October 28. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
55 
Al 
D 
W 
D 
OCTOBER 28—NOV. 3, 1853. 
Weather near London in 1851, 
Sun 
Bfoon 
R. &S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day 0 
Year 
Barometer. iThermo. 
i 
Wind. 
llain in In. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
28 
Th 
St. Simon and St. Jude. 
30 . 100 — 29 . 576154—39 
S.W. 
33 
49 a. 6 
39 a. 4 
5al8 
15 
16 7 
302 
29 
F 
Virginian Creeper leafless. 
29-419 — 29 . 305 ' 48—30 
N.W. 
03 
51 
37 
5 39 
16 
16 11 
303 
30 S 
Woodcock arrives. 
29 . 599 — 29 . 424149—36 
N.E. 
01 
53 
35 
6 4 
17 
16 14 
304 
3} 
Sun 
21 Sunday AFTEE Tkinity. 
29.612 — 29.602 48—32 
N.W. 
02 
54 
33 
6 35 
18 
16 16 
305 
1 
jj 
All Saints. 
29 . 613 — 29 . 559 ' 52—28 
N.W. 
56 
32 
7 15 
19 
16 18 
306 
2 To 
ftlichielmas Term begins. 
29.550 — 29.336 50—31 
N. 
01 
56 
30 
8 4 
20 
16 18 
307 
3 W 
Lilac leafless. 
29.920 — 29.759 45—26 
W. 
06 
YU 
28 
9 4 
21 
16 18 
308 
Meteohology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-five years, the average highest and lowest tempera¬ 
tures of these days are .14'’ and 39.3° respectively. The greatest heat, 67 °, occurred on the 39 th in 1833 ; and the lowest cold, 20°, on the 3r(l 
in 1845. During the period 90 days were fine, and on 85 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
DEKBEBIDS.—BEEBEEIDACE®. 
{Continuedfrom 'page 22.) 
EPIMEDIUSI. BAEEENWOET. 
Geneeic Character. — Calyx below the fruit, of four small, 
egg-shaped, concave, spreading, deciduous leaves. Corolla 
of four egg-shaped, equal, concave, spreading petals, oppo¬ 
site to the calyx. Nectaries four, one lying upon each petal, 
and nearly as long, pouch-like, blunt, equal, attaolied under¬ 
neath to tlie receptacle, by one side of the oritiee. Stamens 
with filaments, awl-shaped, erect, close to the style. Anthers 
of two oblong-oval, parallel cells, attached longitudinally to 
the inner side of the filament, below its summit, each cell 
opening by a valve, which bursts from the bottom and rolls 
back. Oermen elliptic-oblong, with a furrow at the back. 
Style oblique, roundish, the length of the stamens. Stigma 
simple. Pod oblong, pointed, of one cell and two valves. 
Seeds numerous, unilateral, oblong. 
Epimedium atj'Inusi: Alpine Barrenwort. 
Description. —It is a perennial. Root, creeping, slender, 
and thread-shaped, by which it increases rapidly. Stems 
about ten inches high, solitary, stiff, smooth, cyhndric, semi¬ 
transparent, three-branched at top, near the root scaly. 
Leaves; there are no leaves springing direct from the roots, 
but each branch bears one most elegant and delicate leaf, 
on a longish stalk, either once or twice subdivided into 
three leaflets. Leaflets hanging down perpendicularly, heart- 
shaped, ending in a point, about an inch-and-a-half long, 
but enlarging after the flowering is over, very veiny, saw- 
edged, and each tooth ended with a hair, pale-green above 
and greyish beneath. From the point where the stalks of 
the subdivisions of the leaf join the footstalk common to 
them aU, springs the flower-stalk, which bears a cluster of 
flowers about four inches long, the flowers scattered upon it 
widely apart, on three or four branohlets, each branchlet 
usually two-flowered. Petals four, dark-red, and contrasting 
strongly with the four largo pale-lemon-coloured nectaries, 
which are full of honey, and very peculiar. Stamens short. 
Anthers with a taper point, and two lid-like valves. Stigma 
yellowish, encircled at the bottom by a red band. Seed-vessel 
a one-celled pod, with many seeds. 
Places where found .—In thickets in some parts of York¬ 
shire and Cumberland ; on Skiddaw; and near Glasgow and 
Edinburgh. Very rare. 
Time of flowering .—May. 
History .—This plant is included in the Tetrandria mono- 
gynia class and order of the Linnasan system. It is of such 
rare occurrence, and has only so comparatively recently 
been discovered in Britain, that many botanists doubt 
whether it is really a native of our islands. Gerarde, in his 
“ Herbal,” published i.i lui)7, says, “ This rare and strange 
plant was sent to me from the French king’s herbarist, 
llobinus, dwelling in Baris, at the sign of the Black Head, 
in the street called Du bout du Monde, in English, The end 
of the World. This herb I planted in my garden, and in 
the beginning of May it came forth of the ground. Its seed 
came not to ripeness in my garden, by reason that it was 
dried away with the extreme and unaccustomed heat of the 
sun, which happened in the year l.'iOO, since which time, 
from year to year, it bringeth seed to perfection.” .Johnson, 
in his edition of Gerarde’s Herbal, published in 1026, says, 
“ It groweth in the garden of my friend, Mr. John Milton, 
in Old Street, and some other gardens about town.” This 
“ Mr. John Milton ” was the author of “ Paradise Lost.” 
Parkinson, in 1010, gives a very accurate description of the 
plant, but only mentions the mountain districts of Italy as 
its native place, and Bay, in 1088, says no more than, “I 
observed it on the Alps, not far from the town of Ponteba.” 
Even as late as 1807, Dr. Martyn writes, that “ Mr. Miller 
affirms that he received some plants of it which were found 
growing naturally in a wood in the north of England, but he 
was probably misinformed.” Mr. Miller may, therefore, be 
considered its first reoogniser as a native plant. It was 
certainly found by the Eev. T. Gisborne, in 1787, “in a very 
wild p.art of Cumberland called Garrock Fell,” and by Mr. 
Piobson, on Skiddaw, in 1795. Johnson seems to have 
named it Barrenwort, “not because that Dioscorides says it 
is barren both of flowers and seeds, but because, as some 
authors affirm, being drunk, jt is an enemy to conception.”— 
{Smith. Lindley. Martyn. Withering.) 
A Correspondent (W. H. 0.) writes to us as follows :— 
“ The advantages of double-glazing are numerous, and 
among them are included the saving of mats, the saving 
of the time in covering and uncovering, the gradual 
return of light to the jdants in the morning, the 
gradual withdrawal of the light at night, and the longer 
time the plants would have the light, i.e., from earliest 
dawn to the latest daylight. Moreover, I think that the 
second glass may have the effect of correcting any fault 
in the refraction of the upper glass, and thus prevent 
burning. I have six small lights, three feet by four 
feet, double-glazed, and on Saturday last there occurred 
a rather sharp frost; all my glasses were covered with 
white frost, with tho exception of two places which 
exactly corresponded to panes which had been broken 
in the under glazing.” 
The two places on the outer glass were kept free from 
white frost by the rush of warm air against them 
No. CCXIII., VoL, IX. 
