301 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 14, 1860. 
similar effect. The same is the case with Citron, Lemon, Vervain, 
and Orange-peel, only these produce a stronger impression, or 
belong, so to speak, to a higher octave of smells. And again, 
Patchouly, Sandal-wood, and Vitivert form a third class. It 
requires, of course, a nice or well-trained sense of smell to per¬ 
ceive this harmony of odours, and to detect the presence of a 
discordant note. But it is by the skilful admixture, in kind and 
quantity, of odours producing a similar impression, that the most 
delicate and unchangeable fragrances are manufactured. When 
perfumes which strike the same key of the olfactory nerve are 
mixed together for handkerchief use, no idea of a different scent 
is awakened as the odour dies away; but when they are not 
mixed upon this principle, perfumes are often spoken of as be¬ 
coming sickly or faint, after they have been a short time in use. 
A change of odour of this kind is never perceived in genuine Ean 
do Cologne. Oils of Lemons, Juniper, and Rosemary are among 
those which are mixed and blended together in this perfume. 
None of them, however, can be separately distinguished by the 
ordinary sense of smell; but if a few drops of hartshorn be 
added to an ounce measure of the water, the Lemon smell usually 
becomes very distinct. 
The gardener must also keep in mind that some flowers give 
forth their odours chiefly during daylight, and especially during 
its most sunny hours. Examples of these flowers are afforded 
by many of the Labiate, the Orange, and the Cistus families. 
Others, especially such as have dark, lurid colours, such as 
Hesperis tristis and Gladiolus tristis, are fragrant only during 
the hours of night.— {Johnston.) 
The gardener has also the power to intensify the fragrance of 
flowers by the soils and manures which he employs. This is 
almost an untrodden path in his art, but it is well worth ex¬ 
ploring, for it would lead to a wide-spread source of additional 
gratification. That the gardener has such a path to explore is 
proved by the fact that the delicacy and fragrance of a plant’s 
odour is found to vary considerably with the locality in which 
that plant has been grown. Thus on the shores of the Mediter¬ 
ranean, near Grasse and Nice, the Orange tree and the Migno¬ 
nette bloom to perfection in the low, warm, and sheltered spots ; 
while, in the same region, the Violet grows sweeter as wo ascend 
from the lowest land and approach to the foot of the Alps. So 
Lavender and Peppermint grown at Mitcham, in Surrey, yield 
oils which far excel those of France or other foreign countries, 
and which bring eight times the price in the market. This effect 
of soil and climate on the odour of plants resembles that which 
they exercise in so remarkable a manner on the narcotic consti¬ 
tuents of Tobacco, Opium, and Hemp. 
It does not immediately come within our province to consider 
what is the agent rendering any part of a plant odoriferous, but 
we may observo that it usually arises from a highly volatile oil, 
and is often called its aroma. 
The relation between the colours and fragrance of flowers has 
not escaped the attention of some botanical physiologists, and 
the following are the results arrived at by Dr. Landgrebe and 
MM. Schubler and Kohler :— 
As the white-flowering species are most numerous, so are they 
the most generally odoriferous. Among the coloured flowers, 
the red have the greatest tendency, and the blue the least, to the 
formation of odoriferous substances. On the average, there is 
only one odoriferous species in ten. 
If we further separate the species having an agreeable, from 
those having a disagreeable, smell, we obtain the following 
results :— 
Having a 
disagree¬ 
able 
odoor. 
Mean in 100 species. 
Colour. 
No. of 
Species. 
Having an 
agreeable 
odour. 
Having an 
agreeable 
odour. 
Having a 
disagree¬ 
able 
odour. 
White. 
1193-5 
755 
12- 
14-G6 
1-00 
lied. 
923- 
76-1 
9-3 
8-24 
1-01 
9.51-3 
61-1 
14-5 
6-42 
1-52 
Blue . 
595-5 
23-3 
7-5 
3-91 
1 -26 
Violet. 
307-5 
17-5 
G-0 
5-G8 
1-95 
Green. 
153 
10-3 
2-5 
6-73 
1-62 
Orange . 
50 
18-5 
1-0 
0- 
2-0 
1-2 
2-00 
4-00 
6-48 
Coloured flower- 1 
ing altogether j 
2997-8 
189-3 
43-0 
6-31 
1*43 
From this table it is apparent that white-flowering plants are 
much more frequently agreeably perfumed than coloured-flower¬ 
ing ; for in 100 white-flowering plants, there are, on an average, 
14'6 having an agreeable smell, and only ono having a disagree¬ 
able ; whereas in the same number of coloured-flowering plants 
there are 63 having an agreeable odour, and 1*4 having a dis¬ 
agreeable. 
There are, therefore, among the white-flowering plants a 
greater number of species having an agreeable smell than among 
the coloured-flowering, in the proportion of 63T46 ; on the con¬ 
trary, among the coloured-flowering there are a greater number 
of plants having a disagreeable smell than among the white¬ 
flowering, in the proportion of 10'14. 
The individual colours exhibit further the following differences, 
when the flowering odoriferous species in each colour are reduced 
to 100 agreeable-smelling species: there are, according to the 
above relations, in the flowers of 100 agreeable-smelling species— 
Having a White colour ... 6-8 
» Red „ ... 12'2 
,, Yellow „ ... 23'5 
„ Blue „ ... 32‘2 
Having a Violet colour... 34 - 2 
„ Green „ ... 24"2 
Of coloured flowers al¬ 
together . 22-7 
The orange and brown-flowering plants seem to possess a 
larger number of disagreeable than of agreeable-smelling species. 
Among 4200 species examined, there are two brown plants which 
are odoriferous—viz., Delphinium triste L., and the brownish- 
red flowering Scrophularia aquatica L.; and three odoriferous 
orange and yellowish-red flowers, the Nicotiana glutinosa L., 
Alestris uvaria, L., and Verbascum versiflorum, Schrad. The last 
alone has an agreeable smell; the others have a disagreeable 
odour. It is well known, and not on that account the less re¬ 
markable, that the great genus Stapelia, which so frequently 
exhibits flowers of a yellowish-red or yellowish brown colour, 
includes so many species having a disagreeable odour, often like 
that of carrion ; further, that two species, distinguished by their 
peculiarly offensive odour—viz., the Arum divaricatum W., and 
the Asarum Europceum , should possess a dark brown, passing 
into violet, corolla. 
We perceive, then, from these details, that white flowers are, 
for the most part, and especially, sweet-smelling ; but the family 
of the Cruciate is in this respect an exception, for many of the 
species have non-odoriferous flowers, whereas they possess as a 
compensation a transient sharpness; as in the genera Coclilearia, 
Lepidium, Cardamine, Thlaspi, Sisymbrium, Senebiera, &c. 
Among the monocotyledons, we observe the same thing in the 
genus Allium.— {Edin. Phil. Journ., January , 1837.)—J. 
NEW AND RARE PLANTS. 
Cyetodeiba cupeeata var. yiridifolia {Green-leaved Coppery 
Cyrtodeira). 
It has been called also Achimenes cupreata. Native of New 
Grenada. Flowers scarlet. Bloomed in the stove of Messrs. 
Henderson, Wellington Road Nursery, in the spring of the 
present year.— {Botanical Magazine, t. 5195.) 
Habenaeia Salacensis {Salalcian Eabenaria). 
Native of Mount Salack, in Java. It flowered in the Kew 
stove during April of this year, but it is an Orchid of no beauty. 
—{Ibid., t. 5196.) 
Ixoba Jucunda ( Mr. Thwaites's Ixora ). 
Sent from Ceylon by Mr. Thwaites, where it is found up to an 
elevation of 4000 feet above the sea’s level. Flowers white, first 
produced at Kew during last May.— {Ibid., t. 5197.) 
Pentapteetgium eugosum {Rugose Perdapterygium). 
Called, also, Vaccinium rugosum. Native of Bhotan and the 
Sikkim Himalayan Mountains. This beautiful greenhouse plant 
was sent to Messrs. Veitch & Son, by Mr. T. Lobb. Flowers in 
pendulous corymbs, creamy white beautifully marked with blood- 
red waving lines.— {Ibid., t. 5198.) 
Caladium bicoloe, var. Neumannii {Neumann's Two-coloured 
Caladium). 
It has also been called Arum bieolor. Leaves with their discs 
red-spotted, the spots margined with white. It requires a warm 
stove and abundance of moisture.— {Ibid., t. 5199.) 
Rosa seeicea {Silky-leaved Rose), 
Native of the Himalaya. A four-potaled white Rose. Hardy, 
but does best trained against a wall, blooming early in the 
summer.— {Ibid., t. 5200.) 
