198 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ September, 
LOMARIA DALGAIRNSI^. 
0 owe to Mr. Bull, by whom this plant has been introduced, the use of the 
^ accompanying woodcut (see p. 19 7) of a very fine evergreen greenhouse fern, 
imported from South Africa, and very closely allied to L. Borijana=L. 
magellanica^ and indeed having very much the aspect of that arborescent 
variety of this species sometimes cultivated under the name of L, zamioides. In 
the absence of complete materials for comparison, and from the apparent agree¬ 
ment of the plant, so far as comparable, with that named L. Dalgairnsice^ by Dr. 
Pappe, the name has been adopted. According to Mr. Bull’s description of the 
most matured plants in his possession, it has a blackish trunk of 1 ft. to 2 ft. in 
height, which is shaggy at the apex, with long subulate dark brown scales. The 
fronds are subcoriaceous, glabrous, pinnate below, pinnatifid above, the pinnae 
lanceolate-acute, the lower ones tapered to the base, but scarcely stalked, the 
upper adnate, and the uppermost decurrently confluent. The few lower pinnae 
are diminished in size, and below these are numerous abortive ones, reduced to 
-wart-like callosities. The fronds are of a dark green colour on the upper surface, 
and paler beneath. Being a free-growing plant of vigorous habit in a green¬ 
house temperature, it will be a valuable addition to our list of cultivated ferns, 
of bold and striking habit.—T. Moore. 
THE ROYAL PARKS AND GARDENS OF LONDON.* 
n HIS is the title of a new book on a subject of much interest to those who 
are in any way connected with gardens and gardening. It is admitted on 
all hands that the London parks and gardens afford many examples of 
decorative gardening to be admired and imitated, or from which, at least, 
useful lessons may be derived ; and the object of the author of the present neat 
little volume has been to give a plain and practical account of the different Eoyal 
establishments, and of the mode of planting them. “ Already,” writes the author, 
“ the lessons of floral embellishment taught by the London parks have been 
extensively and successfully applied in private gardens. It is with a view of still 
further promoting the taste for garden decoration, and affording examples of 
home adornment in a concise form, that this volume is published.” 
The book opens with an account of the gardens at Buckingham Palace, which 
occupy an area of about 50 acres, of which about 25 acres are in grass. There 
is a considerable breadth of ornamental water, with islands, also rustic hedges, 
and magnificent trees and shrubs. The part of the lawn adjoining the Palace is 
quite open, not a tree or bush interrupting its level expanse of turf, and here on 
this grassy carpet the members of the Royal family have been accustomed to play 
cricket, football, and other games. There is a geometric garden, forming a circular 
* The Royal Paries and Gardens of London: their History and Mode of Embellishmont, with Hints on the 
Propagation and Culture of the Plants employed, &c., «fec. By Nathan Cole, Kensington Gardens. With 
numerous Wood Engravings and Geometrical Designs. London Journal of Horticulture Office, 171 Fleet 
Street. 1877. 
