256 
THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ November, 
CLEMATIS DUCHESS OF EDINBUKGH. 
WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. 
S his, winch we regard as the best of the double-flowered white varieties of 
Clematis^ was raised by Messrs. G. Jackman and Son, of Woking, whose 
f names are now familiar as cultivators of these grand and popular deco¬ 
rative plants. It was, we believe, one of a batch of seedlings whose 
lineage was not noted ; but there can be little doubt that (7. Fortunei was one 
of its parents, and from this doubtless it inherits the pleasant fragrance with 
which its flowers are imbued. It first flowered in the spring of 1874, and was 
awarded a First-class Certificate at the Exhibition of the Eoyal Botanic Society 
in April of that year. From one of the blossoms then produced our drawing was 
prepared. It will be seen that, in addition to a refined symmetry of form, which 
it shares with C, Lucie Lemoine^ it possesses in a greater degree than any other 
of the double varieties depth of flower, there being some ten or eleven rows or 
layers of the overlapping sepals; this unusual depth gives the flowers something 
of the globular appearance of the flower-heads of the Guelder Eose. 
We introduce here some remarks by Mr. G. Jackman on the group of 
Clematises to which our subject belongs :— 
The double-flowered varieties of Clematis wuth white blossoms are mostly found in 
the group of which C. jiorida is the type. This species, a native of Japan, was introduced 
in 177G, exactly a century ago, and is a slender climbing plant, bearing creamy-white 
(single) flowers, and assuming a very ornamental aspect under favourable climatic conditions. 
This C. Jiorida and C. Fortunei may be regarded as the two parents from which most of our 
double white Clematises have sprung. C. Jiorida plena agrees exactly with the type inhabit 
and foliage, but differs in having a large tuft of petaloid organs forming a greenish-white 
rosette in the centre of the flowers. The next in order was C. Jiorida Sieboldii, or, as it is some¬ 
times called, C. Jiorida hicolor, which was introduced from Japan about 183G. This very 
ornamental plant resembles the type in its general character, and differs chiefly in having a 
central rosette, like C. Jiorida plena^ but of a dark purple colour. Subsequently, about 18G0, 
C. Fortunei was introduced from Japan by Mr. Fortune, and proved to be more vigorous in 
growth than the forms of C.florida, producing large double fragrant flowers, fomiing a dense 
rosette of a creamy-white colour, with a central tuft of pale-coloured filaments. Some few 
years later, a French seedling named C. Lucie Lemoine was raised and distributed, and this, 
while having large double flowers similar to those of C. Fortunei, was found to be superior to 
that variety both in regard to symmetry of form and purity of colour, thus proving to be, 
as remarked in The Clematis as a Garden Flower, an advance upon the then existing varieties. 
In 1874 our C. Duchess o f Edinburgh flowered, and was at once pronounced to be the finest 
of the double white varieties, on account of the symmetry, purity, and depth of its flowers, an 
opinion which the award of a First-class Certificate by the Royal Botanic Society served to 
confirm.” 
“ It will thus be seen that we have been making steady improvement in regard to the 
varieties of Clematis with double white blossoms ; and if we turn for a moment to the mauve- 
coloured doubles, and compare C. John Gould Veitcli with C. Countess of Lovelace, and other 
varieties with their counterparts, we shall also see that a forward movement is being as certainly 
secured in the case of the coloured varieties. Most of these double-flowered sorts bloom at 
the same season of the year, so that they may confidently be recommended as companion 
plants to those who are interested in hardy free-flowering climbers.” 
The variety now figured belongs to the florida section, and is of a vigorous, free- 
flowering habit. The leaves are ternate, with broad ovate leaflets. The flowers are 
about four inches in diameter, and fully as deep, having the close-set, imbricating 
sepals in many (10-11) rows, and of a pure white colour. The flowers are very 
sweet-scented, as noted by our artist, who found the room, in which the flower 
