Marcli 2G, 13)1. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
211 
■designed and appropriately embellished with plants are often very 
•effective. 
The lawn is now found in most gardens in Bombay, and as it is easily 
Irept up and is delightfully green throughout the whole of the year, 
there are very few objects that serve better to give a charming relief to 
trees and plants. A few trees, a clump of shrubs, an ornamental Grass, 
a Palm or two when considerately placed, greatly add to the beauty of 
the lawn, and many good examples of this kind are found in Bombay 
gardens.^ A few flower beds in the lawn are desirable, when round or 
oval, plain in shape, but too often the beauty of the lawa is spoiled by 
the too great number of flower beds. Shrubberies are commonly 
separated from the roads either by a bit of lawn, which is undoubtedly 
the most effective, by a narrow grass border, or by a mixed border of 
"flowering or foliage plants, edged with suitable plants. The above 
description refers to the commoner kinds of front garden only ; besides 
tihis generally at least a small part of the compound is utilised as garden, 
either planted with fruit trees, or laid out in so many different fashions, 
^hat it is impossible to give a general description of them. Flower 
beds, clumps of hardy Ferns or various arrangements of plants in pots 
^nd tubs, often are prominent features in those parts of the garden. It 
is also here the fernery will generally be found. The Bombay ferneries 
are a peculiarity which deserves a few words. The fact is that the 
-climate is so congenial for the growth of Ferns, that nothing more than 
■•a slight protection from the sun is generally wanted to make them 
succeed, though naturally an increased moisture of the atmosphere is 
■beneflcial and desirable. A simple shed constructed of rafters and 
roofed with a loose wove of coir matting answers all purposes, especially 
df the sides are covered with a light trellis-work covered with creepers. 
Though simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive, and cheap 
to maintain, such sheds can be made extremely picturesque, and their 
•interior, when tastefully laid out, occasionally with the assistance of 
bits of rockery, old roots of trees, tanks or fountains, often bids fair to 
rival or even surpass the best conservatories at home. It is not a bad 
plan, as is sometimes seen, to leave the north side fernery open ; it 
;greatly adds to the attractions of the garden, and is perfectly safe as 
dong as the cold north wind is in some way, as by a not too distant 
-shrubbery, prevented from having direct access to the plants. 
It is difficult to make only a limited selection among the great 
number of plants conemon to Bombay gardens of those that specially 
■deserve to be pointed out as chiefly contributing to the peculiar charms 
■of our gardens. I shall, however, seek to draw the line so as not to tire 
■jou by the enumeration of too many botanical names. The most 
striking of all plants in Bombay are perhaps our magnificent creepers. 
'It is difficult to conceive an idea of a more gorgeous mass of colour 
than that displayed by the Bougainvilleas when in full bloom, and how 
-many individual objections there may be to the particular colour of the 
-commoner kind, nobody can seriously deny its imposing effect, and all 
■will agree in admiring the brick-coloured variety. Not so evident on 
.account of its shorter period of flowering, but perhaps more brilliant 
and graceful, is the vivid orange-coloured Bignonia venusta. Less 
•striking but graceful and charming the Antigonon, with its masses of 
rose-coloured flowers. In the Thunbergia grandiflora and T. laurifolia 
the handsome large pale blue flowers are beautifully set off by dense 
-and elegant foliage. The rare white-flowered variety is specially 
•charming. The large white-flowered Beaumontia must be seen in flower 
to enable anybody to conceive its great beauty. Among the many 
Ipommas or Morning Glory none is more striking than the splendid 
■dark blue flowered 1. Leari, though it is in certain respects surpassed 
■by the rather straggling pale rose-coloured I. carnea, and cannot vie in 
beauty with the splendid dark crimson flowered I. Horsfallim, which is 
•still very rare in Bombay. A creeper which has flowered for the first 
time in Bombay this year, Oiontadenia speciosa (wrongly called 
Bignonia regalis in Bull’s catalogue) bids fair to rank next to Bignonia 
wenusta in beauty. It bears large clusters of Allamanda-shaped pale 
salmon-coloured flowers, and appears to be of a free-flowering habit, 
INowhere, perhaps, is a greater profusion of flowers met with than in the 
handsome Rangoon Creeper, Quisqualis indica, a common inhabitant of 
our gardens. Less effective but still attractive are the different kinds 
of crimson and scarlet-flowered Combretums (Poivrea), the lovely sky 
blue Jacquemontia, the sweet scented May Creeper (Vallaris Heyni), 
dihe Snow Creeper (Derris scandens), the Bridal Wreath (Porana volubilis), 
■all with masses of white flowers, the well-known Stephanotis, the several 
Passion Flowers, among which the scarlet Passiflora vitifolia ought to 
be more commonly grown, the quaint but handsome mauve Petrma 
Tolubilis, and numerous other creepers. It must, however, be regretted 
that one of the commonest creepers of our jungles, the brilliant 
•Gloriosa superba, is but rarely met with in gardens—a fact that may 
perhaps be chiefly attributed to the small attention paid to caterpillars 
by the mallees, as no plant is more liable to the ravages of these 
formidable enemies of our gardens. Other creepers are equally effective 
by the grandeur or elegance of their foliage, and none more striking or 
common than the magnificent Pothos aurea with beautifully golden 
-variegated leaves, increasing in size towards the end of the shoots, or 
the beautiful Monstera deliciosa, with its large curiously lobed and 
•pierced leaves, none more graceful than the charming Vitis discolor, 
•with the dark purple silver-blotched leaves, or the beautiful metallic 
bluish-green Selaginella laevigata, which, however, only succeeds in 
perfect shelter and shade. The Ficus stipulata, which is a good sub- 
•stitute for our English Ivy, though having much smaller leaves, is 
occasionally met with, but nothing is in fact more suitable for covering 
the far too of ten unsightly compound walls. The graceful Cane Palm, 
Calamus rotang—and the glossy-leaved Apple-scented Artabotrys 
odoratissima must also be mentioned as a favourite creeper, while the 
Elephant Creeper is chiefly remarkable for its rapid growth. 
(To be continued.! 
NARCISSUS BACKHOUSE!. 
Maxy beautiful hybrid types are now known amongst the Daffcdils? 
and have either been obtaiuc I artificially or found in a wild state and 
introduced in this countiy. A fine fonn, nimel after Mr. W. Backhous ; 
of Darlington, and apperrs to have resulted from a cross between N. 
Pseudo-Narcissus and N. incomparabilis, is that cf which a flower is 
represented in the woodcut (fig. 13). Concerning this, Mr. Baker has 
given the following descripfon ;— 
“ Stature and leaves of Pscu io-Narcissus : Flower solidary, horizontal ; 
tube obconic, about half inch long and broad ; segments spreading 
horizontally, oblong, imbricated, su’phur-yellow, 1-1 j inch long; 
corona lemon-yellow, a little shorter than the segments, with a deeply 
lobed plicate erect throat.” 
The delicate colouring of the corona renders this Daffodil a favourite 
with cultivators. 
^ SEEDS, THEIR GERMINATION, VITALITY, AND 
DISTRIBUTION. 
[Ilead^at Horticultural Club by Hr. GEORGE CnxY.tRD.] 
Fxiom the child who in the budding spring sows his Mustard and 
Cress, to the gardener and amateur botanist, the growth and progress of 
seeds is most interesting, and the more one has to do with them the 
greater appear the differences in their aspect, size, and form. I propose 
first to give a few particulars on their germination. 
It is well known how the larger forms start into growth. In Beans 
and Lupines they first swell out, then the outer skin burds, and from 
the germ a root emerges and takes a downward course, while the fleshy 
part of the seed is lifted to the surface of the ground by a stout stem 
connected to the root, when the two halves separate and form what 
botanists call cotyledons, from between which the first leaves arise (fed 
by the fleshy cotyledons). In Peas the seed remains in the ground, and 
a stem rises and unfolds its green leaves very quickly. In both cases 
the cotyledons wither after they have performed their office of nourish¬ 
ing the first leaves. Wheat and other grains also remain in the soil. In 
the case of Palms such as the Phoenix (or Dates) the seeds often remain 
upon the surface attached to the plant for a year or more, and in 
Walnuts and nuts they remain below the surface. In smaller seeds 
such as Lettuce the root strikes down and the cotylcions carry up the 
outside skin as a covering, and in Onions it is curious to observe that the 
thin rush-like growth carries up the black angular husk in a twisted 
form and retains it for some time. In Turnips, Cabbages, and other 
Brassicas the cotyledons rise in a few days and at once spread them¬ 
selves open on the surface. In some tropical plants most curious 
arrangements are observed ; tor example, in the double Cocoa-nut of 
