386 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Auricula Delicnta (Dean).—A peculiar form of the common Auricula 
with large double yellowish flowers. 
Mimulus moschatus grandiflorus (Dean).—A dwarf form, with large 
yellow flowers and compact in habit. 
Mimulus IIose-in-Hose (Dear.).—Flowers very large, of an orange 
bronzy colour. 
Mimulus moschatus rubra (Dean).—Very dwarf, the flowers of a 
bronzy brown colour, small, and abundant. 
Scientific Committee.— Sir J. D. Hooker, K.C.S.I., in the chair. 
Finns A ordmanniana Diseased. —Mr. MacLachlan gave his report on 
the specimen sent last meeting by Mr. Noble, and considered the 
insect to be Chremes corticalis in a young state, but he required to 
see the winged form before speaking positively. He recommended 
the means used in America for destroying the “ Orange scale,” Ac. 
The most effective appears to be an emulsion, of which the recipe is 
as follows :—Two parts of refined kerosine and one part of sour cow’s 
milk. Apply as spray by means of a foi’ce pump. It must be used 
at once while the oil and milk are intimately mixed. Or a solution 
of 1 tb. of whale-oil soap with one gallon of water. Apply as spray 
while hot, because it solidifies on cooling. Mr. Noble sent a bough 
which had been treated as above. It certainly had done no damage 
to the tree, but Mr. MacLachlan could not say for certain whether 
the eggs had been killed, and recommended a second application as 
soon as a new brood appeared. 
Orange Coccus. —Sir J. D. Hooker showed specimens with a letter 
from Mr. G. S. Jenman of the Botanic G-ardens, George Town, 
British Guiana, asking for information as to the best method of 
destroying the pest. It was referred to Mr. MacLachlan for report. 
Primulas. —Dr. Hogg observed that he had raised the English 
Oxlip from seed, and it had come perfectly true. He also raised a 
seedling of the Bardfield Oxlip. This, however, developed into a 
Polyanthus of a dull red colour, with all the characteristic form of 
the English Oxlip. Mr. G. F. Wilson exhibited a yellow Polyanthus 
of a novel tint, having a greenish centre. 
Ixilirions. —Mr. Elwes exhibited sprays of three species—montanum, 
Ledebourianum, and tartaricum, which under cultivation appear to 
be very nearly identical. 
Tulipa undulatifolia. —He exhibited a cultivated specimen to show 
how it had changed from the wild state as it occurs in Asia Minor. 
The wild form has the edge of the leaf closely crimped. The leaf is 
linear, and the flowers one-third the size of the cultivated plant, 
whereas the leaf shown was broad and had a waved margin only. 
Fritillaries. —He also exhibited flowers from the supposed species 
pyrenaica, lycica, oranensis, and lusitanica, with a small dark- 
coloured as well as a yellowish-green-flowered seedling. All these 
Mr. Elwes is inclined to think identical, though F. bithynica with 
green flowers and four large bracts seem very distinct. The question 
was raised whether the above could not be the result of hybridisation. 
Mr. Elwes remarked that Lilies were very difficult to hybridise, and 
he thence inferred that Fritillaries would be similar. Hybrid Lilies 
always died out very soon. 
Iris Hybrid. — Professor M. Foster exhibited a hybrid between 
L Balchana and I. Cengialti, with probably some of I. pallida in it. 
The former has purple and veined flowers, pallida being sky blue. 
I his hybrid had the foliage, scape, and spathe of Balchana, but the 
stamens of pallida ; while the flower was much larger than is Balchana. 
He remarked upon the great difficulty of Irises setting seed unless 
artificially crossed. Bees appear to be very ineffectual agents. 
Mr. Elwes remarked that lowness of temperatui'e had often much to 
do with the setting of seed, especially in the case with Tulips, and 
observed that they did so with greater freedom in the Mediterranean 
regions than with us. This was corroborated by Sir J. D. Hooker, 
who remarked that a relatively small number of plants at Kew seeded 
well as compared with the great number grown. Dr. Hogg remarked 
that florists grow a great many whole-coloured Tulips as “ breeders,” 
and wait, it may be ten years, before they “break;” and that con¬ 
versely, if variegated Tulips are not taken up, as was the case in the 
Botanic Garden at Hull, they revert to self or whole colours. Mr. 
Henslow remarked that the facility of raising seed from whole- 
coloured flowers was co-related with the fact that such (as Darwin 
had shown with Mimulus and Carnations) are much better able to 
fertilise themselves. With reference to variation of colour, Dr. 
Masters observed that a plant of the common Wood Anemone trans¬ 
planted to a garden has now turmd blue. Mr. Elwes observed that 
at Bangor four colours occur in the same wood. 
IMium Thompsonianum.— Mr. G. F. Wilson brought a cut spray. 
The plant has ten spikes, the main one having thirty-five flowers 
upon it. This is very difficult to blossom unless the bulbils are 
removed from it. 
The Rev. G. Henslow delivered a lecture on Narcissuses, but notes 
on this we are compelled to reserve until next issue. 
EVENING MEETING. 
. The first meeting of Fellows of the Society and their friends, held 
in the rooms of the Linnsean Society at Burlington House, was in all 
respects a great and gratifying success. One of the rooms contained 
many small but extremely beautiful collections of plants and cut 
flowers, the former comprising several rarities from the nursery of 
Messrs. Yeitch <fe Sons at Chelsea, and a most interesting variety 
from the Cambridge Botanic Gardens by Mr. Lynch ; the flowers 
including rich boxes of Orchids from Mr. Lee, Downside, Leatherhead, 
and splendid assortments of Rhododendrons from Mr. J. H. Mangles, 
Yalewood, Haslemere, Mr. C. M. Major, Cromwell House, Croydon, 
and the Hon. and Rev. J. T. Boscawen. Mr. Mangles contributed 
many of his striking hybrids ; and Mr. Major had, amongst others, a 
magnificent truss of the grand R. Nuttalii with seven large and 
handsome flowers. Mr. Barr exhibited his collection of Narcissus 
in the familiar blacking-bottles, the latter attracting quite as much 
nutice as the former. Mr. E. G. Loder, Floore, Weedon, Northampton, 
exhibited a most interesting collection of flowers of rare hardy plants, 
comprising several dozen species and varieties. Mr. W. Thompson, 
Ipswich, sent flowers of Heterostoma lobelioides and Narcissus bi¬ 
color primulinus; and a tasteful group of plants was shown from the 
Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens at Chiswick. This small 
exhibition, however, was but a prelude to the meeting in the lecture 
hall, which was a crowded and enthusiastic one, the address of the 
President of the Royal Horticultural Society, Lord Aberdare, and 
the papers of Professor Foster and Mr. Loder, the observations of 
Dr. Hogg, Sir Joseph Hooker, Mr. Elwes, Mr. Baker, and others 
being listened to with great attention and much applauded. Lord 
Aberdare, after thanking the Linnman Society for their generosity in 
granting the use of the rooms, referred to the palmy days of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, its difficulties, position, and prospects. 
While he was fully conscious the Commissioners of the Exhibition 
of 1851 (the trustees of the gardens at South Kensington) would 
grant the Society all possible facilities for holding their meetings 
and shows, it was impossible to say to what purposes the gardens 
would be deveted after the close of the Fisheries Exhibition now 
being arranged in them, hence it was deemed a prudent course to gain 
a footing elsewhere, and especially did he urge the importance of re¬ 
newed efforts being made towards restoring the scientific character of 
the Society. Towards this end his lordship thought the meetings now 
being inaugurated will contribute greatly, and he trusted that so satis¬ 
factory a commencement would lead to a successful continuance. 
He then called upon Dr. Michael Foster, Shelford, Cambridge, to 
read his paper on Iris susiana. 
Dr. Foster commenced with a brief history of the species as men¬ 
tioned by Clusius, Parkinson, and others, referred to its geographical 
distribution, and commented on the singular and striking beauty of 
the flowers. He regretted that flowers of the true species could not 
be obtained for exhibition so early, but he showed flowers of I. iberica 
with several varieties, which is closely allied to I. susiana, and served 
to illustrate the distinguishing characters of this group. Before 
proceeding to that, however, he described at length the structure of 
an Iris flower, and clearly depicted the difference between the hairs 
on the falls of the bearded Irises and those in the falls of the group 
in which I. susiana is included. The former, he showed, were 
aggregated in the centre of the falls, and when examined under 
the microscope they are seen to be plain and unbranched, while 
on the falls of the latter the hairs are scattered and furnished 
with minute projections. What purpose these served he could 
not state, but that they have an object there is little doubt, and pro¬ 
bably connected in some way with the exclusion of insects, suefi as 
ants, that would not assist in the fertilisation of the flower, and per¬ 
haps prove injurious. Several rare allied species from Turkestan, the 
borders of Persia, and other districts of Asia, were described and 
illustrated by coloured drawings executed by Mrs. Foster. The 
species so noticed included I. Saari, I. paradoxa, I. acutiloba, I. Hey- 
landiana, and I. Koroikowi, which is considered by Dr. Regel one of 
the most attractive of the group. In conclusion Dr. Foster briefly 
detailed the culture needed by these Irises, an essential point being 
the thorough maturation of the plants during summer, which could 
only be effected by covering them with frames at that season, ex¬ 
posing them fully to the sun, and withholding water for two or three 
months, removing the frames in September to submit the plants to 
the rigour of the winter. This would be an approximation to the 
climatic conditions which prevailed in the districts where they are 
found, and it is only by attention to these matters that success can 
be expected. At the conclusion of the lecture Sir Joseph Hooker 
remarked that he never heard a more lucid and interesting scientific 
discourse before any Society in Europe, and he complimented Dr. 
Foster highly upon the manner in which he had treated the subject. 
In reply to an inquiry by Mr. Baker of Kew as to whether any of the 
rare species named above are in cultivation in this country, Mr. 
Elwes observed that he had grown most of them, but they had ail 
died, and he had experienced much difficulty in the cultivation of the 
group generally. [We reproduce on page 385 a figure admirably 
representing Iris iberica, as exhibited by the lecturer, from a series 
of articles on the genus published two or three years ago in this 
Journal.] 
Mr. E. G. Loder then read his paper upon hardy Cacti, briefly com¬ 
menting upon the characters of the order Cactaceae in comparison 
with the Crassulaceae and allied families which may be considered 
as their representatives in Europe. The variation in form, as shown 
by the columnar Cereus, the globular Echinocactus and Melocactus, 
and the flat Opuntias, were illustrated by coloured plates of typical 
species. Attention was then given to the forms which came under 
the denomination “ hardy Cacti,” many of which are found in North 
America, Mexico, and on the Andes of South America, sometimes 
in districts where the temperature falls to 12° or even 20° below zero, 
so that they might be reasonably expected to prove hardy here, 
though they receive less sun heat in the summer. The latter point 
