148 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 3. 
On the turn at one end of the stand, were the best 
plants I have yet seen of all those dwarf gems repre¬ 
sented by Ancectochilus, which they grow in pots in 
nothing but damp moss, and the pots are always kept 
under bell-glasses, so as to keep the air as still and 
damp about them as they were accustomed to in the 
low swamps of their native homes; and at the other 
end was a giant, also enclosed by a tall glass cap, with 
leaves almost as beautiful as those of the gem-bearers 
themselves. This is a new Vinewort, from Japan; I 
believe it was sent by the Messrs. Rollinson, and is a 
strong and apparently fast-growing stove climber, which 
ought to be planted out in a shaded part of a stove or 
orchid-house, so that the sun could not reach them to 
fade the beauty of the markings on the leaves; it is 
called Cissus marmorea discolor, or variegata. Along 
with this, was a curiosity called Saurauja cauliflora, a 
Dilleniad, whose second name explains the meaning of 
cauliflower, which meaning, very probably, not one out 
of a thousand knows anything of; but let us see how it 
tells on this curiosity. It was a tall standard-like plant, 
with a head of long leathery leaves, so common in this 
order; the stem all the way up was not thicker than the 
handle of a strong umbrella, quite straight, and as 
smooth as a May-pole; here and there, from the surface 
of the pot up to the fine head of leaves, came forth little 
clusters of pale white flowers, not unlike some kind of a 
large Andromeda. Now, caulis is the book-name for 
the stem of a plant or tree; and when flowers come out 
of the stem like this, they call it stem-flowering, or cau- 
lifiora; and our cabbage-wort, the cauliflower, a stem 
running into “ the best flower in the garden,” is a mon¬ 
grel word, half Latin and half English. If you think 
the first or generic name of this curious tree a mongrel 
too, which you cannot well pronounce, say it as a fo¬ 
reigner would, and you will be all right— Soruia, putting 
a strong accent on the u. 
My next door friend, Mr. Jackson, of Kingston, sent 
the ghost plant which I tried to describe last week— 
Ataccia cristata. Now what is the meaning of this name, 
think you ? for every name has some meaning or 
another. Cristata everybody knows to mean crested, or 
formed like a coxcomb, and the crest of this plant we 
must suppose to be the large bracts or involucre at the 
back of the umbel of black flowers. The first name, 
Ataccia, is the puzzle, but let us see. In the marshy 
swamps of the Malay peninsula, in the Molucca Islands, 
and in other very hot regions in the east, there are 
several lands of a plant called Tacca by the natives. 
These plants have large roots, like gingerworts, or 
between gingerworts and yams. Now, when the real 
ghost plant was found, it was as near a species of Tacca 
as could be, but still not a real Tacca, and to make a 
distinction they called it Not a Tacca, from a, not, and 
Tacca, the old sort. 
The next greatest rarity was to see a collection of well- 
grown Yellow Rhododendrons, as they are called; there 
are only three yellow kinds, and three of a tint between 
light lilac and irench-white. This tint is often seen in 
the flowers of orchids; otherwise it is unusual. Very 
likely, when the plants are out in the open air under a 
strong sun the flowers may have a tinge of yellow to 
, justify the name, but that could not possibly improve 
them. The best of the three is Delicata. The other 
two have spots or streaks of yellow at the bottom of the 
upper petals, but Delicata is quite pure, and a lovely 
flower. Lindleyana is next best, and Macranthum has 
the most dots in the eye. Sulphureum is the best of the 
leal yellow rhododendrons; it is a rich canary yellow 
all over, the next best is Aurenm superhum, a deeper 
yellow than the last, and strongly marked at the bottom 
of the upper petals, with a still deeper yellow or brown, 
and the third is Cupreum or coppery, very like the more 
geneial tint in the Ghent azaleas. Those who can only 
afford two kinds should buy sulphureum and delicata. 
The lot was exhibited by the great rose-grower, Mr. 
Lane, of Berkhampstead. It may be necessary to state 
that these yellow rhododendrons are hybrids between 
the Arhorea breed and the yellow Chinese Azalea. When 
they were first exhibited in the seedling state by Mr. 
Smith of Norbiton, seven or eight years ago, there were 
only two kinds, I think; how the third one came in I can¬ 
not say. The lilacy or Ereuch-wliite ones are of a different 
breed altogether. There was one plant of another rho¬ 
dodendron which must be new to a great number of our 
readers—a double one, very pretty indeed, the colour a 
rich shade of lilac all over—this is really well worth 
having by those especially who force their best rhodo¬ 
dendrons and azaleas for spring bloom. 
The “ lovely azalea,” the new one, Azalea amcena, from 
China, was also there, and in much better bloom than at 
Chiswick. It really is a pretty little dear, and when they 
come to cross it with such large-flowering azaleas as coro- 
nata and triumphans, two of the finest shades in all the 
race, what gems of loveliness the offspring must turn out! 
Indeed, now that they have got them so numerous and 
so large that they hardly know how to find winter room 
for one-half of them, anybody may see that there are too 
many of them of one colour. Look at optima, Brough- 
tonii, and picturata at ten feet distance, and who can 
make out the one from the other. I cannot, and I can 
read the smallest print in the “ Times” in the glooming, 
or by rushlight, without glasses. Even Exquisita, the 
very best of the lightish cast, has too many leaves to 
allow the full effect of its exquisiteness to be seen at 
once, and Perryana, a very fine flower of the reddish 
kind, is still worse than Exquisita in the way of hiding 
its flowers. Such defects or deficiencies must be borne 
in mind by the cross-breeder when the grandchildren of 
amcena arrive. The first generation may be allowed to 
go off in the way of experiments, and if the size of the 
flowers do not come down, breed in-and-in again by 
using the pollen of amcena on the best-coloured seed¬ 
lings. This breeding in-and-in has been proved to do a 
great deal of harm in azaleas and rhododendrons, but 
then see what noble things have also appeared by the 
same means; at any rate, let us not lose the beautiful 
tint of amcena by any squeamishness, or overreaching 
philosophy, about which we really know very little 
indeed that can be depended on. I would throw the 
die in favour of coronata and triumphans as mothers, 
for the pollen of amcena. The next gardener you meet 
would probably prefer granilis and violacea superha, 
because they are more purple; but why follow such 
strains, when the very best among us all know so little 
of the effect of colour, that we would place triumphans 
and coronata side by side on a competition stand, as I 
have seen once done, drowning all the rest right and 
left of them, and irresistibly compelling the eye to rest j 
on one corner of the group only ; who, then, can wonder , 
at our defects in planting flower-gardens. 1 ). Beaton. 
(To be continued.) 
THOUGHTS ON SUCCESS AND FAILURE AT 
EXHIBITIONS. 
No gardener from the country could have glanced 
at the unrivalled exhibition at Chiswick, on the 8th, 
without being bettered. He could not avoid a feeling 
of astonishment creeping over him as he gazed, one 
after another, on such wondrous specimens of beauty and 
skill, mingled with delight and satisfaction, that to bro¬ 
thers of the same craft were the public indebted for such 
a magnificent scene. But this would not be all. Every [ 
man naturally is so far a Pope. We have all too much of 
the spirit of the cock crowing defiance from its own dung¬ 
hill, as if there was not such another spot in creation. Self- i 
