362 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 11 
was first introduced from the gardens about Buenos 
Ayres. The seedling between it and the last is fertile, 
and has crossed again with the pollen of Amancces, and 
a much hardier plant with a better flower is the result 
(see Elisena). Then, if Gallithauma is really an Ismene, 
as Dr. Lindley thinks, we have emerald-green, golden- 
yellow, and the most silvery-white, to mix and vary into 
all possible hues, for the front borders of our green¬ 
houses, and south walls. Add to this the delicious odours 
in the half-hardy, white Hymenocallis, not to mention 
the exquisite fragrance of H. speciosa, from the stove, 
1 and surely it is worth while to make a fresh start with 
I the Pancratium-like bulbs, and not go on for everlasting 
| with such trumpery things as common Tulips, and 
Poppy Anemones. We are all so accustomed to Latin 
specific names, that not one out of a thousand pro¬ 
nounces Caldthina right; the word is of Greek origin, 
meaning, beautiful, and should be accented on the 
middle a instead of the i. 
Ismene df.ft.exa. —Another Peruvian species, with j 
white reflexed flowers (not green), which comes the j 
nearest to Elisene, being, as it were, the connecting j 
link between the two genera, but in truth, Clioretis j 
| glaucct, and Hymenocallis rotata, are just as true links as j 
ilejlexa, only we must not say so botanically ; but let the 
cross-breeder go to work, and all these links will snap 
asunder like anything. 
Ismene Knightit. —This is the old, beautiful, glitter¬ 
ing, white Hymenocallis rotata , from Florida, where it 
grows, near Mobile, in swamps and ditches, very deep 
indeed in the mud; bulbs of it have been dug out 
from the depth of two feet. 
Ismene Macleana. —Named after a very worthy man, [ 
John Maclean, Esq., then in Lima. This is another 
large white flower, which Mr. Maclean says is one of the 
plants, celebrated by the Peruvians, under the name of 
Amancces, and at the foot of the mountain on which it 
grows is held one of the greatest festivals of the Por¬ 
tuguese Church, at Lima, called the Festival of the i 
Amancces; at this festival they all wear nosegays and 
other ornaments made of this flower; but they put it j 
into the stove, as usual, in the Botanic Garden, at 
Glasgow, to where Mr. Maclean sent it, and the proha- I 
bilities are that they killed it outright. None of the 
family can bear the stove with impunity ; they might I 
just as well put the Scotch Thistle into the Orchid-house. 
Ismene nutans. —This is a book plant all over ; 
there is not one of it in Europe, and there is not a man 
in Europe who knows where it came from, so the less 
said about it the sooner rectified, if it should not be the 
real thing. 
Ismene prolifera of our Dictionary is only a 
seedling of the old Amancces, which, under good 
cultivation, was supposed to be an improvement, and 
there are two or three more variations of it. 
Ismene virescens. —We missed this pretty little 
! flower in the Dictionary, but it flowered with the 
Horticultural Society in the summer of 1840. It was 
sent to them from Cusco by Mr. Pentland. Many 
things that were sent by Mr. Pentland, from the 
highlands of Peru, have been lost through not knowing 
what temperature to give them : and very likely, some of 
the Fellows of the Horticultural Society, to whom I 
Ismena virescens had been sent, soon lost it by placing J 
it in the stove. When the flowers are in the bed they 
are green all over, look like so many green Coburyias, 
but when they open they are whitish, or greenish-white 
inside ; rather small for this genus, but very neat, and 
they emit an agreeable lemon-like scent ; the bulb 
spawns well, and is thus easily multiplied by offsets. 
Ismene viridiflorum. — Notwithstanding the great 
authority of Dr. Herbert, I quite agree with Dr. Lindley, 
in considering Callitliaumas as so many Ismenes; and 
here I register the type species of that green section, for 
the looks of the thing, and as being the species for 
crossing in green, while I warn the cross-breeder against 
viridiflorum, except by way of experiment, on Coburyias. 
D. Beaton. 
FUCHSIAS FOR WINDOWS. 
It is next to impossible to say auytiling fresh on this 
universally-admired tribe of plants. It is, nevertheless, 
quite evident, that many of our readers, from the en¬ 
quiries constantly made, look upon the statements given 
as not at all applicable to them. If they are possessed 
merely of a window, the slightest allusion to a pit, 
frame, or greenhouse, leads them at once to skip over 
the subject, as one about which they need not trouble 
themselves. Until we and our readers together get 
more into the habit of generalising, we must often 
advert to the mode of doing certain things in certain 
circumstances; and, therefore, to-day I will confine 
myself to the Fuchsia in windows, where the proprietor 
has no other glass whatever to help him, and has 
merely the storing room of a shed, dry cellar, or garret. 
Let me premise, however, that the instructions and 
bints given are such as I have seen followed out in 
numerous instances with very good success, and without 
having recourse to any materials except what can be 
very easily and economically obtained in country or 
in town. 
1. Varieties suitable for the Window. —Taste in this, 
as well as other matters, is continually changing. The 
rape just now is for kinds with reflexed sepals, though 
many with stiff, firm flowers are well fitted for the 
window, though destitute of the reflexing property. As 
a general rule, kinds should be chosen having twiggy 
shoots, small foliage, short joints, and flowers coming 
from most of them as the shoots grow. What appears 
very handsome in a large conservatory would often be 
out of place in a window. For instance, Don Giovanni 
suits tbe former; but, to have large flowers from it in a 
window, the shoots and foliage would require to be so 
luxuriant as to monopolise the best part of a fair-sized 
window for itself; and, beautiful though it might be, it 
would be beauty deficient in contrast and variety. Of 
course, the size of the plants may range in proportion 
to the size of the window; but, in general, plants from 
eighteen inches to four feet in height will be amply 
large. For low windows, the first size will present a 
pretty appearance, when the plants are robust and 
covered with bloom. To keep such a plant healthy 
would require from a four-and-a-half to a five-inch pot, 
and a four-foot plant an eight-inch pot—keeping in 
mind, however, that under-potting will always have a 
tendency to produce abundance of bloom, and large 
potting, large-sized leaves; while, when the flower-buds 
are swelling, size can always be given to the bloom in 
under-potted plants by mulching and manure waterings. 
Keeping these points in view, lew sorts answer better 
lor window culture than the old Globosa, with its im¬ 
proved varieties, Globosa major and Atkinsonia ; the 
old Goccinea, and its comrades, Thompsonii and viryata ; 
Ricartonii, Buistii, and that splendid dark - petalled 
variety, Formosa elegans, a variety superior to nine- 
tenths of those lately launched on the floral world to 
sink or swim after the first season. 
Some time ago I saw a plant of Globosa major in a 
window, which a good grower would make a Sir John 
Falstaff A variety with large, round, orbicular flowers, 
but disposed to be a little too luxuriant and long jointed 
for a window, though if grown cool it would do. Wheu, 
however, we receive lists of Fuchsias from window- 
gardeners containing such kinds as Glory of England, 
and Banks's Glory, we may rest assured that such 
florists are not to be satisfied with the old varieties that 
i 
