'mm 
V01-.  XXXIII.  No.  ifi.  \ 
WIIOL,E  No.  1374.  ! 
[Entered  according  to 
_ NEW  YORK  CITY,  MAY  27,  1876,! 
^t_o^ongre88.  In  the  year  1976.  by  the  Rural  Publishing  Oompany.  in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  ConKroea  at  Waehli^i^n.j" 
i  PRICE  SI3C.  CENTM. 
»a.«5  PER  YEAR. 
POINSETTIA  PULCHERRIMA  PLENISSIMA. 
We  have  bo  often  and  no  recently  referred  to 
and  described  tlxis  showy  plant  that  oxtondod  de¬ 
tails  are  unnecessary  now— oapecially  as  the  ex¬ 
cellent  engraving  w^ch  w'o  reproduce  from  the 
Gardiners'  Chronicle  will  well  proBont  an  idea  of 
those  partB  which  the  most  careful  doscriptioiifl 
ofttimea  fail  to  convey. 
The  old  single  Poiusettia  is  a  native  of  Mexico 
— introduco<l  by  M.  Poinsette  and  aeourod  by 
itr.  IJiriBT  of  l‘hilailiilpbia  in  1834.  The  proper 
flowers  ai’o  borne  in  corymbose  ejunes,  each 
cyme  subtended  by  the  brilliant  loaves  which  are 
commonly  siiokcn  of  as  Iho  flowers.  But  tho 
word  double  should  be  couflned  to  a  multiplica¬ 
tion  of  tho  coralline  loaves  only— so  that,  accu¬ 
rately  spealdng,  tho  now  Poiusettia  ia  no  more 
double  than  tho  old  form.  In  tho  former,  how¬ 
ever,  tho  cymoB  ore  dnpUoatod  and  each  one  is 
providtid  with  its  series  of  bruols,  which  in  their 
entii'oty  form  the  superb  crimHon  rosetto  or 
bouquet  of  floral  loaves  which  tho  engraving 
showfl,  and  winch  are  Boarcely  over  half  tho 
natm-al  aizo.  Tho  flowers  themselves  aro  so 
httlo  and  jilain  that  it  has  boon  enggeatcMl  that 
tho  brilliant  bracts  perform  tho  same  office  as 
tho  gaudier  flowers  of  other  plants,  viz.,  to  at¬ 
tract  insects  and  insure  tho  trausforenoo  of  i)ol- 
lon  from  tlio  stamous  to  tlie  pistils,  either  upon 
the  same  individual  or  from  one  to  another,  if 
the  pollen  and  stigma  do  not  In  the  same  indi¬ 
vidual  matmre  simultaneonsly. 
The  double  Poiusettia  which,  if  wo  judge  from 
all  wo  read,  will  utterly  eclipse  tho  old  fonu  is, 
at  present,  controlled  by  the  Messrs.  Veitch  & 
Sons  of  England,  who  will  offer  it  as  soon  as 
their  stock  becomes  large  enough  to  meet  tlio 
popular  demand— probably  this  fall. 
English  horticnltiuists  are  more  alert  than  aro 
those  of  om’  own  couutxy,  and  a  hungry  market 
is,  among  thorn,  always  craving  for  a  change  of 
food, 
Tims  it  was  that  the  “  double  ”  Poinsottia 
slipped  Un-ough  om-  fingers,  as  ‘‘it  was  first  so- 
enred  to  cultivation  through  tho  ontorpriso  of 
our  veteran  I.  PmniaNAN,  Esq.,  and  was  first 
described  in  tho  American  Agricultm-ist  hi  '73, 
accompanied  by  an  original  engraving  from  tlio 
plant  it«lf.” 
We  in-osumo  that  Mr.  BoonANAN  must  have 
treated  tliroctly  with  M.  Beneuicte  Rorzl  him¬ 
self,  wlio,  in  May  of  tho  same  year,  discovered 
it  in  a  littlo  viUago  of  the  Mexican  fitato  of 
Gueroro. 
Since  writing  tho  above  wo  have  received  tho 
Loudon  Garden  of  tho  Ist  inst.,  which,  in  an  ar¬ 
ticle  upon  Poinsettias  in  general,  says  “  r. 
pulv/urrinia  has  now  a  formidable  rival  in  the 
new  variety  named  ploiissimn,  to  bo  sent  out  by 
Messrs.  Vkitch  this  mouth,  and  to  whicii  the 
old  favorite  will  shortly  have  to  give  place.  This 
has  aU  tho  goo<l  qualities  of  P.  puUihenHnta, 
with  tho  additional  merit  of  having  tho  colored 
bract  at  least  double  its  size,  so  tliat  tho  effect  a 
few  woU-grown  plants  of  this  spocios  will  pro¬ 
duce  may  bo  readily  imagined.” 
RAMBLES  IN  THE  WOODS  AND  FIELDS. 
Deau  EimAxjHT :— Like  you,  I  am  veiy  fond 
of  a  ramble  in  the  woods  and  Holds,  and  wheur 
over  I  moot  with  a  plant  bearing  pretty  flowers, 
I  am  Seized  with  a  dosu-o  to  bring  it  homo  to 
cultivate— but,  alas!  I  am  one  of  tho  kudlos,s 
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