18 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
now short indeed for preparing plants and 
other objects for exhibition. Much valuable 
time has been lost, and of many subjects ex¬ 
hibitors will be under the necessity of merely 
showing what they have instead of that which 
might have been specially grown for the Paris 
Exhibition. However, the requisite details, 
we understand, have at length been just pub¬ 
lished, and we purpose giving a condensed 
account of the most important features of the 
programme in our next issue. We are also 
informed that to Messrs. Carter & Co., of 
High Holborn, has been entrusted the laying 
down in grass of the English quarter of the 
Park. 
Doubtful Species. —What are Acer opalus, 
Ait, opulifolium,Willd,polymorphum, Spach ? 
asks M. Carriere; and he answers, Merely 
forms of Acer monspessulanum, which itself is, 
perhaps, only a form of Acer creticum. What 
is Acer neapolitanum, Tenore ? Very probably 
a form of Acer opalus or opulifolium, differing 
only in the size and pubescence of the 
leaves. What is Cytisus alpinus ? Merely a 
form of Cytisus laburnum. Every year in 
sowings of the former some Laburnums come 
up; but it is a singular circumstance that 
in some years the majority of the seedlings 
are Cytisus alpinus, whilst in others, although 
the seeds are gathered from the same trees, 
the seedlings prove to be almost invariably 
Laburnums. What is Morus italica, Poiret ? 
Only a variety of the White Mulberry, which 
may be raised from the latter, and its varieties, 
Moretti and multicaulis ; and if, as stated by 
M. Jamin, Morus nigra is only a variety, it 
would lead to the conclusion that the true 
Mulberries may be all reducible to a single 
type. 
New Vegetables. —M. Carriere states in 
a recent number of the “ Eevue Horticole,” 
that the Queensland Spinach, Chenopodium 
auricomum, is scarcely different from C. album, 
or AVhite Goosefoot, a common native "weed, 
and does not appear to be worth cultivation, 
more especially as the New Zealand Spinach, 
Tetragonia expansa, grows almost anywhere, 
and, in the opinion of connoisseurs, is of such 
excellent quality. Another plant, he says, is 
also beginning to be spoken of under the 
name of Ancona Salad. This is the Salsola 
soda, which it is almost impossible to culti¬ 
vate—a matter of no great consequence, see¬ 
ing that the plant is in no way ornamental, 
and detestable in a culinary point of view. 
Some persons, however, pickle the young- 
branches and leaves in vinegar, like Samphire 
and Salicomias. A third plant is the Chili 
Leaf Beet (Poiree-carde du Chili), which is 
probably only a variety of the Brazilian Beet. 
It has highly ornamental leaves, and their 
stalks are of enormous size and very succulent. 
The latter are stated to attain trorn of to 
71 inches in breadth, and to be richly coloured, 
whilst the bullated blades present a diversity 
of metallic hues, varying from green to dark 
red. 
OBITUARY. 
Mr. Joseph Henderson, for nearly half 
a century gardener to the Earls Fitzwilliam, 
died at Wentworth Woodhouse on the 22nd 
of November. The Gardeners' Chronicle 
contains this tribute to his memory:—“He 
was a man of a very high tone of mind, and 
acquired a surprising stock of knowledge on 
various subjects, notwithstanding the constant 
demands on his time as Superintendent of the 
Gardens, first at Milton, and afterwards at 
Wentworth. He had a fair knowledge of 
Latin and French, was an admirable drafts¬ 
man, and besides possessing very extensive 
botanical information, he was a good ornitho¬ 
logist and entomologist. His botanical re¬ 
searches were not confined to Phaenogamous 
plants, as he made the minute structure of 
Cryptogams an especial study, and was one 
of the first to discover the antheridia of 
Ferns, though he failed to recognise their 
real nature. His paper on the germination 
of Ferns in the ‘ Magazine of Botany and 
Zoology’ in 1837, made him generally 
known amongst botanists, and in consequence 
of this and other researches he was elected 
an Associate of the Linnean Society, an 
honour which he well deserved. Ferns were 
certainly his favourites in the vegetable 
world, and the collections at Milton and 
AVent worth were amongst the most important 
in the country. He was happily encouraged 
in his pursuits by his employers; and he was 
not the only domestic in the establishment 
who did good service to science, for Mr. Artis, 
the house steward, was well known for his 
arehmological researches, and his work on the 
1 Vegetation of the Coal Measures,’ while 
the discoveries of Mr. Simmons are recorded 
in Curtis’s ‘ British Entomology.’ Mr. 
Henderson’s health unhappily failed about 
three years since, and for the last year he 
never left his bedroom. He has left behind 
him few more useful members of society, and 
none more deservedly loved for his kindly 
disposition and numerous sterling qualities.” 
CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 
STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSES. 
The plants in these houses require more 
heat than that which would protect them from 
the action of frost, or that degree of tempera¬ 
ture which would be sufficient for many green¬ 
house plants. At the same time it should bo 
recollected that fire heat is not congenial to 
the growth of plants, owing to its causing a 
