January 1. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
that, if the Russians or Persians were the sole possessors of 
the tea plant, Mr. Fortune would have a very different tale 
to write were he fool-hardy enough to go among them to 
select and purchase for a powerful rival. 
We are informed by Messrs. Weeks and Co. that 
Nymplicea cerulcea was in full flower in their open, 
heated pond, December 19th, at their Nursery, Chelsea. 
We cannot too often remind our readers of the Royal 
Botanic Gardens at Kew, for even in the fine days of 
| winter they are the most delightful of places for a stroll; 
and not only their hothouses, but their museum is full 
I of amusement and instruction. 
So rapidly do the contributions to the museum increase, 
that it has been necessarily enlarged, and still it cannot con¬ 
tain the treasures waiting for arrangement there, but this 
we hope will soon be otherwise, for we think the country 
would not grudge any reasonable outlay upon such an insti¬ 
tution. The gardens have also been enlarged by adding to 
them the grounds held by the late King of Hanover. 
The first number of the Floricultural Review, edited 
by Mr. Slater, of Cheetham Hill, near Manchester, made 
its appearance on tire first of the month. There is a 
useful paper in it, showing the different names under 
which the same florists’ flower has been imposed upon 
the public. 
The South London Floricultural Society's General 
Meeting came off without any particular demonstration 
upon the subject of the late squabble among florists, 
i except that on the proposal to re-elect the floral editor 
of the Gardeners’ Chronicle, which was supported by a 
few members of the National Society, only ten hands 
were held up. The Society comprises considerably 
above 200 members, but, with the greatest possible good 
taste, this significant vote was the only notice taken, 
Mr. Loclmer, who was unfairly supposed to be a sup¬ 
porter of Mr. Edwards, without reference to propriety 
or impropriety of conduct, did not vote for his re-election. 
Considerable surprise has been manifested by persons who 
watched the proceedings of the South London Floricultural 
Society. That of two persons, one showing the other’s 
iiowers : the one was excluded from the committee and the 
other admitted. This, however, all depended upon the 
opinion that many had formed, that there might not have i 
been any guilty knowledge on the part of the owner, who [ 
was not present when the dowers were alleged to have been 
taken. 
The following extract from a letter received from 
France, shows the correctness of our notions upon the 
effect of selling bad fioivers with good characters. 
“ From what we have heard here of the Scarlet King 
Dahlia, I should be glad of a dry root if it could be had, but 
to tell you the truth, we have been so robbed by the favour¬ 
able opinions given in your garden newspapers and periodi¬ 
cals, that on this side of the water we have determined to 
wait until the second year for everything, and it is far better 
to lose a years’ advantage of a good tiring, if we save buying 
tire good-for-nothing ; and among our temptations, that of 
getting the best for a fifth of the price the second year is not 
the least. The professional fiorists in England are rapidly 
destroying their trade in new dowers.” 
If this sentiment prevails abroad there will be no 
small difference in the returns from Belgium, France, 
Holland, and Germany, for they have been large be¬ 
lievers in certificates and printed praises, and, therefore, 
have been great sufferers. We have referred the party 
to the proper quarter about The King , which, however, 
'209 
is, we understand, too short in stock to let out other 
than in plants, some of the roots having perished. With 
regard to the general question of prizes and certificates, 
people will do as they like ; the enthusiastic florist will, 
in spite of ill-usage, risk anything rather than miss a 
really good plant the first season. But what a reproach 
must some of the nurserymen feel when they look back 
upon the blanks which most of the amateurs have drawn 
in their lottery of novelties. How any man can boast 
of the confidence with which he sends out new plants, 
and warrant rubbish, year after year, seems not a little 
astonishing to thinking men; yet we meet them, and 
hear their complaints of declining trade, just as if they 
were not the sole cause. Not a season passes without 
their performing the part of the covetous man, who cut 
up his goose for the golden eggs, that is, for the sake of 
a little present gain, they disgust customers who, if well 
used, wovdd continue buying. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
“ Nor are the plants, which Britain calls her own, 
Few, or unlovely.” 
So wrote Mason hi his poem of “ The English Flower- 
Garden,” but he might have risen above such negative 
praise, and said they have very many among them of 
the beautiful, the fragrant, and the useful. To give 
the history of these, and by describing each British 
flowering plant, to enable our readers to detect such 
as they meet with in their rambles, will be the purpose 
of these papers. We shall present them in their 
Natural Order, and then, by giving an index according 
to the Linnaean system, and the aid of our usual index, 
w T e afford all possible facilities for ascertaining the 
name of any plant to the finder previously unknown. 
Crowfoots—Ranuncclace/e. 
CLEMATIS V1TALBA. 
The generic name is derived from the Greek Chma, a 
vine-twig, and the specific name from vitis alba, a white 
vine. Of its English names we need only quote this from 
old Parkinson’s Herbal—“ Most country people where it 
groweth call it Honesty, and the gentlewomen call it Low, 
but Gerard coined that name of The Traveller's Joy." But 
