July IS, m] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
20 
distinct in form as well as colour. The vaiiety has light 
brownish lanceolate spreading sepals and petals slightly undulated 
at the margin, which is of a paler colour. The lip is 1 inch broad, 
white, with two broad expanded lateral lobes, the centre one 
rounded, streaked with crimson in the centre, a few similar streaks 
also being noticeable at the base of the lateral lobes, partly con¬ 
cealed by the broad flat column. The plant shown had a raceme of 
•seven flowers, each over 2 inches in diameter, long narrow dark 
green leaves, and small conical pseudo-bulbs. The flowers of the 
form regarded as a typical E. atro-purpureum had deep brown 
narrow sepals and petals, a soft rosy crimson lip with a darker 
centre, and two small lateral lobes enclosing the column. 
Mr. B. S. Williams thus describes E. atro-purpureum :—“A 
very beautiful evergreen species, of free-flowering habit, with 
ovate or obpyriform rugose pseudo-bulbs, bearing two ligulate- 
oblong leaves, and terminal erect peduncles, with well furnished 
FIG. 4.-EPIDENDRUM ATRO-PURPUREL’M VAR. RANDIJ 
racemes of handsome flowers. The cuneate-oblong sepals and 
petals, incurved at the tips, are green at the base, brown above ; 
fhe three-lobed lip large, pure white, with a feathered crimson 
blotch at the base of the roundish flabelliform deeply notched 
front portion. It blooms in April and May, and lasts five weeks in 
good condition if the flowers are kept free from damp.” He also 
mentions a variety named roseum with dark rose-coloured lips, which 
with the forms is a native of Guatemala, New Grenada, and adjoin¬ 
ing districts in South America. 
PELARGONIUM CUTTINGS. 
The present is a good time to take Pelargonium cuttings where 
strong early flowering plants are desired next season. Late-struck 
plants never make such headway early in the season as those do which 
are rooted early in the season. Cuttings 3 inches long and short-jointed 
which have not produced flowers are the best to select. Insert them, 
five or six, in a 3-inch pot, using half loam, leaf soil, and a liberal addi- | 
tion of coarse silver sand. Make the cuttings firm in the soil, giving a 
gentle watering. Place the pots in a temperature of say 70°, provide 
light shade to prevent the leaves flagging. We usually strike ours in a 
small span-roofed house used for small Crotons. By standing the pots 
containing the cuttings among the Crotons sufficient shade is obtained 
by the cuttings, and the daily syringings which the Crotons receive are 
beneficial to the Pelargoniums. If the stock of any particular variety 
of Pelargonium is small, and it is wished to increase it rapidly the 
shoots may be cut into short lengths, one leaf to a joint, fixed firmly into 
sandy soil in boxes or pans, watered, placed in a cold frame and shaded 
from bright sun. Most of the cuttings so treated will strike and grow 
q. ickly into stout little plants ready for potting with the ordinary 
stock of plants.—E. 
LONDONS LESSER OPEN SPACES — THEIR TREES 
AND PLANTS. 
NEW SERIES.—No. 8. 
Amongst the millions who people our metropolis I am glad to 
know many readers of this Journal are to be found, and it is therefore 
of interest to note the change being brought about by the proceedings 
of the Public Gardens Association, the Kyrle Society, and some local 
bodies. The cultivation as gardens of numerous hitherto waste or 
barren patches of land about London is greatly stimulating the pursuit 
of horticulture in the homes of those folks who are the frequent visitors 
to these open spaces. They admire and observe, then set to work in tneir 
own small domains, and often manage to obtain for them, by gift or 
purchase, plants and flowers similar to those which have been brought 
under their notice. Just now some districts of the extensive parish of 
Lambeth are appealing for more open spaces, pointing out how rich in 
recreation grounds the folks are on the Middlesex side of the Thames. 
There is certainly a part of Lambeth, which, though it presents a 
Pleasant Row, a Paradise Street, a Walnut Tree Walk, and a Hop Garden, 
is far too crowded with poor habitations. Yet when we get into Ken- 
nington, at no great distance, we find quiet nooks which have escaped 
the influence of the town. Here are gardens where Roses may be cut, 
and the Camellia, once the pride of adjacent Vauxhall, still blooms, 
where by favour of the cats and sparrows Peas may be raised, and the 
Tomato grows in the open air. 
It is well whenever possible to open freely to all such smaller spaces 
as are easy of access, even though parks and commons may be at no 
very great distance off, because they have special advantages. An 
example of what may be done in utilising an unlikely spot is to be 
seen in the garden just opened at Red Cross Street, Southwark, where 
every effort has been made to give it a green, flowery, and cheerful 
look ; there is indeed, as advertisers say, both “ land and water scenery.” 
In the case of some shrubs and plants it must be doubtful whether 
they will thrive in that air, but the fittest will survive, and new spe¬ 
cimens can be introduced. Nelson Square, Blackfriars Road, an open 
space known to few non-residents, is another that should be turned to 
account. It has several large Poplars and Scotch Elms, and more 
Hawthorns than usually occur in London squares. Perhaps at present 
it is rather too tree-shaded, and only such common cockney flowers 
as Thrift, London Pride, Irises, and Marigolds succeed in its borders. 
Several fine specimens of the Guelder Rose testify to the old liking 
for this flower, and there is a Mulberry, a tree rarely to be met 
with about London now. I have wondered sometimes why this has 
so gone out of cultivation, since the suburbs once positively swarmed 
with Mulberries, and 1 do not think it at all objects to the soil of the 
metropolis. Oldys, in 1753, saw immense Mulberries at Lambeth. 
He reckoned the shadow of one extended over 40 square yards. Might 
it not be well for our nurserymen to plant more Mulberries, as some 
think there is an opening for a remunerative silk production in 
England 1 
Passing on to St. Mary’s and Walcot Squares in the Kennington 
Road, we discover a fragment of the old St. George’s Fields, formerly 
an almost treeless expanse, where ponds offered the opportunity for the 
favourite game of duck-hunting, and the grass, stunted in some parts, 
was rank and thick in others. There are now plenty of trees scattered 
amongst the houses which stand on what was St. George’s Fields. The 
moist character of the under soil appears in the fact that Willows, 
Poplars, and Ashes specially flourish. Both these squares, which are not 
of large size, are at present covered with grass, but they might be 
formed into pleasant gardens for the crowded neighbourhood. Walcot 
Square has its Ash, Plane, and Poplar trees, which give it a shady 
aspect; its companion square is almost open, having oidy a few shruls 
on its sides. 1 have noticed that in converting these neglected squares 
into good gardens, it is really necessary not merely to break up but to 
clear away the stratum which has accumulated in course of years, when 
plants we should not expect to see come up occasionally from the earth 
below. 
Here I cannot omit mention of William Curtis, pioneer of botanical 
progress, who, in 1777, took a piece of ground in St. George’s Fields, 
with a view to show living specimens of every British plant he could 
obtain himself Or procure through friends. He was helped by Daines 
Barrington, and White, his plants being arranged methodically, and 
clearly labelled in Latin and English. To this collection he then 
added another of such hardy exotics as were useful as food, medicine, 
or in the arts. But though he charged only a small entrance fee, the 
public did not vouchsafe support, so his scheme bad to be given up. 
I thought of Curtis as I surveyed the border of Kennington Park, 
