November 11, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
423 
COMING EVENTS 
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Richmond, Tunbridge Wells, and Portsmouth Shows. 
Reading, Huddersfield, Lewisham, Cheehunt, and Canterbury. 
21st Sunday after Trinity. 
[ham. 
Winchester, Brighton, Putney, Southend, Watford, Teddington, Twicken- 
Bristol, Ascot, Newport, and York. 
AUTUMN-FLOWERING ’AMARYLLISES. 
IE spring and summer months afford us a wealth 
of Amaryllis flowers rich, brilliant, and varied 
in ‘colour, but later in the season we have 
hitherto had few representatives of the genus. 
At a time when indoor flowers are not too 
plentiful additions of any kind are most accept¬ 
able, and for this reason the autumn-flowering 
Amaryllises, now steadily increasing in numbers, 
are particularly worthy of attention. The 
species from which these have chiefly originated is Amaryllis 
reticulata, an old and well-known stove plant, but one that 
has never been regarded as of great horticultural value; nor 
until quite recently has its capacity for development been 
recognised. There is now, however, every reason to sup¬ 
pose that a distinct and beautiful race of varieties and hybrids 
will be formed that should command as much favour as the 
spring-flowering type now so popular. 
According to the first edition of Aiton’s “Hortus 
Kewensis,” published in 1789, Amaryllis reticulata was then 
grown in the Eoyal Gardens, having been introduced in 1777 
by Dr. Edward Whitaker Gray. In Andrews’ “ Botanists’ 
Depository,” vol. 3, plate 179, which was not issued until 
more than ten years after the first-named work, the species 
is well illustrated in a coloured plate, and it is said that the 
plant was first cultivated in 1772 at the Hammersmith 
Nursery, the bulbs having been received from Portugal by 
Edward Whitaker Gray, M.D., of the British Museum, and 
were by him communicated to Messrs. Lee & Kennedy. 
If the latter account be correct it would seem that the plant 
was introduced from Brazil to Europe by some traveller, and 
that it passed from Portugal to England. In Andrews’ 
illustration the white midrib of the leaf is not shown, the 
flowers being suffused with rose and reticulated with a darker 
shade. Some variations differing slightly in depth of colour 
have appeared from time to time, but over 100 years elapsed 
before any very distinct departure from the ordinary character 
was obtained, and it seems strange that, although other 
Amaryllises received so much attention from hybridisers, this 
species should have been comparatively neglected for so long. 
It is probable that experiments with the object of securing 
hybrids between A. reticulata and some of the ordinary 
scarlet varieties were commenced about the same time both 
at Chelsea and Upper Holloway, but the first recorded success 
was gained by Mr. B. S. Williams. At one of the meetings 
of the Eoyal Horticultural Society in 1881 this raiser 
exhibited a plant of a hybrid between A. reticulata and the 
scarlet variety Defiance, which was named Mrs. Garfield, and 
at once honoured with a certificate. It was recognised as a 
distinct advance upon the ordinary type, the flowers larger, 
well formed in good heads, most delicately but clearly veined, 
with bright soft rose on a pure white ground. The strength 
of habit and floriferousness had evidently been greatly 
improved by the cross. Following this in 1882 came Autumn 
Beauty, this time from Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons’ Nursery, 
and all that has been said in favour of Mrs. Garfield might 
be repeated of this. It was the result of a cross between A. 
reticulata and a scarlet variety, and the former type seemed 
to have profited in an exactly similar manner. In both 
these the reticulata parentage predominated in the foliage, 
which retained the white midrib and in the venation of the 
flowers, but a tendency towards successional or periodical 
flowering during a great portion of the year was also 
developed that has been still further improved in subsequent 
acquisitions of a similar kind, but especially in the direction 
of autumn and winter flowering. 
About the same time as the two hybrids named made 
their appearance another hybrid was produced on the con¬ 
tinent and figured in the Flore des Sevres as A. reticulata 
vittata, the veining of the flowers being rather bolder and 
darker than in the others. Then in 1884 followed Mrs. 
W. Lee from Mr. B. S. Williams, which was certificated by 
the Eoyal Horticultural Society at South Kensington and 
the Eoyal Botanic Society at Eegent’s Park. This was a 
lovely addition to the list, and amply merited the honours it 
secured. The flowers have the rose colours partly suffusing 
the lobes of the corolla, but the “reticulation ” is still seen, 
and in the centre of each lobe is a well-defined white band. 
The strength of habit was still further increased, and the 
floriferousness became still more marked, the scapes bearing 
five and six good blooms each, and the plant can be fairly 
described as perpetual flowering. 
Two more varieties or hybrids were introduced to public 
notice in 1885—namely, Autumn Charm from Messrs. J. 
Yeitch & Sons, and Comte de Germiny from Mr. B. S. Wil¬ 
liams, both being certificated at South Kensington. Autumn 
Charm has large beautifully formed flowers, pure white, 
veined with bright rosy red, a distinct tint and well marked. 
Comte de Germiny was a seedling from Mrs. Garfield crossed 
with a scarlet Amaryllis, and has flowers of good size richly 
veined with crimson, and barred with white in the centre of 
the lobes. It is a bold, handsome variety, and affords a 
pleasing contrast with the other lighter tinted forms. This 
season a handsome variety of the same type has been intro¬ 
duced from the continent, named Perloti, which is perhaps 
one of the most distinct of these hitherto obtained. The 
flowers are very heavily veined with intensely dark rose 
crimson on a white ground, the rich colouring showing still 
more strikingly in contrast with the white central bar in each 
lobe of the corollas. One of the last to be described is Pioneer, 
which flowered in Mr. B. S. Williams’ nursery last month, 
and is said to be the result of a cross between Crimson King 
and Mrs. Garfield. In this the veining of the petals is quite 
lost, the colour being a soft scarlet, and it will probably prove 
the progenitor of a race of scarlet-flowering autumn Amaryl¬ 
lises. 
To these must be added another hybrid that was certifi¬ 
cated at South Kensington last Tuesday, November 9th, and 
which is entitled to rank amongst the best that have yet been 
raised. This was appropriately named Lady Mayoress, and 
came from Messrs. J. Yeitch and Sons’ nursery, having re¬ 
sulted from a cross between Amaryllis reticulata and a 
variety of A. Leopoldi. The last-named parent has in¬ 
fluenced the size of the flower considerably, and the colour is 
deeper than in most of the other forms—a rosy red bearing 
reticulation on a lighter ground, but with the colour more or 
less suffusing the whole of the flower. We next may expect 
that someone will be fortunate enough to raise a pure white- 
flowered seedling, and then we shall have a charming series 
of variations. 
A few others have been raised and named, but those 
mentioned have the best marked characters, and present 
sufficient diversity amongst themselves to merit including in 
any collection. One advantage they all possess which must 
not be omitted—namely, they are evergreen, and their leaves 
are sufficiently ornamental to render them worthy of cultiva¬ 
tion on that account alone, and in some stoves this has been 
the chief recommendation the old Amaryllis reticulata has 
possessed. The increased freedom of flowering of the hybrid 
No. 333. —Vol. XIII., Third Series. 
No. 1989 --Vol. LXXV., Old Series. 
