June 2. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
153 
M W 
1) D 
JUNE 2—8, 1853. 
2 Th 
Small Heath ; commons. 
3 F 
Meadow Brown; meadows. 
4 S 
5 Son 
2 Sunday after Trinity. Boniface. 
6 M 
Spotted Elephant ; s. coast. 
7 To 
Tawny Swift; woods. 
8 \V 
Fox; woods. 
29.866 — 29.791 
29.838 — 29.709 
129.901— 29.716 
: 29.970 —29.873 
29.839 — 29.678 
29.579 — 29.539 
29.617 — 29.580 
53—51 
53—51 
70—43 
69—54 
71 — 52 
62—51 
69—51 
N DON IN 1852. 
Wind, llain in In. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
af. Sun. 
Day o 
Year 
N.E. j 
03 
50 a. 3 
6 a. 8 
2 
23 
25 
2 
22 
153 
N.E. 
25 
49 
7 
2 
39 , 
26 
2 
12 
154 
S.W. 
02 
48 
8 
2 
55 
27 
2 
o 
155 
a. 1 
03 
47 
9 
3 
14 
28 
i 
52 
156 
S.W. 
03 
47 
10 
sets. 
@ 
i 
41 
157 
S.E. 
41 
46 
11 
9 
a 2 
1 
i 
30 
158 
S.W. 
45 
46 
12 
9 
58 
2 
i 
19 
159 
7 THE Chiswick from observations during the last twenty-six years, the average highest and lowest tempera- 
1838 3 res P ectlv ° Iy ’ T \ e ^ tes ? h f e ^> ^ > occurred on the 7th in 1846 ; and the lowest cold, 35°, on the 8th 
in 1838. During the period 106 days were fine, and on 76 rain fell. 
GOLDEN-FLOWERED SANDERSONIA. 
(Sandcrsoniu aurantiaca.) 
This is a great novelty—an extremely curious plant, 
botanically considered, and an interesting addition to our 
list of half-hardy bulbs; although it is not in reality a true 
bulb, but a tuberous-rooted plant. It belongs to the natural 
order Lilyworts, but its true position in the order is not yet 
sufficiently defined. It would seem to unite in itself the 
two extremes of the order, having the Fritillaria from among 
the true Lilies, and much of the structural form of the 
Convalaria at the other end of the order. All such come 
into the Hexandria monogynia of Linnaeus. 
The genus has just been named by Sir IV. J. Hooker, in 
compliment to John Sanderson, Esq., the honorary secretary 
of the Horticultural Society of Natal in South Africa. It 
is described and pourtrayed in the Botanical Magazine for 
May. It was discovered by Mr. Sanderson, flowering in the 
November of 1851, on “Field’s Hill, near D’Urban, and on 
the Swartkop Hill, near Pietermaritzborg, Natal;” was by 
him transmitted to the Natal Garden, the curator of which, 
Mr. M’Ken, sent it to the Kew Garden, where the tubers are 
now in a state of. growth; but the plate and descriptive 
characters have been made from “ faithful drawings,” made 
by Mr. Sanderson, and from the dried specimens he sent to 
Kew; hence the only difficulty of determining the true 
position of the congeners. 
The tubers are two-lobed, and somewhat lialf-moon-sliaped; 
stem erect, and about fifteen inches high, about as thick as 
a Crow’s-quill, simple, cylindrical, herbaceous, leafy at the 
bottom; leaves stalkless, scarcely sheathing the stem but 
clasping it, spear-head-shaped,not decidedly two-ranked, but 
upper arranged on one side only, streaked with parallel 
veins; flowers drooping from between the stem, and upper 
leaves, single, stalks very slender, orange-coloured, globular 
bell-shaped, six-furrowed; mouth, six-toothed, with six nec- 
tarious hollows forming six bent-in spurs.—B. J. 
Propagation and cultivation. —Before giving the proper 
management of this novelty, I shall add a mite to the 
biographer’s account of it. This identical pilant was in my 
hands seven years since, being part of the consignment, 
which I lately mentioned, as having been sent home in the 
“Winchester,” in 1846; and, knowing it to bo a perfect 
novelty, I sent it, along with some other bulbs, to Dr. Plerbert; 
and his account of it ran thus—“ I am baffled with the three 
roots from stony places in the interior of Natal. I cannot 
yet even say to which section to refer it.” I am not surprised, 
therefore, at seeing Sir W. Hooker’s account of it, when he 
says, “I must leave others to decide whether this plant 
should be placed among the Liliacene, or Smilacete, or whether 
the two families are really distinct.” After this, all that 
a gardener can say, is, that those who can see no family 
differences between the Tulip and the common Smilax, or 
the still more common Asparagus, have hero another 
instance to confirm their view's. 
As to the ■ways of increasing this plant, let us hope that it 
will multiply its tubers after the manner of an Alslromeria, 
and that it may seed under cultivation, when we can have it 
more abundantly. As to its degree of hardihood, we are 
not without sufficient proof—judging from the locality where 
it was found growing—that it is a hardy frame plant, and, 
very likely, as hardy as the Gladiolus psittacinus. It is a 
native of dry, stony, bill sides, and, therefore, like almost all 
South African plants, will require as much fresh air as an 
Ixia or Gladiolus; and no doubt but a light Sandy soil, 
with a little heat and free drainage, will suit it best in a pot. 
'There is no reason, that we can see, why it would not do 
better in an outside border, in the free soil, without a pot, 
only that it is yet too scarce and valuable to be made a sub ject 
for rash experiments. It was in bloom in November, when 
Mr. Sanderson discovered it, in 1851; but what may be its 
proper times for growth, and flowering, and rest, remains to 
be proved with us; and for all this it is now in very safe 
hands. D. Beaton. 
No. CCXLIV., Vol. X, 
