48 
THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ February, 
- ^HE Helianthus cucumerifolius^ introduced by Mr. W. Thompson, is an 
annual from Texas ; it grows from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, branches freely, and flowers 
abundantly. It is really a very nice, showy, neat species, entirely free from 
coarseness, and as easy to cultivate as any one could desire. 
- great improvements have been worked amongst Delphiniims 
during the past few years 1 A bed of them finely flowered is a striking object in 
its rich hues of blue. The double and single forms alike have been subject to the 
change, and the long huge symmetrical closely-set spikes, are objects of great beauty. 
Among the double flowers the following are particularly fine:—Argus, azure-blue, striped 
and tipped with rose; Claire Courant, bright azure-blue, distinct, and very fine; Grandi- 
florum plenum, rich dark shining blue, tinted with bronzy-red, large full flowers; Hermann 
Stenger, outer petals bright violet-blue, centre petals rosy-pink, very fine ; Keteleeri, a 
distinct and a beautiful variety, producing freely dense spikes of lavender-blue flowers; Paul 
et Virginie, outer petals bright blue, centre petals bronzy-red, striped and edged with white, 
very showy and striking; Roi Leopold, outer petals bright blue, inner petals rosy-violet, 
centre sulphur and white, very fine ; and Thiers, azure-blue, centre white and rosy-pink, very 
distinct and beautiful. Of the single flowers, wdiich after all are the most striking, the fol¬ 
lowing are effective : —Amabilis, azure-blue, changing to rosy-lilac, wdiite and orange centre, 
a very distinct, effective, and very beautiful variety; Celestial, ultra-marine-blue, with very 
conspicuous velvety-brown centre, very effective and striking; Formosum lilacinum, light 
lavender tipped with pink, ornamented white centre, very distinct and extra fine; La Belle 
Alliance, bright violet-blue, with a white and oi'ange centre, very fine ; Madame Chate, 
porcelain-blue, suffused with bronzy-red, orange and white centre, very beautiful; Madame 
Henri Jacotot, bright azure-blue, suffused with delicate rosy-pink ; Nudicaule, bright orange- 
red, dwarf, very distinct and effective; and Pulcherrimum, rich shining blue, clianging to 
reddish-bronze, orange and white centre, a very distinct, effective, and beautiful variety. 
®HE Columbines of tke Rocky Mountains are very desirable plants for 
9 . 
garden purposes, the gem of them all being Aquilegia coerulea. This has now been 
introduced for some time, but the plants in Utah seem a distinct variety ; their 
colour is not blue, or blue and white, but pure white, or yellowish-white. It was flowering in 
great quantity 10,000 ft. above the sea, wherever any tiny stream trickled down the moun¬ 
tain slopes, and the flowers at a little distance reminded one more of those of Eucharis 
amazonica than anything else. The plant grows in handsome bunches 2 ft. or 3 ft. high, the 
flowers large and broad, and the spurs excessively long (2 in. at least), with a rounded knob at 
the top. Messrs. Backhouse, of York, mention a species in their catalogue under the name 
of Aquilegia leptoceras lutea, which reads very like this variety of A. coerulea, with the ex¬ 
ception that theirs is described as golden-yellow instead of white or yellowish cream-colour. 
- ^^EOFESSOR Mantogazza, of Pavia, lias lately discovered that Ozone is 
generated in immense quantities by all Plants and Flowers possessing green leaves 
and aromatic odours. Hyacintlis, mignonette, lieliotrope, lemon, mint, lavender, 
narcissus, cheny-laurel, and the like, all throw off ozone largely on exposure to the sun’s 
rays. So powerful is this great atmospheric purifier, that it is the belief of chemists that 
whole districts can be redeemed from the deadly malaria which infests them, by simply 
covering them with aromatic vegetation. The bearing of this upon flower-culture in our 
large cities is also very important. Experiments have proved that the air of cities contains 
less ozone than that of the surrounding country, and the thickly inhabited parts of cities less 
than the more sparsely built, or than the parks and open squares. Plants, and flowers, and 
green trees can alone restore the balance; so that every little flower-plot is not merely a thing 
of beauty, while it lasts, but has a direct and beneficial influence upon the health of the 
neighbourhood in which it is found. 
- 3In some investigations into tbe question of the Growth of Plants as 
affected by Latitude^ Hoffman states that from numerous observations in Central 
Europe we may conclude, as an average, that a difference of latitude of one degree 
causes and implies a delay or retardation of 3| days of the various steps in the development 
of plants, especially of the blossoming in spring. 
