1883 ] 
CHOICE TULIPS.-OSMUNDA JAPONICA CORYMBIFERA. 
103 
CHOICE TULIPS. 
I T must not be supposed that because we 
bear less of tbe Florist’s Tulip than we 
q) did some years ago, that there is a lack 
of interest in the flower, or that there is 
any pause in the production of new varieties. 
Though the fine and gorgeous Tulip is but 
little grown in the south, it has many admirers 
in the north, and many seedlings are raised. 
It is my intention to give descriptions of a few 
of these by way of keeping up the record of 
floricultural progress. It is at the Royal 
National Tulip Society’s annual show at Man¬ 
chester that one looks for the appearance of 
novelties. If any one will refer to the list of 
flowers shown at the exhibitions of this Society 
twenty years ago, he will see how much of 
novelty has put in appearance since then. 
At the Manchester show we were much 
struck with the following among the Bizarre 
flowers :—Feathered : Garibaldi, rich golden 
ground, very handsomely feathered with dark ; 
a fine variety which came from an Adonis 
breeder; perfect in form and very attractive. 
General Grant, pure golden yellow ground, 
finely feathered with deep reddish bronze; 
very fine and distinct. William Wilson, a 
fine break from Masterpiece, purer in the 
ground, and deeper in the feather. Com¬ 
mander, a grandly formed flower, deep in 
colour, pure at the base, and finely feathered 
with rich dark. The following sorts in this 
section were in very fine condition Master¬ 
piece, Magnum Bonum, Sulphur, George Hay¬ 
ward, Lord Raglan, and Sir J. Paxton. Of 
Flamed Bizarres: Excelsior, pure in the 
ground, handsome in shape, and finely marked 
in beam and feather; this is thought to have 
come from Masterpiece. Storer's No. 4, quite 
a new break, beautifully marked, and very 
solid in the beam. In addition :—Ajax, very 
fine indeed this year, Orion, and Sir J. Paxton 
were all very good indeed. 
Of Roses, among the feathered flowers the 
following were very conspicuous :— Industry, 
pure in the ground, of exquisite form, and 
beautifully feathered with rosy - scarlet. 
Modesty, with all the excellent qualities of 
the foregoing, but most elegantly feathered 
with pale scarlet. And Nanny Gibson, very 
rich in colour, quite a bright scarlet, pure in 
the ground, very fine and striking. Other 
good feathered roses were Heroine, old Aglaia, 
and Mrs. Lea. Then of flamed Roses, Lady 
Sefton, lovely in colour and pure in the ground, 
as well as fine in form ; and also Mabel, very 
pretty and striking, solid in the beam and 
bright in colour, were highly attractive. 
Annie McGregor, Triomphe Royale, Aglaia, 
and Rose Celestial were also very good. 
Bybloemens were generally in very good 
form, and Mrs. Jackson was superbly beauti¬ 
ful, very pure, fine in shape, and exquisitely 
feathered with glossy black; perfect in all 
respects. Bessie was a little undersized, but 
pure and beautifully feathered. Mrs. Cooper, 
pure in the ground, and handsomely feathered 
with dark. Mrs. Bentley, a distinct variety, 
very scarce, beautifully finished. Other fine 
flowers were Alice Gray, and old Violet Aim- 
able. There was nothing new, strictly speak¬ 
ing, in the way of flamed bybloemens, but 
Talisman, Duchess of Sutherland, Adonis, 
Friar Tuck, and Chancellor, were all very fine. 
The Breeder Tulips were especially fine, and 
they possess a superb beauty peculiarly their 
own. Of bizarre breeders the following were 
in very fine form:—Abe Lincoln, Ashmole’s 
Seedling, Excelsior, Horatio, Sir J. Paxton, 
Storer’s No. 4, and William Lea. Of Rose 
breeders Annie McGregor, Lady C. Grosve- 
nor, Mrs. Barlow, Miss Burdett Coutts, and 
Modesty. Of bybloemen breeders, Glory of 
Stakehill, Adonis, Talisman, and Elizabeth 
Gill.—R. Dean. 
OSMUNDA JAPONICA 
CORYMBIFERA. 
typical Osmunda japonica of Thun- 
erg (FI. Jap., 330), the 0. regalis 
iformis of Bentham in the Flora of 
long Kong, differs from our native 
Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis, in producing, 
like several other species of the genus, sepa¬ 
rate fertile fronds—that is, fronds without 
any leafy pinnules, but consisting wholly of 
pinnules which are arrested in their develop¬ 
ment, and entirely covered with sori. In 
0. regalis, on the other hand, the lower pinnae 
of all the fronds bear leafy pinnules, and the 
upper portions only of such as are fertile become 
arrested and soriferous. Those Ferns which 
have the former mode of development, and 
produce sterile and fertile fronds distinct from 
