August 15. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
1 D 
I M 
i 
D 
W 
Weather near London in 1853. 
1 „ I 
AUGUST 15—21, 1854. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. Wind. 
Rain in 
Inches, j 
Rises. 
15 
To 
Cryptophagus serratus. 
29.994—29.929 
65—40 N. : 
_ 
47 a 4 
1 G 
W 
Cryptophagus hirtus. 
29780-29.194 
65—54 E. 
36 
48 
17 
Th 
DucnEss of Kent bokn, 1786. 
29.704—29-507 
71—41 W. 
— 
50 
18 
F 
Tachinus trimaculatus. 
29-904-29.870 
73—51 s. 
— 
51 
19 
S 
Aleochara lanuginosa. 
29-«74—29.822 
77-61 S.W. 
02 
53 
20 
Son 
10 Sunday after Trinity. 
29.861—29.81 1 
76-51 S.W. 
01 
55 
21 
M 
Sun’s declinat., 12° 10' n. 
29.977—29.925 
73—55 W. 
— 
56 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
It. Sc S. 
Moon’s 
Ag-c. 
22 a 7 
20 
18 
16 
14 
12 
10 
10 20 
10 44 
11 15 
15 56 
morn. 
0 47 
1 48 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
300 
Clock Day of 
af. Sun. Year. 
17 
5 
53 
40 
27 
13 
59 
22 7 
228 
229 
230 
231 
232 
233 
Meteorology of the Week.—A t Chi. wick, from observation, during the last twenty-seven years, the average highest and lowest tem 
peratures of these days are ;3° and 51.5° respectively. The greatest heat, 92 °, occurred on the 1 Sth in 1642 ; and the lowest cold 38° on the 
18th in 1851. During the period 107 days were fine, and on 82 rain fell. ’ ’ 
NEW PLANTS. 
Desfontaikia spxnosa {Holly-leaved Desfontainiu.) 
We incline to tlie opinion that this genus belongs to the 
Natural Order of Gentian worts ( Gentianece ) ; an opinion 
long since recorded by Mr. D. Don. That it dbes not belong 
to the. Potato tribe ( Solanacece ), is the decided opinion of 
Torreya 
nucifera Sieb. and 
Zucc. 
taxi folia Arn. 
Humboldtii 
Taxus nucifera Linn. 
Podocarpus nucifera Pers. 
Caryotaxus nucifera Zucc. 
The nut - bearing 
reya 
Tor- 
Nippon, and cultivated in 
Japan 
20 
Taxus montana Nutt., not 
of Willd. 
The Yew - leaved 
reya 
Tor- 
Florida 
30—40 
Baron Humboldt's 
reya 
Tor- 
Georyia 
Sir W. Hooker says the fruit of Torreya myrislica is 
double in size that of T. taxifolia, the only species at present 
TORREYA TAXIFOLIA. 
Braneh es pale. ashy-brown. 
Leaves one inch long, half a 
line wide, convex above, 
grooved beneath from the 
reflexed margin, and of a 
paler hue,' with a slightly 
raised parallel brownish 
line on each side the mid¬ 
rib ; rnucro short. 
—(Botanical Mayazine, t. 47 
Torreya Myristica. 
Branches red-brown. 
Leaves two inches and often 
more long, one line wide, 
nearly plane above and 
beneath, the under-side 
rather paler, with a de¬ 
pressed or sunken line of 
the same colour on each 
side the midrib'; mucro 
long. 
80 .) 
Torreya taxifolia. 
Male flowers with the scales 
all acute and mucronated. 
Fruit scarcely an inch long, 
somewhat obovate and 
and acute. 
Wood of a reddish colour, 
like that of Juniperus 
Viryiniana (Dr. Torrey). 
Torreya Myristica. 
Male flowers (not by any 
means fully developed) with 
the inner scales membrana¬ 
ceous, obtuse and erose. 
Frail, the smallest specimon 
an-inch-and-a-half long, in 
shape exactly elliptical. 
TFborfyellow, like Box, as seen 
at Mr. Veitcli’s Nursery, 
King’s road, Chelsea. 
Mr. Miers, who has paid so much attention to it. It belongs 
to Pentaudria Monogynia of Linnaeus. 
“ The species of Desfontainia, said Mr. Don, writing in 
1838, are shrubs worth cultivating in every collection, for 
the. elegance of their foliage as well as the brilliancy of 
their flowers. We would recommend them to be grown in 
pots filled with a mixture of peat, loam, and sand, if ever 
they should be introduced to our gardens.” The need for 
this last sentence is now removed, for I), spinosa has been 
introduced, and to Messrs. Veitch belongs this one more 
benefit conferred upon the gardener. Their collector, Mr. 
W. Lobb, sent it to them from Valdivia, and it was ex¬ 
hibited at Chiswick in 1853. It is a greenhouse shrub of 
still’, erect habit; the leaves glossy green, and prickly edged ; 
the flowers are rich scarlet, tipped with bright yellow. It 
produces a white berry about the size of a cherry.—( Bo¬ 
tanical Mayazine, t. 4781.) 
Torreya myristica ( Californian Nutmeg). 
This evergreen belongs to the Natural Order of Conifers, 
and to Dioeeia Polyandria of Linnaeus. This, also, is one 
of Messrs. Veitch and Son’s importations, being, also, a 
discovery of Mr. Lobb.’s, who found it during 1851, in the 
Sierra Nevada, of California. It attains the height of from 
thirty to forty feet, and will, doubtless, prove hardy. Messrs. 
Knight and Perry thus describe the genus and other known 
species :— 
“The Torreya is a genus nearly allied to the Yew, and 
was named in honour of Dr. Torrey, one of the authors of 
the North American Flora. The type of the genus ( T. 
taxifolia) is a tree from twenty to forty feet high, which has 
a very disagreeable smell when burnt, and hence it is some¬ 
times called in Florida the ‘ Stinking Cedar.’ The wood, 
though of small dimensions, is very durable, and is not 
liable to the attacks of noxious insects. 
“ T. nucifera is a handsome tree. In Japan an oil is 
made from the kernel of the nut, and used for culinary 
purposes. The species appears quite hardy in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London. 
“ T. Humboldtii .—If this fine specimen prove hardy, it 
will be a great acquisition. 
that may be substituted for it, but he adds these other 
distincts. 
No. cccvir., vol. nil 
