38 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ February, 
by careful selection of tlie general stock; but now tbe band of the hybridizer is 
upon them, and, in Peas especially, a great revolution has been effected. In 
Messrs. Carter’s Cook's Favourite^ of which we gave a figure at p. 17, we have 
one promising addition. In Potatos^ Mr. Fenn’s Rector of Woodstock^ an early 
round variety of first-class excellence, is a sterling acquisition ; and Mr. Turner’s 
Beaconsfield Kidney is a large and beautiful, clear-skinned tuber, of fine quality. 
The American varieties, of which so much was expected, have proved of but little 
value. In Salad roots, Messrs Veitch and Sons’ Chelsea Beet has rarely been sur¬ 
passed for uniformity of growth and sweetness of flavour. In Lettuces^ the 
Sugarloafis an improved variety of the Brown, or Bath Cos. In Cucumbers, 
the winner of the past year’s race was Blue Gown, a long, handsome, black-spined 
variety, of fine quality and prolific habit, now in Mr. Turner’s hands.—B. 
GOODYEKA DAWSONIANA. 
that this beautiful-leaved gem has fiowered, we are enabled to give it 
its proper station amongst the Goodyeras. It was temporarily named 
Ancectochilus Dawsoiiianus by Professor Reichenbach while in leaf only, 
but I have no doubt that when he sees the flowers he will correct the 
nomenclature. No Ancectochilus yet in cultivation, not even the beautiful A. 
Lowii^ can outrival this beauteous-leaved plant; and when to beauty of foliage is 
added the grace and enchantment of a hyacinth-like spike of flowers, white as 
snow, one can well understand how captivating such a plant must be to all who 
have plant stoves. Another decided advantage it possesses is its easy way of grow¬ 
ing under ordinary cultivation. As a rule, each Ancectochilus has a little artificial 
atmosphere for itself enclosed by a bell-glass, but this thrives far better without 
any coddling of the kind. Its fine foliage becomes of an intenser hue of dark 
velvety brown, or to keep to more precise terms of description, dark umber-brown, 
when left exposed to the ordinary run of a stove atmosphere, and as a consequence 
the texture of the leaf is much firmer, and less liable to get injured either by in¬ 
ferior cultivation, or what is attended often with fatal effects, a continuance of dark 
days. The principal hues of venation are singularly beautiful, being as sharp 
and prominent as if struck with a line dipped in a mixture of crimson and gold, 
while the inferior venation lines radiate in all directions from the centre line. It 
seems to get along well under the ordinary food treatment given to Indian orchids. 
Sphagnum and sand, with a lump or two of fibry peat intermixed, answer 
admirably as a compost for it. 
The inflorescence consists of a stout spike, rearing its head considerably in 
advance of the fohage. Strong plants will throw up spikes from a foot to fifteen 
inches in height. Its pedicels are white and hairy, with brownish ovate sheaths, 
and the individual flowers are pure white in every part, with the exception of the 
extremity of the column, which is yellow. The singular characteristic of the flower 
is that the dorsal sepal and two petals are connate, and being so connected, form 
