April 22, 1186. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
813 
diate form. The commonest form is that of a quadrant, or fourth part of 
the circumference of a circle. The seed pod, which we will call the fruit, 
is round or elliptical— i.e., oval, furrowed, or smooth, and should be 
studied when swelled to its full size. 
Immediately above the fruit is that part of the flower in which the 
base of the style and the filaments are fixed, and which in Pseudo- 
Narcissus is like a funnel or an inverted cone. This is called the tube. 
It is important to remember this name, because we often find the word 
tube wrongly applied to the part I shall next describe—viz., the trumpet, 
called by some botanists the trunk, but which I shall speak of as the 
corona or crown. This begins where the tube ends, and from the line of 
juncture of the tube with the corona there grow out six flower leaves, 
sometimes called limbs or segments, but which I shall call divisions of the 
perianth. They correspond to petals and sepals alternately ; the three 
which represent sepals generally overlap at their edges and base the three 
inner, which represent petals. When this is so the divisions of the 
perianth are said to be imbricated (which properly means arranged like 
the tiles on the roof) ; but if the divisions when closed so as to touch the 
corona do not overlap, especially near the base, they are said to he not 
imbricated or free. I ask you to attend especially to the above important 
character. 
Next we find that the divisions are sometimes shorter than, generally 
just the same length as, often a little longer than the corona. The perianth 
divisions are often twisted, or in some forms doubled back along the 
central line, and curved like a horn towards the end of the corona. The 
shape of the corona is rather cylindrical, the sides when looked at in 
profile being parallel, or it approaches a funnel in shape, the boundary 
lines diverging from the base to the mouth, or (rarely) it is larger at the 
middle thau at either end, its shape is then called ventricose. The mouth 
of the corona varies more than any other part of the flower in the forms 
of Pseudo-Narcissus. In some forms we find at the mouth hardly any 
enlargement in the diameter of the straight corona ; more commonly the 
corona bulges out near the mouth, but without turning back, whilst in 
many varieties the mouth spreads and is recurved like the mouth of a 
trumpet. Recurved is a better word to express this form than reflexed, 
which implies an angular and less gradual turn. The petals of a 
Cyclamen are reflexed, those of a Martagon recurved. With rare and 
abnormal exceptions the mouth of the corona is divided by incisions— 
more or less deep according to the variety—into six equal lobes corre¬ 
sponding to the six divisions of the perianth. When the flower becomes 
double these divisions or incisions are continued to the base of the corona, 
so as to split it up into six parts. The lobes are often cut up at the 
edges by irregular notches, generally wedge-shaped, and varying in depth, 
into smaller divisions of uncertain size and number. This is called crena- 
tion, and the lobes are then called crenate—that is, notched. When the 
parts between these notches aro doubled up together like a piece of 
crimped paper, or a nearly closed fan, the edge of the corona is called 
plicate (or folded), and when these folds are pushed together so as to 
displace one another into a sort of flounced or puckered outline, it is called 
crispate (fringed or fimbriated), the edge then resembles a leaf of garden 
Parsley or Curled Kale. It is a rare form. 
Now, what are these characters worth in estimating varietal differences ? 
Not much taken singly, but several together, if found to be constant, are 
worth a good deal. Some who have studied Daffodils have thought the 
mouth of the corona so important a character as to supersede all others in 
deciding varieties. Next to this in importance comes, I think, the arrange¬ 
ment of the perianth divisions, the question whether they are imbricated 
or free. The length of the pedicel is moderately constant, according to 
the variety. The relative length of the style and the filaments often 
differs in the same variety, but Herbert, a careful botanist who studied 
Daffodils about the same time as Haworth, thought that he had observed 
that in some varieties of Pseudo-Narcissus the Bix filaments are attached 
to the base of the tube in two different rows. This arrangement of the 
filaments in a double series is an obvious character in many species of 
Narcissus; but after examining a large number of Pseudo-Narcissus I 
have not been able to discover that any difference of length of the six 
filaments exists in any variety. This should be observed. The same 
botanist, Herbert, attached importance to the wrinkling or furrowing 
often observable in the fruit and to its shape ; neither is very constaot, 
but both are worth notice. The comparative length of the perianth 
divisions and the corona often varies in the same variety, as anyone who 
will spend a little time amongst a bed of English wild typical Pseudo- 
Narcissus may satisfy himself. The form of the spathe before opening is 
also to be noticed. Some varieties may be recognised by this alone. 
Another distinction, though by no means constant, is the curvature of the 
pedicel. When the flower is fully expanded, the corona becoming either 
oernuous—that is, looking downwards, or horizontal, or even perpen¬ 
dicular ; the pedicel remaining straight, though this form is generally 
abnormal; the angle which the perianth divisions, when open, make with 
the corona is also a character. I find neither the section of the scape 
nor of the leaf a trustworthy varietal character in Pseudo-Narcissus. In 
Pseudo-Narcissus as a species colour is an important point. The varieties 
are either conoolorous or bioolorous— i.e., either self-coloured, the corona, 
however, being always a little deeper than the perianth, or distinctly two- 
coloured. The English wild type is never, as far as I know, concolorous, 
and varies in colour within narrow limits ; apparent exceptions to this 
rule which sometimes occur I believe to be due to cross-breeding. I shall 
speak of them presently. 
Daffodils of the same variety rarely vary much in colour. A form of 
N. minor found near Grosse in the Maritime Alps is an important and 
interesting exception to this rule. It remains to speak of size and time 
of flowering. To judge of the former, Daffodils must be grown together 
for a year or two under the same conditions ; and as for time of flowering, 
I find that the time when different individuals of the typical form open 
their flowers extends over a month, and though the same bulbs are early 
or late every year alike, one cannot attach importance to the difference. 
(To be continued.) 
We have received a copy of the list of the subscribers to the 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution, which also contains 
the report of the Committee for 1885 and a financial statement for the 
same period. From this it appears the annual subscriptions amount 
to £1204 13s., the donations to £771 3s. 6d., and the legacies from 
Mrs. Dodgson (£450) and J. Sutherland Law, Esq. (£100), to £550: 
£1655 Is. 4d. has been paid in pensions, and the balance remaining 
exclusive of the invested capital is £387 5s. 9d. 
- Dr. Paterson, Bridge of Allan, sends a fine bloom of Sir 
Trevor Lawrence’s variety of Dendrobium Brymerianum from a Bmall 
plant with seven pseudo-bulbs and one growth, the last-made pseudo-bulb 
2 feet high, which is somewhat unusual. 
- The usual monthly dinner and conversazione of the Horticul* 
tural Club were held at the rooms, 1, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, 
on the 14th inst., when there was the largest attendance of members that 
there has been during the present session. Those present included Mr. 
John Lee, Chairman, the Rev. C. Wolley Dod, the Rev. F. H. Gall, Dr. 
Hogg, Messrs. H. J. Veitch, Cousins, George Paul, W. J. Jefferies, T. W. 
Girdlestone, J. D. T. Llewelyn, George Prince, O. P. Wheatstone, O. T. 
Druery, R. B. Cater, T. P. Codings, J. T. Cooling, C. Pearson, &c. The 
discussion was opened by an interesting paper by the Rev. C. Wolley 
Dod on the Pseudo-Narcissus section of Narcissus, a,nd was continued by 
Messrs. Llewelyn, G. Paul, Dr. Hogg, Cousens, and others. The discussion 
at the next meeting will be opened by Mr. George Paul on the Bog 
Garden. 
-It will be observed by an advertisement in another column that 
our correspondent Mr. George Abbey is disengaged. In a letter before 
us his late noble employer expresses his appreciation of Mr. Abbey’s 
services and testifies to his admitted ability ; and we know that he is as 
active and industrious in his habits as he is competent in his vocation. 
We trust that a gardener so experienced will soon be in harness again, 
and have scope for the exercise of his skill both as a cultivator and an 
improver of grounds and gardens. 
- The programme of arrangements issued by the Cry'STAL 
Palace Company, Sydenham, gives the following as the dates of the 
Horticultural Exhibitions to be held there this season : —Summer Show, 
at which forty-five classes are provided, Friday and Saturday, May 21st 
and 22nd; Rose Show, twenty-eight classes, Saturday, July 3rd; Fruit 
and National Dahlia Show, September 3rd and 4th ; Hardy Fruit and 
Vegetables, October 6th to 9th, with which the National Potato Show 
will probably be held, and a Chrysanthemum Exhibition, November 5th 
and 6th, when there will also be an exhibition of Canadian and Nova 
Scotian Apples. Exclusive of the Spring Show which is past, a series of 
five exhibitions is thus provided, at all of which the prizes are liberal in 
amount. The Horticultural Superintendent is Mr. W. G. Head. 
- The remarkable Yellow Odontoglossum Pescatorei shown 
by Mr. Brownlow Knox at South Kensington last week and then certifi¬ 
cated, was sold by auction at Mr. Stevens’ Rooms on the following day. 
After a sharp competition it was knocked down to Baron Schroder for £165, 
and will form an important addition to the many choice Orchids in that 
collection. 
-Tobacco Culture.—U nder authority from the Lords of the 
Treasury the experimental cultivation of Tobacco is to be permitted in 
the United Kingdom. Any occupier of land intending to plant Tobacco 
must, on or before the 5th May, give notice to the Secretary of Inland 
Revenue, Somerset House, setting forth the extent of the land to he 
planted, and the place, parish, and county where situate. Bond under 
