1S70. 1 
PAS31FL0EA MACROCARP A. 
13 
exposed to draughts. If they get over-wet, they will suffer from mildew and 
canker. In case mildew appears, sulphur should be applied, while for green-fly 
they should be promptly washed with soft soap and water. 
Every person who has a greenhouse should grow a few of the varieties, for 
they are very beautiful, and maybe had in flower all the year. I add the names 
of a dozen of the best I know :— Bride (not Hodge’s), a fine serrulated white 
flower, very sweet and free; Covent Garden Scarlet, the finest of all where it 
does well, but it is subject to canker; Dragon, scarlet, good habit and free ; 
Boule de Feu, a fine scarlet variety ; Frince of Orange (Perkins’), a very pro¬ 
mising yellow variety, free; Jean Bart^ a compact-growing scarlet ; Oscar, 
yellow ; Beautg, scarlet flake ; Duke of Wellington, scarlet bizarre ; Henshaw's 
Scarlet^ in the way of La Grenadier; Lee's Scarlet, a free serrulated variety ; 
Atinie. I can testify that these are all good.—W. Howard, Balham. 
PASSIFLORA MACROCARPA. 
[URING the past spring, I planted, in a brick box at the end of a pine 
stove, a young plant of Passiflora macrocarpa. The fruit which I send you 
is One of five now (November 22) maturing upon the plant. It weighs 4 lb. 
12 oz., and girths lengthwise 26 in., and round the middle 19 in. My 
object in sending this fruit is to ascertain whether the P. macrocarpa is really 
worth growing as a dessert fruit. A short time ago, I sent one to the family ; and 
this was reported to be not at all good, and quite unlike the fruit of the 
Passiflora edulis .— Wm. Miller, Comhe A bbey Gardens. 
[The fruit above referred to somewhat resembled a large, bulged, and some¬ 
what angular vegetable marrow. It was rather over-ripe, and had in consequence 
burst during transit, showing an apparent tendency to split into valves. The 
colour was a deep yellow; the flesh was thick, white, almost tasteless, while the 
juice and the pulpy matter surrounding the seeds were pleasantly acidulous, so 
that the fruit might be converted into an agreeable conserve or compote, for 
which it seems better adapted than for eating in the raw state. We abstract the 
following additional particulars from Dr. Masters’ account of the plant:— 
‘‘In habit and general appearance Passiflora macrocarpa is almost identical with P. 
quadrangularis ; so that in the early stages of growth it is impossible to distinguish the two, 
but in the adult state the leaves of P. macrocarpa are of a more rounded outline, and usually 
somewhat smaller than those of P. quadrangular is; while the stipules are much larger, and 
taper at the base into a broad stalk. P. macrocarpa has, moreover, rounder, larger, more 
serrated bracts ; a shorter, shallower calyx tube; violet (not pink) petals, which do not 
exceed the sepals; outer coronal rays which considerably exceed the petals, and the succeed¬ 
ing coronal rays filamentous, while in P. quadrangularis they are shorter and tooth-like. The 
ovary in P. macrocarpa is oblong or obovoid, not ovoid, and the fruit is much larger, oblong, 
obtuse, depressed at both ends, and longitudinally sulcate; while that of the true P. quadran¬ 
gularis is ovoid, and of the size of a swan’s egg. 
“This Passion-flower was discovered by M. Wallis, on the banks of the Rio Negro, between 
Manaos and Barcellos, about 1864, and was also found by Dr. Spruce in Peru. At that time 
I\I. Wallis wrote, that the species acquired unusual dimensions, and that the fruits, which were 
highly esteemed in the country, attained a weight of 8 lb. Respecting the former habitat, Dr. 
Spruce remarks:—‘If M. Linden’s collector sent from the Rio Negro a large-fruited 
