gigantic spike of blossoms ; also a drawing of A. brac- 
teata from the same locality. 
Chrysanthemum Sport. —Dr. Masters also showed a blossom half 
white and half yellow, the two kinds of florets equally dividing the 
head. Remarks were made upon the way to obtain large flowers, 
there being not only the terminal one in point of position, but lateral 
ones of a certain period of development. 
Friesa odorata and Babiana rubrocyanea (?) were sent by the Hon. 
and Rev. J. T. Boscawen from Cornwall. The latter comes from 
South Africa. 
Glass with Pattern. —Mr. J. Clarke of Smakeleys, Uxbridge, sent a 
pane of glass from a lean-to house which had been whitewashed. 
The whitewash had partly disappeared, leaving a peculiar pattern on 
the glass. No explanation could be suggested as to the cause. 
Proliferous and Monstrous Flowers. —The Rev. G. Henslow exhi¬ 
bited the following specimens :—Proliferous states (Rhododendron 
balsamiflorum aureum, from Mr. Yeitch), with flowers proceeding from 
the centre of the pistil. The latter organ had dehisced longitudinally, 
and a cluster of malformed orange-coloured petals protruded from 
the orifice. Mr. Henslow observed that every flower on one bush in 
his garden of a common pink kind had during the last season formed 
a blossom within the pistil, though in this instance the flowers so 
formed had perfect as well as petaloid stamens. In every case the 
flower sprang from the base of the ovary. Carnation with a secondary 
flower proceeding from within the calyx tube (received from Miss 
Owen, Gorey). Blue Bell, each flower being elevated on a long pedicel 
(2 inches), and bearing secondary flowers from the axils of the perianth 
leaves. In one case a normal flower was replaced by a raceme. 
Solomon’s Seal with leafy racemes occupying the position of each 
flower. 
Monstrous Floivers—Pistillody of Calyx. —Violets, virescent in part 
or entirely, with sepals abortively ovuliferous, and the petals laci- 
niated; in some instances purple, in others green. The sepals bore 
papilliform structures on margins and midribs resembling rudimen¬ 
tary ovules, the only recorded instance of ovuliferous sepals being 
one of the common garden Pea, figured and described in Gard. Chron., 
18G6, p. 897. Pistillody of Stamens.—He exhibited drawings illus¬ 
trating various stages of ovuliferous stamens in the Alpine Poppy, 
(received from Miss Owen). Syngenesism in Diplotaxis tenuifolia.— 
In this case the anthers of every flower cohered laterally, so that the 
pollen could not escape. The consequence was that in no case did 
a flower set seed, the siliquas remaining small and abortive. Received 
from Mr. Marshall of Ely. 
Placental Protrusion in Begonias. —In these flowers the placentas 
bearing many ovules had protruded at the summit of the ovary, 
apparently from an hypertrophied condition of the former (from Miss 
Owen). Movement of pedicels in Meconopsis nepalensis (received 
from Miss Owen) illustrating observations recorded in the Gard. 
Chron., July 10th, 1882, p. 767. Mr. Henslow suggested that this pre¬ 
vented the seeds from being dropped close to the parent plant, as the 
fruit dehisces at the base of the style, as in Papaver, below the stigmas. 
In both cases the pod is held erect, but when a capsule is pendulous, 
as in Campanula, the pores are at the base, so that in every case the 
plant is enabled to scatter its seed as it is swayed by the wind. 
Fasciated Stems. —A remarkable example of Carduus lanceolatus 
some 8 feet in length and 6 inches broad (received from Mr. Marshall 
of Ely), a peculiarity of which was that it had appeared for four years 
successively in this condition ; and another of Lilium auratum. 
Enations on Yucca. —Leaves of Yucca filamentosa (?) with peculiar 
horn-like protuberances of about half an inch long, probably caused 
by some insect (from Miss Owen). 
Lecture.— The Rev. G. Henslow took the Chrysanthemum as the 
subject of his lecture. This plant is referable to two distinct species 
—C. indicum, L., and C. sinense, Sab. —though until Mr. Sabine so 
determined them in 1823 they had been confounded. The former 
appears to have been in the Chelsea Gardens in 1764, but was lost. 
The latter was first introduced in England in 1790, though called and 
figured as C. indicum in the “ Botanical Magazine,” No. 327, being 
supposed to be only an enlarged cultivated variety. The first-named 
species is with very little doubt the origin of all the “ Pompons.” It 
was reintroduced by Mr. Fortune in 1846 as the “ Chusan Daisy ” or 
“Minimum,” and now numbers probably more than one hundred 
varieties. With regard to the large kind, or C. sinense, the first 
notice of its cultivation in Europe was by Breynius, who describes 
six kinds in Holland in 1688 ; but it is strange that they all dis¬ 
appeared, and were only reintroduced one hundred years afterwards 
into Europe by M. Blanchard in 1789. Many varieties had been long 
cultivated in China and Japan, as Kcempfer in 1712 observes ; while 
Rumphius in his “ Hort. Amer.” notices that they were grown in 
1745 in India, having been brought from China. 
The reintroduction of this kind into Europe was by M. Blanchard 
into Marseilles, thence it passed to Paris and England. From this (a 
purple kind) the sport called the Changeable White was soon ob¬ 
tained. Sir A. Hume introduced several new colours between 1798 
and 1808. Many others soon followed, so that in 1827 forty varieties 
were in cultivation. In 1865, Mr. Salter tells us, they had risen to 
seven hundred. In 1830 seed was obtained for the first time in 
France. Previously, besides forms introduced, the Chrysanthemum 
being particularly liable to sport, cuttings only had been propagated ; 
but seedlings caused a vast influx of new forms of both species. 
In 1862 Mr. Fortune introduced the new Japanese races, some with 
long petals and curious mouths to the corollas, suggesting the title 
of “ dragons.” It appears, however, on the authority of Mr. Craw¬ 
ford, Consul of Oporto, that the Japanese forms had been long culti¬ 
vated there before their introduction into England. 
The origin of the different forms of these flowers lies mainly in 
the changes undergone by the corollas of the disc or eye florets. In 
the wild form the ray florets have strap-shaped, the disc florets 
regularly five-toothed, tubes to their corollas. The principal changes 
may be thus enumerated :—I. To strap-shaped, becoming flattened 
from base to apex : (1) rolled inwards ; (2), rolled outwards ; (3) loose 
and spreading ; (4), ditto, but much attenuated, pointed or bifur¬ 
cating. II. The tube retained : (1), short, with five slightly enlarged 
teeth (Anemone) ; (2), teeth much enlarged and multiplied (Dragon) ; 
(3), tube elongated, with no teeth (quilled) ; (4), quilled, but open at 
the end and spoon-shaped, as in the Emperor of China. 
STRAWBERRIES. 
In a recent number of the Journal a correspondent, writing 
about fruits, asks which is the best Strawberry. That is a difficult 
question to answer, and one about which there is sure to be a 
great diversity of opinion, and as difficult to decide as to say which 
is the best Rose or the best of any other flower. Before you 
answer the question you want to ask another—For what purpose ? 
One variety is suitable for one thing, and another for something 
else, and the soil and situation make a considerable difference. 
Sometimes a Strawberry which thrives well in a certain garden 
and gives every satisfaction will not succeed at all in another only 
a stone’s throw away. But the soil must not be blamed too much, 
for very often it is the cultivator who is in fault. He lets the 
weeds smother the poor Strawberries, and is not sufficiently par¬ 
ticular in keeping the plants entirely distinct, so that in a wet 
season like the past there is such a development of foliage that the 
fruit cannot mature. Although it is difficult to say which is the 
best, I have no objection saying that if I only grew one it would 
be Keens’ Seedling. Now I can quite understand some people 
would not concur in this, and say as a reason it is not large enough. 
Nothing delights some people more than to grow Strawberries so 
large that you must make two bites of them ; but I do not see any 
advantage in having Strawberries so very large, and Keens’ Seed¬ 
ling may be obtained of a respectable size by making a selection 
of plants. Some of them produce fruit larger than others, and if 
size is the object save runners from them. At the same time it 
must be admitted that the fruit cannot be grown to the size of 
Sir J. Paxton and others. And then the question is, Why not 
prefer a larger variety ? The reply I should give is that Sir J. 
Paxton is a midseason variety, and if I only had one it would be 
rather tantalising to see plenty of Strawberries in the market for 
weeks before I had any. Then, again, Sir J. Paxton, although a 
good cropper in a general way, is liable to have the produce 
diminished in a cold wet season like the last, and also in a very 
hot and dry one, and the same remark applies to others. 
Strawberries, like French Prime Ministers, have their day. They 
come out, they obtain popularity, they rise to the highest pinnacle, 
and remain there for some years, then their fortune is on the wane, 
another comes to the front, and they are finally supplanted and. 
never again resume the position they held before. At one time it 
was British Queen, at another Sir Harry, at another Yictoria, and 
now it may be said to be Sir J. Paxton. How long it will con¬ 
tinue in its present position it is difficult to say. There are other 
candidates in the field, but I must wait until next year before I 
can give an opinion as to their merits.— Amateur, Cirencester. 
RENEWING BORDERS OF HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 
A GOOD border of hardy herbaceous plants, intermixed with 
some of the best half-hardy and tender annuals, is greatly appre¬ 
ciated in gardens now ; and although in many gardens such 
borders receive a due share of attention, there are still numbers of 
places where they are much neglected. The strong-growing plants 
are allowed to take possession of the border, and any plants of 
weaker habit are ousted from their position for the want of a little 
attention. To have a satisfactory border it is necessary to trench 
the border and give it a dressing of manure or decayed leaves 
about once every two years ; and as the season has arrived when 
the annuals are past and most of the perennials out of flower, 
the present is a favourable time for carrying out the work. 
Before commencing operations the material for dressing the border 
with should be placed near at hand ; then lift all the plants for 
about 3 or 4 yards at one end of the border, and lay them in near 
to where it is intended to finish off the work. This will give ample 
room to start the trenching. As the work proceeds lift the plants 
