1878.] 
THE AURICULA—CHAP. XV. 
41 
SPIRAEA PALMATA ELEGANS. 
[Plate 463.] 
<£gp®)IIIS new Spircea is a grand acquisition 
for our collections of hardy plants, one to 
which, in fact, it is not possible for the 
illustration to do full justice, since the represen¬ 
tation of its light and elegant inflorescence, 
and the chaste effect of its crimson stamens and 
white petals, is beyond the art of the painter. 
M. Ed. Pynaert, of Ghent, believes that there 
is a great future before this plant, which is de¬ 
scribed as a hybrid between two parents, which 
both occupy an eminent position in the horti¬ 
cultural world, namely, Spircea palmata and 
Astilbe japonica; and that it will be propa¬ 
gated and cultivated extensively for the orna¬ 
mentation of greenhouses and apartments as a 
forced plant. From this point of view, the new 
Spiraea is superior to the original S. palmata , 
since it is said to bear a high temperature 
better than this latter, whose flowering some¬ 
times miscarries when it is urged on too 
rapidly. Whether or not this novelty is really 
a hybrid, as is supposed, or only a seedling 
variation of S. palmata , as seems possible, it 
will be recognised as a hardy herbaceous plant 
of great and delicate beauty, and one which is 
likely to be freely grown for market and for 
decorative purposes. We are therefore ex¬ 
tremely happy to be the medium of introducing 
it to British cultivators. 
Tlio novelty now figured most nearly resem¬ 
bles Spircea palmata in its foliage, but its 
inflorescence is of an intermediate character, 
and more branched than that of its mother, 
which is terminal. The individual flowers have 
pure white petals, and in their centre a tuft of 
red stamens, which, by and by, spread out over 
the petals, these flowers being crowded upon 
the branches of the panicles. A peculiar and 
distinctive character is found in the increased 
number of leaflets in the foliage, which are 
twice as many as those of S. palmata itself. 
It is a vigorous plant, attains 2 ft. or more 
in height, and is perfectly hardy, growing 
freely in any reasonably good garden soil and 
eligible situation, and propagating easily, so 
that it may be expected, says M. Pynaert, 
“ promptly to make the tour of the world.” 
It is certainly a very fine subject for decoration, 
and a welcome addition to our hardy flower- 
gardens.—T. Moore. 
THE AURICULA. 
Chapter XV.—Descriptive Notes of some Leading Varieties. 
A'jpA ETWEEN the months of February and 
) April, both inclusive, it is hardly 
possible that the florist who loves 
Auriculas can read, or talk, or think of his 
favourites too much, or find in all the time 
which he can give them, one dull, laborious, 
unrewarded hour. 
There is never any floricultural hard labour 
in the cultivation of the Auricula, and it is 
well that that which is the heaviest in a round 
of treatment not irksome, though precise, occurs 
at a time when the plant is not at the most 
bewitching period of its growth. For all 
through spring, from the first snowdrop to the 
earliest blush of apple-blossom, it is hard to do 
anything more with Auriculas than helplessly 
admire them. How many a visit that we pay 
them, ends in little more than an all-absorbing 
look-round among the plants ! How often the 
watering-can hangs in the forgetful hand by 
the slenderest hold, that may even incon¬ 
tinently relax ! And how often is the note-book 
closed, as if it were superfluous to write of so 
much beauty to its very face, and unmindful, 
in the blissful moments of possession, of what 
value will these notes be when absence comes! 
Still it is no labour lost to work sometimes 
with leisure hand, but active eye. No mischief 
should then lurk undetected; while the know¬ 
ledge gained of the habits of a plant, and the 
identity of its often narrowly-distinguished 
varieties, is always very useful. It is pleasant 
to be able to visit a friend’s collection of 
Auriculas at any time, and “ spot ” him all his 
known varieties without any slavish obligation 
of reference to his labels, though probably for 
the sake both of brevity and caution, these will 
be in cypher ; while if one unhappily suspects 
having to deal with some unholy, ill-favoured 
relic of the dark ages of florist depravity and 
