Plate 76 . 
HYBRID SHRUBBY SLIPPERWORT. 
Calceolaria fhyhridaj * var. 
Some years ago there was a great furore for Calceolarias, 
and many very beautifully marked and well formed varieties 
were obtained by Messrs. Kinghorn and other raisers of flo¬ 
rists’ flowers, but they were of the herbaceous kind, and it was 
found almost impossible to keep up the sorts, owing to the ex¬ 
treme difficulty of preserving them though the winter months, 
as they are very apt, in technical language, to “ fog off." At 
last the attempt was abandoned, and a fine strain of seed having 
been obtained by several growers, such as Messrs. Henderson, 
of St. John’s Wood, Mr. Dobson, of Xsleworth, Mr. Cattell, of 
Westerham, etc., lovers of the tribe now find it better to pur¬ 
chase seed from them every year, and treat the flowers simply 
as annuals. Other growers, amongst whom we may mention 
Mr. Cole, of St. Alban’s, attempted to obtain a race of plants 
which, crossed with some of the herbaceous kinds, should ex¬ 
hibit their size and markings combined with the growth of the 
more hardy species, (of these, “Gem” may be considered the 
type,) but there was too much of the herbaceous blood in them, 
and consequently they became also neglected. It was reserved 
to a nurseryman hitherto unknown, to originate a race, which 
seems, we believe, destined likely to accomplish this desirable 
end, and the seedlings raised and exhibited by Mr. Burley, of 
* Although we have given this botanical name to these flowers, we feel it 
is not strictly correct: a hybrid is the product of two distinct species; but the 
garden varieties of most popular flowers are not hybrids in this sense, inas¬ 
much as they are frequently the products of hybrids, and these plants have per¬ 
haps the blood of several species in them; but the above must be used for 
want of a better, though we know the difficulty of affixing botanical names and 
botanical descriptions to the popular flowers of the greenhouse and garden. 
