418 
[ May 25, 1893. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
change in the leaf, the temperature of the tuber being less. Owing to 
this inequality, there is a transference of starch from the leaf into the 
tuber, in which it passes through the intermediate stage of sugar. In a 
similar way Herr Brasse would explain the transference of nitrogenous 
and mineral plant materials, and their storage in special organs.— 
(^Comptes Rendxis de la Societe de Bioloqie.') 
- Eoyal Meteorological Society. —The monthly meeting 
of this Society was held on Wednesday evening, the 17th inst., at the 
Institution of Civil Engineers, 25, Great George Street, Westminster, 
Dr. C. Theodore Williams, President, in the chair. Dr. H. R. Mill was 
elected a Fellow of the Society. The following papers were read :— 
1, “Mean Daily Maximum and Minimum Temperature at the Royal 
Observatory, Greenwich, on the Average of the Fifty Years from 1841 
to 1890,” by Mr. W. Ellis, F.R.A.S., F.R.Met.Soc, The author gives 
tables of the mean maximum and mean minimum temperature of the 
air on each day of the year, and also tables showing the daily range of 
temperature and the mean of the daily maximum and minimum values. 
2, “ Suggestions, from a Practical Point of View, for a New Classifica¬ 
tion of Cloud Forms,” by Mr. F. Gaster, F.R.Met.Soc. The forms 
assumed by clouds at different levels, and under various conditions, have 
reeently received considerable attention from meteorologists. The 
author, however, does not approve of the nomenclatures and classifica¬ 
tions which have been proposed, as, in his opinion, they appear to be 
little, if any, better than the older ones they were intended to replace. 
He now proposes a somewhat different classification, arranging the 
clouds according to altitude under the following headings :—(1) Surface 
Clouds, or those which appear commonly between the earth’s surface 
and a level of about 2000 feet; (2) Lower Medium Clouds, including all 
varieties which usually float at an elevation ranging from 2000 to about 
10,000 feet; (3) Higher Medium Clouds, or those commonly found at 
altitudes varying from 10,000 to about 22,000 feet; (4) Highest (or 
Cirriform) Level Clouds, or those at elevations exceeding 22,000 feet. 
The author gives the names of each variety of cloud included in the 
classification, together with an account of the principal characteristics 
of each as far as appearance goes. 3, “ Notes on Winter,” by Mr. A. B. 
MacDowall, M.A., F.R.Met.Soc. In this paper the author discusses the 
question of periodicity in winters at Greenwich and Paris, and the 
relation of summers to winters. 
- Flowering Shrubs at Lamport Hall. — On perusing 
some old numbers of the Journal of Horticulture one was found bear¬ 
ing date 20th June, 1872, giving an account of the Isham family, their 
family residence, and the Lamport estate and beautiful gardens. One 
sentence may be quoted, which is even of greater force now than when 
originally written—viz , “ On the side of the part skirting the North¬ 
ampton Road, Sir Charles Isham has indulged his love of trees and 
shrubs by planting it most profusely with scarlet and double pink Haw¬ 
thorns, and other beautiful flowering trees and shrubs, to the great 
adornment of his policies and estate, and the delectation of the way¬ 
farer, who cannot but be charmed with the beauties that thus cheer him 
on his weary way.” At the present day this description is quite correct 
as far as it goes; but it is far short of the real state of things. For a 
distance of at least a mile and a half along the turnpike road towards 
the town of Northampton the red and double pink, interspersed with 
the white-flowering Thorn bushes, adorn the road. Just now these 
Hawthorns are beautiful, making the road peculiarly cheering to the 
wayfarer by their brightness and colour. It is no uncommon circum- 
stance for people to drive from Northampton eight or nine miles at this 
season for the purpose of having a sight of the red and pink May, and 
to admire the beauties of the flowering trees and shrubs, which most 
certainly add grace and loveliness to the plantations by the roadside. 
Sir Charles Isham may be congratulated on his taste and the success of 
his attempts in thus beautifying his estate, to siy nothing of the 
pleasure and gratification he affords to the community at large, for every¬ 
one who sees Lamport at this period of the year admires its beauty and 
expresses his pleasure with its charms. In this way Sir Charles is no 
doubt compensated for his pains and his outlay, which must have been 
considerable. Long may he live to enjoy the results of his labour and 
care.— George MacKinlay. 
DRAC^NA SANDERIANA VERSUS D. THALIOIDES. 
“ When doctors differ who shall decide?” In Mr. Linden’s note on 
the plants exhibited by him and Mr. Sander at the last meeting of the 
Royal Horticultural Society he says, “It is certain that the name 
under which I have shown this plant is correct,” his authority being the 
Berlin Botanic Gardeo. Against this assertion we must place the 
decision of Mr. Baker of Kew, not to mention others who have looked 
into the matter, which is to the effect that whatever the plant is that 
has been named D. Sanderiana, it certainly is not D. thalioides of 
Morren, nor does it agree with any other species of Dracaena described. 
In the herbarium at Kew there are good specimens of typical 
D. thalioides, and there is also a good representative living plant, which 
flowered in January this year, in one of the stoves. 
This species may briefly be described as an erect woody stemmed 
plant a yard high, with leaves nearly 2^ feet long, the lower portion 
narrowed into a distinct petiole a foot long, the upper portion! a flat 
lanceolate blade 2^ inehes wide, gradually narrowing to an acute point. 
This agrees exactly with the plant figured by Morren as D. thalioides, 
and described by Brongniart as D. Aubryana. It appears to have been 
introduced and distributed under the former of these two names by 
Messrs. J. Makoy & Co., of Liege, before Brongniart described it in 1860. 
All this is, however, beside the point. It is quite clear that the Berlin 
authorities were in error in applying the name of D. thalioides to the 
plant discovered by Braun, and named D. Sanderiana by Messrs. Sander 
and Co. Mr. Linden can easily satisfy himself on this point by turning 
to the picture in Belgique Horticole, 1860, page 348. 
The present state of the matter appears to me to be this : In 1888 
Mr. J. Braun discovered in the German Cameroons a Dracmna which he 
succeeded in bringing alive to Berlin, where it was named in error 
D. thalioides variegata. A portion of the plants were secured by Mr. 
Bluth, a Berlin nurseryman, who disposed of them to Messrs. F. Sander 
and Co., who named the species in compliment to the head of their firm. 
The name is only provisional, as the plant has not yet flowered ; but 
until it can be identified with a species of Dracaena already described, 
or unless it turns out to belong to some other genus, Messrs. Sander and 
Co.’s name for it must stand. It has no more to do with D. thalioides 
than with D. Goldieana.— W. Watson, Keio. 
Dendrobium thyrsiflorum. 
The plant represented in the illustration (fig. 75), which has 
been prepared from a photograph taken by W. A. Milner, Esq., in 
his picturesque garden at Totley Hall, near Sheffield, had thirty- 
nine racemes of bloom on it, but fourteen were taken off to throw 
more substance in the other twenty-five which remained. Some of 
the racemes measured quite a foot in length, and carried as many 
as sixty to seventy flowers on a spike. We have five plants of 
Dendrobium thyrsiflorum, but not so good a variety as the one 
depicted in the engraving. 
The plants are potted in peat and moss taken from the moors in 
this neighbourhood when required. While making their growth 
they are put in an average temperature of 60° to 70°, with plenty 
of moisture both at the roots and in the atmosphere. When the 
growth is completed they are removed to a temperature of 50° 
and water withheld to a certain degree but not altogether, 
they being usually watered once a fortnight. The plants have as 
much sun and light as possible to lipen their pseudo-bulbs.— 
T. Birkenshaw, The Gardens, Totley Hall. 
Maxillaria Harrisonre. 
Tins excellent Orchid blooms very fr.ely during the winter 
and early spring months. All the parts of the flower are large and 
fleshy, and the two lower sepals are joined and elongated at the 
base, forming a sort of spur. The sepals and petals are creamy 
white, the lip purple and yellowish, with numerous lines of bright 
red in the interior. There are several varieties of M. Harrisoniae, 
differing from the species mostly in the colour of the flowers, 
which in every case have a slight pleasing odour. A large number 
of generic synonyms exist, of which Lycaste is more common than 
any other, says the “ Garden and Forest,” although it is many 
years since Reichenbach referred the plant to the genus Bifrenaria 
M. Harrisoniae and its varieties make most satisfactory progress 
in the cool Orchid house, the low temperature and moist atmo- 
spere of which seems to suit them. Forty-five degrees, Fahrenheit, 
is a good average night temperature in winter, and strong sunshine 
should be guarded against at all times. A good supply of water is 
always necessary, and the drainage material should, therefore, be 
ample. The plants may be potted in rough peat-fibre, mixed with 
a little lumpy charcoal, any tirre after the flowering sea on. 
