August 31, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEIL 
189 
Atlantic. Until, however, some authority can give us a better 
name and secure its general acceptance, we must, I suppose 
veil it under the Greek name which, although of similar mean¬ 
ing, disguises to ordinary ears the unpleasant reference of which we 
complain. 
In Mr. Nicholson’s “Dictionary of Gardening” C. lerpentaria 
is described as a synonym of C. racemosa ; but, while this may 
be the case from a botanical point of view, for garden purposes 
the plants sold as C. racemosa and C. serpentaria are very distinct 
in the appearance of the inflorescence, the former having straight, 
erect racemes of flowers, while the subject of this note has its 
racemes twisted and abruptly bent in a curious manner, whence, I 
suppose, the derivation of the distinctive or specific name of ser¬ 
pentaria. In general this form in flowers is not particularly 
attractive, resembling as it does the effect at times produced by 
blooms which have for some time been laid prostrate, and have 
then been staked and tied to an erect position, thus frequently 
giving the flower spikes a twisted appearance. In C. serpentaria, 
however, this is not so, but the abrupt angles and contortion renders 
the plant more interesting, and in no way detracts from its beauty. 
I find, indeed, that this Cimicifuga is being more frequently sought 
for, and much disappointment is felt when, as is not unfrequently 
the case, the ordinary C. racemosa is supplied. 
I have recently seen some fine specimens of C. serpentaria, and 
in the garden at Cavens, Dumfries, N.B., several fine plants about 
5 feet high had a good effect in a long border contrasted with 
Aconitum bicolor. The Cimicifugas belong to the large family of 
Ranunculace^, and are very beautiful in a border suited to the 
growth of the taller herbaceous plants, where with a little shade 
and a fair amount of moisture, they will soon form handsome 
clumps. They are readily propagated by division, or by means of 
seeds, sown as soon as ripe. 
Early Flowering of Autumn Bulbs. 
The warmth of the past season has ripened bulbs early, and the 
rain which succeeded the great heat has pushed many into growth, 
thus bringing several plants which generally flower late in autumn 
into premature flower. Thus Leucoium autumnale came into flower 
the first week in July, and Colchicums Bertoloni and C. latifolium 
came into flower on July 28th and 29th respectively. One can 
hardly say that their appearance was welcome at this early season, 
when flowers were plentiful, and we looked forward to their succeed¬ 
ing other plants, and bridging over what is usually a comparatively 
dull season.—S. Arnott. 
Orchids at Chelsea. 
There were not at the time of my visit to Mr. Bull's the other 
day a great number of Orchids in bloom, as the season has cleared 
them off much more rapidly than usual. However, what there 
were assisted materially to brighten the structures devoted to their 
culture, and particularly noticeable amongst those in flower were 
Cypripedium oenanthum superbum, a very beautiful piece of 
Angrajcum descendens, the blooms of which were diffusing a faint 
but pleasing fragrance ; Habenaria militaris, little plants of which 
were throwing up their brightly coloured blooms ; Oncidium 
Kramerianum, Saccolabium Blumei longiracemosum in fine con¬ 
dition, and several richly coloured Lselias purpurata and elegans. 
On many of the Orchid pots were to be seen pieces of Potatoes 
placed as traps for woodlice. 
L^lia monophylla. 
We have no more charming little summer flowering Orchid 
than this. There are about a dozen examples of it in flower in the 
cool Orchid house at Kew, each bearing from six to a dozen flowers 
of elegant butterfly form, and coloured vivid orange scarlet. I 
have heard of a plant which bore three flowers on a scape, but all 
of the plants at Kew have only a single flower on each scape. 
The pseudo-bulbs are no thicker than a knitting-needle, 6 inches 
long, each bearing a single narrow leaf 3 inches long. The scape 
is slender, curved, 3 inches long, and the flower is between 1 and 
2 inches in diameter. 
The Kew examples have been in flower a fortnight, and the 
flowers are, at the time of writing, still quite fresh. They are 
grown in a cool house along with Masdevallias, and they get a fair 
supply of water all the year round. This species was first intro¬ 
duced and flowered at Kew in 1882, plants having been found by 
Mr. Morris in Jamaica on St. Andrew’s Mountain at an elevation 
of about 5000 feet. Mr. Norman Cookson is trying to cross it 
with other species, of Lselia.— W. Watson (in “Garden and 
Forest ”). 
Orchids in Northumberland. 
Anyone visiting Morpeth, the former capital of Northumber¬ 
land, would scarcely at first sight be aware, or expect to find, so 
large an area of glass houses devoted to plant and Orchid culture 
as that possessed by Edward Hopper, Esq., of Riverside. The 
collection of Orchids is one of the best in Northumberland. On a 
recent visit I had pointed out to me Dendrobium giganteum with 
four blooms, Oncidium papilio majus, 5 inches across, very fine ; 
and Odontoglossum Uro-Skinneri, so very suitable for buttonholes. 
Amongst other plants must be mentioned Clerodendron fragrans 
for its pleasing perfume ; Hedychium album, a charming white 
flower, and the curious Strelitzia Reginse with ten spikes. 
Mr. Hopper is a great botanist, and possesses one of the finest 
botanical libraries in the district, is a warm enthusiast, and always 
glad to meet persons interested in gardening. He has now secured 
the services of Mr. James Wood as head gardener, and the place 
is a credit to the latter’s gardening skill, which is well known in 
the north of England.— Bernard Cowan. 
INSECTS OF THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
{Continued from page 93.') 
Since the mites are insects that are to be found almost every¬ 
where, indoors and out, we may be sure they have some repre¬ 
sentatives in every flower garden. Tropical countries can furnish 
specimens belonging to this group which are as large as a pea, but 
all our British species verify their name—they are but specks of 
life, and many are so tiny that they can scarcely be seen without 
a magnifying glass. Like the aphis and some other insects of 
small size, their numbers enable them to produce results they could 
not otherwise accomplish, and there are species that give us trouble, 
even in the cultivation of flowers, a few being particularly notice¬ 
able . It is only of late that attention has been called to the economy 
of these insects, and, in the case of some plants and trees, it is 
likely to remain for the present a doubtful matter whether the 
mites upon them are a cause of disease or its consequence. The 
mite most familiar to us in houses and gardens is the annoying 
red spider (so-called), and its useful relatives, if endued with 
intelligence, might very well disown a species having habits so 
unlike theirs. Juvenile mites are not much different in appear¬ 
ance from full-grown specimens, except that they possess but six 
legs, eight being the complete number ; nobody has ascertained yet 
how long their life lasts. All species have the abdomen neither 
segmented nor stalked, but more or less rounded, and joined on to 
a small thorax bearing the legs. It might be desirable in some 
cases to destroy their eggs ; the minuteness of these is a difficulty, 
however. Also it has been suggested that they are wafted by the 
air from the place where they are laid to another spot, and certainly 
their sudden appearance at times is mysterious, for the insects 
themselves are not of migratory habit, or but rarely. 
Of all the mites, the spinners come nearest to the spider proper, 
since they are able to weave a web, having claws specially adapted 
to this, and a spinning apparatus. The mouth has a barbed sucker, 
and mandibles or jaws as well ; and some suppose that those of the 
spinning mites which act as blood-suckers throw into the tiny 
puncture they make some kind of poison. Specimens of both 
groups, of the vegetable feeders and of those that are predacious, 
are to be noticed in flower gardens. Those of the former are the 
smaller, and of pale or dull colours, also semi-transparent ; those of 
the latter are velvety and opaque, in colour some shade of red or 
black. One of our worst enemies is the red spider, Tetranychus 
telarius, a strict vegetarian, and which, though most troublesome in 
houses, abounds upon some exotic plants in beds and borders. We 
call it red, and many of these insects are of some shade of red, but 
others occur that are green or brown, hence some have been thought 
to be distinct species. An entomologist noticed upon the Hollyhock 
red spiders of various colours, possibly of different ages ; and upon 
the Rose, in some districts, some occur of pale green hue, and 
almost transparent. Boisduval thinks that red spider rarely 
appears on the Rose if the tree is healthy, and also with Camellias 
and Dracaenas ; it is plants out of condition that the insect seems 
to single out for attack. This insect is so notably a lover of 
"Warmth that it has been observed, in some instances, to die off 
plants that have been shifted from houses into the open air, being 
unable to stand the change of temperature. But it may often be 
found flourishing under the ordinary conditions of our climate, and 
a dry spring and summer, such as we have had, must have favoured 
