170 
THE FLORIST. 
less full and circular in the paste. A row of the maroons and blacks 
that were in flower at the same time ran thus, beginning with the 
lightest:—Squire Smith, Hannibal, Eliza, Eclipse, Blackbird, Vulcan, 
Mrs. Smith ; and very striking they were. 
24. Faulkner’s Hannibal. No mean rival to Blackbird, and of a 
lighter shade of the same maroon colour. In paste inferior as regards 
both breadth and shape, but it is bolder on stem and footstalk, and some 
would prefer it. The foliage is more Pear-shaped than that of Squire 
Smith, and of a lighter green, but the ribs and veins are of dark olive, 
giving it a peculiar and pretty skeleton appearance.* 
25. Gorton’s Stadtholder. A mere mealy leaved Primula. The pip 
is round, but thin, and with too little paste. The best of the yellow 
seifs. 
26. Lightbody’s Meteor Flag. Two distinct flowers, according as it is 
viewed at first opening, or after it has opened a week. At first it is a 
flimsy uneven flower of a thin clarety blue colour, and will disappoint. 
Afterwards it becomes a large and flat flower of clear violet blue, of no 
great substance, but lasting long in perfection. The proportions are 
good, except that the paste might be a little wider with advantage; 
tube lemon, and showing a disposition to bleach. Certainly the best of 
the blues. It flowers freely, and forms a large plant with mealy 
foliage. A good thing. 
27. Martin’s Eclipse. A trifle under size and not so flat as it might 
be ; the colour a deep mulberry ; the substance velvety; the paste of 
average goodness; tube lemon. It is not a large grower, and has mealy 
foliage: 
28. Martin’s Mrs. Sturrock. A very fine flower of a deep dull crim¬ 
son, approaching to maroon, of fair size, with good paste and tube, and 
very flat, but it does not always truss well. Its foliage is mealy. 
29. Sim’s Eliza. A gem, though imperfect. Very similar to Eclipse, 
but an improvement on it in size, roundness, and flatness. It is also a 
better trusser. Its colour is a shade lighter, and considerably brighter. 
30. Sim’s Vulcan. A fine old slightly mealed sort. It is a shade 
darker maroon than Blackbird, with paste more starry but more of it 
than Hannibal or Squire Smith, and fit to rank with those worthies. 
It is said to be apt to crimple, so I left eleven pips on the truss, and in 
this instance it answered, for every pip came perfectly flat, 
31. Smith’s Mrs. Smith. A fine old flower; smaller, smoother and darker 
than Vulcan, and not of the same colour, but nearly that of Oxonian, 
a black violet; paste angular, and not of sufficient breadth ; the tube 
also is not deep enough yellow to stand. Still it is a fine thing. It 
makes a large plant and meal runs up the ribs of the foliage. 
Iota. 
*This variety is little known, and was supposed by a grower to whom I men¬ 
tioned it to be an alias for Hufton’s Squire Mundy. The description will show 
that it is not that. 
