April 21. 
more freely, and now it is more beautiful than fascicularis 
will be next May in the large conservatory; but that 
house disagrees entirely with it, or else the plant is 
somo third-rate seedling from fascicularis, which is the 
more likely. / d. elegans is just the sarno way in many 
! country places; but the Society have the best variety of 
degam, and a very bad variety of fascicularis. 
Henfreya scandens, a stove climber with white flowers, 
larger, but in the way of Stephanolis, was in good 
Idoom and leaf, trained in a pot. The old Gesnera 
l Douglassii, a scarce plant now, Heaths, Epacris, Azaleas, 
\ Gytisus ramosus, Muraltia stipularis, Corrcca Goodii, 
\ Begonia hydxocotilifolia, and the seedling between it 
1 and manicata, a large red Camellia, Diosma capitata, all 
! very useful for this season; and the following, which 
were exhibited at the March meeting— Acacia celastri- 
j folia, as good as ever; Polygala Dalmaitiana, equally 
good; Diosma ambigua, Trytnalium odoratissirna, both 
good, and Ceanothus rigidus, of which it was said in the 
lecture that it is perfectly hardy, but that dentatus is 
grown in some collections under the name of rigidus, 
and that it was much pinched by the late frosts. 
Mr. Gaines, of Battersea, sent two large handsome 
specimens of Rogiera thrysiflora as full of blossoms as 
they could carry, and, at a distance, they looked like the 
flowers of a common Valerian. What a chance lor 
gardeners who have to keep up a bloom in winter, 
to get in, almost at once, so many good things as this 
genus presents. Mr. Gaines also sent pretty white and 
blush-flowering Hybrid Rhododendrons, gaily spotted, 
named maculata, elegans, and insigne; also a pretty 
Cineraria, with a white centre, and rich purple border ; 
he calls it Reine des Fleurs— “ Polly-put-the-Kettle-on ” 
would have been a far better name. Everybody but a 
florist abominates and despises such Tom-fooleries as 
giving silly French names to English seedlings. For 
the sake of honesty and dishonesty, a better plan would 
be to keep the French names only for such plants as are 
sent to the continent, and giving the English equivalent 
or translation to those sold here. Instances of the kind 
are known to have been done, and there is nothing new 
iu the advice. The Messrs. Henderson sent a large white- 
spotted Rhododendron seedling, called Campanulatum 
superbum, a very good sort, under a very bad name, as 
no traces of the real campanulate Rhododendron is scon 
in this. In respect to many seedling plants, the ques¬ 
tion, “ What is iu a name ? ” might be thus answered— 
a fortune, or a false character A good Cineraria, white 
centre, and lilacy-purple edge, was sent by Mr. Mitchel, 
of Brighton. 
There were throe perfectly new Orchids, and two ot 
which were perfectly handsome— Arpophyllum gigan- 
teum and Dendrobium onosmum ; the third is a Lalia, 
a strong-growing one, with large flowers. It was said 
either to be one called grandis, or nearly related to it 
The sepals spread out wide open; they are long and 
wavy, and of a cinnamon colour all over, and' the 
lip is large, of ablush colour, and feathered from the 
j bottom with pink lines. I did not hear where it is a 
i native of, probably from the Brazils. Arpophyllum 
giganteum is a Guatemala plaut, introduced by Mr. 
Skinner, and distributed by Mr. Stevens s hammer. At 
the time of the sale, plants of it were sold under two 
names, squarrosim being the second, because it was 
thought the plants corresponded with dry specimens of 
two kinds; and there is a third kind known by dried 
specimens, but giganteum is by far the best of the 
three, and those who bought it under the name squar- 
rosum ought to remember this, as they have a much 
] more valuable plant, and a better-looking flower—all 
which was explained to the meeting. The third species 
is a very dwarf plant, and, probably, not much to look 
at. Mrs. Lawrence showed one of it with four spikes 
of bloom; and Mr. Carson, gardener to W. F. Farmer, 
HO 
Esq., sent auother with three rows; and at the meeting 
I heard of it being in line bloom in two other places 
near London ; so that it seems easy enough to manage, 
and it soon makes a large, bold-growing plant, with 
long strap-shaped leaves, looking like some Cymbidium. 
The flowers come in a very close round spike, on a long 
stalk standing as upright as a ramrod, with nine or ten 
inches of the top as closely set with flowers as they can 
stand. The colour is bright purple. One of these 
pretty spikes will keep a month or five weeks, at tins 
season, iu a glass of water, in a warm room; and lew 
orchids do more. The third, Dendrobium onosmum, is a 
much improved form of D. macrophyllum, as much so 
as BUmdyanum is on nobile. D. macrophyllum itself is 
the one that smells so much like Rhubarb, but so iaint. 
that I thought it quite fragrant. Mrs. Lawrence sent 
a specimen of it in the true Lawrencian style—large, 
robust, good-looking, and magnificently in bloom; but 
let me give an idea of it. Everybody knows Dendrc- 
bium nobile; well, the shoots of the rhubarb-scented 
Dendrobe are as strong as those of nobde, much like 
them, and also, like them, flower without the leaves; 
but they spread out wide from the pot, and then hang 
down, and are from three to four feet long, the last 
eighteen inches of which are covered with large, hand¬ 
some, purple flowers. There were fifteen spikes, or shoots 
of bloom, on this plant, and the average number of 
blossoms on each shoot was fourteen. There were three 
fine large plants of Vanda— two of suavis and one ot 
tricolor. These two kinds havo been grown under one 
name, but the truth is out now all round London, and 
tricolor runs into as many distinct varieties as the Calceo¬ 
larias ; and I was told of nine forms of it that are proved. 
Dendrobium pulchellum, in a wide flat basket, was veiv 
thick of bloom, looking as comfortable as the Queen of 
the Fairies on a bed of down; also Dendrobium dens,- 
Jlorum, as rich and yellow as ever, with a huge plant ot 
Chysis braclescens, crowded with large white blossoms in 
six distinct bunches or nosegays; and the lcctuiei told 
us, on his own authority, that ol all the flowers, this is 
the best for ladies hair in a ball-room ; that he himself 
had known one of these snow-white flowers to last out 
throe nights running in a ball-room, and not the worse 
either. It is of no use, therefore, railing at me in future 
for writing about wreaths, nosegays, and hair flowers, 
when I can show that a philosopher of our own country 
and times, a man of my own age, has not only been to 
balls lately, “ three nights running,” but took particular 
notice to see which flowers suit best, and is not ashamed 
to tell the tale of his observation before mothers, aunts, 
and daughters, among our high aristocracy. 
Roses come in very naturally after dancing philoso¬ 
phers; and we had two largo boxes of cut-flowers of 
them on the table, chiefly Hybrid Perpetuals, and lea- 
scented ones, that are very well known. Mrs. Siddons, 
a tea fawn-coloured one, was very fine ; also Viscountess 
la Gazes, one of the best yellow Tea Roses. Solid de 
Austerlitz does not seem to like forcing; although large 
and well-coloured, the shape was entirely gone. General 
de Brea was of fine shape and good colour. _ Duchess 
of Sutherland, Barron Prevost, and Madame Tndcaux, 
the same. Eouisc Peronncz was not much behind them , 
and Geant des Bataiiles was as rich and fine as if it 
were the height of summer. 
Mr. Ingram, of the Royal Gardens, Windsor, sent a 
fine dish of forced Strawberries, one called Prince of 
Wales. It is one of Mr. Ingram’s Seedlings, and he 
says it forces as well as Keen’s Seedling, and is of much 
better flavour. The forced fruit had a peculiar appear¬ 
ance, and it was stated that such was always the case 
when forced. Another peculiarity of this Strawberry is, 
that it will produce a second crop in the autumn if the 
first and second blossoms are cut oil', and that the fruit 
in the autumn lost the curious appearance. It is a 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
