An?03t 13,1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
137 
10, Orchis morio, Green-winged Meadow Orchis.—In our county this is 
perhaps almost as universal and common as the preceding. It used to be 
called the “ Fool’s Orchis ” in my boyhood, because heedless and unobservant 
people were supposed not to discriminate between it and O. mascula. The 
(lowers form a loose spike, and may be readily distinguished by their sepals, 
which, whatever the colour of the florets, are marked with green veins, and 
curved upwards so as to form a kind of helmet over the rest of the blossom. 
I have gathered them in damp meadows near to Hereford of every shade of 
colour, from white to deep purple, and sometimes richly variegated. 
11, Orchis maculata, or Spotted Palmate Orchis, is as common as both 
the foregoing. It is a very elegant plant. The flowers are a delicate lilac, 
and sometimes almost white. They are spotted more or less with purple. 
So also are their leaves. They grow abundantly in our woods, lanes, and 
pastures. 
12, Orchis ustnlata, Dwarf Dark-winged Orchis.—I have gathered this 
pretty peculiar little plant frequently on the chalk hills of Surrey, b-at never 
in Herefordshire. It is not unknown in our county, though, unquestionably, 
it is very rare. Mr. Lingwood found cne specimen in 1859 in the meadows 
by the Wye at the foot of Coppet Wood Hill, and he also found it in one 
other locality. It has been reported to he growing “ in plenty ” in a 
meadow near Colwall, and Mr. Lees received some specimens in 1868 from 
limestone slopes at Mathon. 
13, Orchis latifolia, or Broad-leaved Marsh Orchis, is more widely distri¬ 
buted, but is not common. It is described as a tall and somewhat slender 
plant, the flowers usually deeper coloured and less variegated than O. macu¬ 
lata, with a hollow stem, and leaves remarkably erect and pointed. Mr. 
Lingwood found it at Orcop. Mr. Purchas in a damp meadow near the 
Castle Brook, Bill Mill. Mr. Ley at Ashe, at Hoarwithy, at Sollershope, 
and at Eaton Bishop. It has been reported from Bosbury, Egleton, and 
Widemarsh, Hereford. 
Yar. Orchis incarnata, is very rare. Bentham does not note this as a 
separate species. Mr. Ley found it growing “ in some plenty, in June, 1880, 
in a marsh at Pont-y-Spig. 
Orchis pyramidalis, or Pyramidal Orchis, is one of the most beautiful of 
the class. Its dense, compact pyramid of exquisite blossoms of a rich deep 
pink or crimson purple are unmistakeahle. It is not common in our county. 
It has been found at Marcle Hill and at Mordiford. Mr. Purchas, Mr. Ley, 
and Dr. Bull have gathered it at Fownhope. Mr. Ley reports it from 
Oldbury Hill. It has been gathered at Cradley, at Whitbourne, at Castle 
Frome, and the Mill Copse, Cowleigh Park. I found it growing plentifully 
last year on the Kidgeway, Eastnor Park. Specimens have been gathered 
in a quarry near Kimbolton, and on the roadside near Berrington Tunnel. 
It is said to have been found in the western districts of our county, but the 
only locality given is Bredwardine Hill. At our last field meeting at 
Aconbury Camp Dr. Wood brought some plants which he found at Canon 
Ffrome. Our veteran member, Mr. Edwin Lees, poetically observes, “ When 
in July the elegant marbled butterfly is fluttering about these beautiful 
Orchids the picture is very exciting to a lover of Nature’s harmonies.” 
Professor Darwin has written perhaps more enthusiastically of this Orchis 
than of any other. He says it is “ one of the most organised species which 
I have examined.” After a very minute description of its several parts he 
continues, “ In no other plant, nor indeed in hardly any animal, can adapta¬ 
tions of one part to another, and of the whole to other organised beings 
widely remote in the scale of nature, be named more perfect than those 
presented by this Orchis. As the flowers are visited both by day and night- 
flying L=pidoptera, I do not think that it is fanciful to believe that the 
bright purple tint (whether or not specially developed for this purpose), 
attracts the day fliers, and the strong foxy odour the night fliers.” One 
feels while reading his remarks about 0. pyramidalis that he is describing 
a complicated, delicate, and exquisite piece of machinery rather than an 
English wild flower, commonly in many districts regarded as a wayside 
weed. Douglas Allport has written some pleasing verses upon this lovely 
flower, only one stanza of which I will quote :— 
“ Thus, when within my sunless room, 
Heartsick and worn with Mammon’s leaven, 
Thy pyramids of purple bloom 
Blush through its loneliness and gloom, 
The spirit bursts its living tomb, 
And basks beneath the open heaven.” 
. (To be continued.) 
NOTES FROM TASMANIA. 
The enclosed letter, giving an account of a voyage out to and firs 
impressions of Tasmania, may be interesting to those who have to stay at 
home. It is from a constant reader of your paper, and as she is a great 
gardener and intends residing there for some years, her notes may be 
interesting. If you would care to have them kindly say so through the 
pap er - I may remind you that June in Tasmania is about equal to our 
November.—D. G. 
“ Hobart, Monday, June 1st.—I have just begun to feel that I am 
safe on land once more now, and therefore it is possible to me to write 
some sort of a letter, even if only a dull one. The Tropics are not to be 
forgotten. I never knew what a terrible thing heat was before ; it is so 
altogether different from your heat—such a feverish affair, I felt all the 
time as if I were exhausted with some dead-lift effort. There was none of 
the usual languor of heat till it got cooler. We are enjoying Hobart very 
much. Our chief joy is the garden of the Royal Society down by the 
river, in the Domain. I never saw anything like the evergreens. It seems 
almost unnatural to see something like a Holly, for instance, with a good- 
sized yellow flower, having a delicious scent ; then another lovely one, 
with a blue flower something like your Plumbago in colour, with the 
shape of a Bluebell ; then the most splendid crimson Tacsonias, other¬ 
wise Passion Flowers. Even at this dead season there are endless things 
to see. In summer it must be a paradise. There is a nice old Irish 
gardener here who seems very obliging, and he says there is no fault to 
be found with the garden, on'y that there is not enough water. Soil and 
climate are perfect; everything they get grows, whatever part of the 
world it comes from. They do not seem to have at all a good collection 
of Roses, very few indeed, I think, and not mulched or anything. There 
is a large bush of Madame Willermoz, and I think Mrs. Bosanquet, hut 
it is too late to say. They have very good Chrysanthemums, all outside ; 
but the Dahlias are over. I do not think they have any singles ; do not 
forget to send me some seed. 
“ We get confused with the seasons being so different. I feel a 
constant desire to call it December instead of June. The weather is 
delightful in the mornings—warm, dry, and sunny; hut it generally rains 
a little in the afternoons. It was new to me to see large bushes of 
Heliotrope in the garden, and to hear that it was never killed by frost, 
unless put in a very bleak place indeed. Certainly we ought to have a 
grand garden here. There are fine crops of Oranges and Lemons, so we 
must have those too. 
“ The garden we went to at Port Said was a curiosity. We never regret 
having gone there, it was so very different from any other garden. There 
were some extraordinary flowering trees of unknown kinds. An Hibiscus 
was covered with big red Poppy-like flowers, only instead of being 
flimsy they were, as the catalogues say, ‘ flowers of great substance and 
endurance.’ They were everywhere down the Canal where there was a 
house of any kind. Did you Dotice what splendid foliage there was 
wherever there was any at all in the desert ? I thought it was very 
remarkable. At the Port Said garden they watered every day, but it 
looked all parched. There was some poor dried-up Mignonette and 
Pansies, and some sickly-looking Gladioli. On the other hand there was 
an immense tree of Lantana. They had some La France Roses, they were 
a lovely colour, and I think rather less flimsy than yours, but not very 
large. The foliage of the Roses looked very bad. On the whole it was 
gardening under difficulties there, although the little bits of plants we see 
in hothouses appeared there as big as Birches and Hawthorns. 
“ The people brought splendid bunches of Mardchal Neil and other Teas 
on board at Naples, and even at Aden I saw men with Mardchal Neil in 
their buttonholes. How anyone grew them there heaven knows 1 Fruit 
and vegetables are splendid here, but those, they say, are grown by the 
Heathen Chinee, so I am afraid the Tasmanian is a lazy gardener, for I 
see scarcely a flower about—a Chrysanthemum or two, and some common 
Geraniums. Some people here say the Oranges and Lemons at the 
garden are not worth anything. They get them all from Sydney. I am 
sorry for that, it would be a pleasing novelty to grow them. We get 
delicious Pears for 2s. per dozen, smaller Is. 6d., Winter Nelis the name, 
well-known to me ; so it appears they grow the same varieties as at 
homt.” 
[We are obliged by this letter, and further notes so interestingly written 
will be welcome to us and acceptable to our readers.] 
CLIMBERS FOR WARM CONSERVATORIES. 
A warm conservatory has the lowest average nightly temperature in 
winter, ranging from 45° to 50°. Even in severe weather it should seldom 
fall beiow 40°. On the other hand, a cool house, where preservation is 
the chief object, may range from 10° to 5° lower when the weather is 
severe. In fine mild weather in winter the warm conservatory may 
average 50° at night. In severe frost it will be safe at from 40° to 45°. In 
all cases where sun can be had the house may be allowed to rise from 5° 
to 15° by the heat of its rays, and be early shut up. In fact, air should be 
given in winter chiefly to keeD the atmosphere sweet and prevent the 
plants getting drawn. 
Plant in April or May, as then the plants have got the whole season 
before them to grow freely, and as, unless the plants were very large, 
much bloom could not be expected the first year. If planted out, the position, 
if possible, should be near the heating medium, whether pipes or flues, as 
this will keep the roots more comfortable. It will also be advisable to 
make a small pit, say 2 feet square, with bricks, &c., for each plant, and 
deep enough to allow plenty of rough matter at the bottom communicating 
with a drain. The separate pit for each will not only tend to prevent 
rampant unripened growth, but it will be easy to remove a plant 
without disturbing its neighbour. If not planted out wooden boxes will 
be preferable to any kind of pots, as the roots will be less exposed to 
variations of temperature. The soil, in general cases, should be light and 
open, as luxuriance can always be obtained by surface dressings and 
supplies of liquid manure.—S. T. 
EARLY PEACHES. 
I AM glad Mr. Rivers has given his opinion of these, as anything ho 
says on the subject must carry much weight. I am pleased to know of a 
Peach which will ripen four weeks earlier than Hale's Early, and I will 
introduce the Alexander this autumn. I have no intention, however, of 
throwing away Hale’s to make room for the Alexander. It has proved 
itself too trustworthy both under glass and in the open for me to think 
of that; but if the Alexander prove a good predecessor it will be highly 
esteemed. Peaches which lipen towards the end of August and during 
September are common enough, but, like early Pea®, the earliest of the 
early will find innumerable patrons, and varieties which will ripen in an 
unheated house any time in June cannot be too widely known or gene¬ 
rally i Tinted. The climate here is not excessively forcing. It is mild, 
certainly, but often sunless, and in my opinion Hale’s is constitutionally 
early apart from any influence of climate. I think were the dates on wbicti 
different fruits lipeD throughout the country noted and published in your 
columns, they would furnish much interesting information for many of 
