42 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ March, 
deception, it would be well that the eye could 
correct a false tongue, and that when you ask 
for a particular plant you can see that you get it. 
In giving brief outlines of the habit and 
character of some of our best Auriculas, I wish 
to protect both our readers and myself, as did 
the Eev. G. Jeans, when undertaking, some 
twenty years ago, a similar work on the 
Auriculas of his day. Mr. Jeans, whose 
powers of observation were most keen and 
accurate, had several of his descriptions re¬ 
turned to him as misfits, variously incorrect; 
and he had equally to discard the amendments, 
as disagreeing with the evidence of his own 
experience. The differences mainly consisted 
in shades of ground-colours and degrees of 
constitutional vigour; variations which changes 
in soil and situation seem ever able to effect in 
a plant of such sensitive temperament as the 
Auricula, 
There is some compensation, if not consola¬ 
tion, to the unfortuately situated, in the fact 
that no one grower of Auriculas is able to grow 
every variety better than anybody else. We 
all have our strong points and our weak points. 
On a florist visit to (for example) Halifax, I 
should say to myself, “ Now for a sight of 
‘ Colonel Taylor ’ in all his greatness,” while at 
the same time wondering if I shall find my 
patient friend with his struggling bit of 
‘ Freedom ’ yet alive. 
Pure air and pure light are so much to the 
Auricula, that with these advantages most of 
the sorts naturally do well under proper care. 
Such is my experience here, but for all that I 
cannot yet grow George Levick as it grows 
with Mr. Simonite in his most dismal town, 
where—to borrow a conceit from Charles 
Dickens—the smuts come down like large snow¬ 
flakes gone into mourning for the death of the 
sun! Neither can I do Imperator as it has 
been done by growers in abominably besmoked 
localities in Lancashire. On the other hand, 
are Smiling Beauty and Page’s Champion, 
that flourish here, but refuse to thrive in some 
exceedingly foul atmospheres, as a glowing 
example of which, our Vulcanic Sheffield will, of 
course, pleasantly suggest itself. 
As a preface to the Notes which follow, I 
have only to say that as many now take an 
interest, old or new, in the Auricula, I am 
very willing to add anything I can that may 
be of vital interest to those who grow, or wish 
to grow, Auriculas. 
GEEEN EDGES. 
Colonel Taylor. —Plant of free and hand¬ 
some habit. Foliage rich green, broad, strongly 
veined, roughly serrated, with edge incurved 
when young. Truss large, carried up with 
such a round of guard-leaves as to be a dis¬ 
tinctive mark of the variety. Pip of fair size 
and good substance, can be round and flat, but 
often seen with petals pointed : tube good in 
form, size, and colour, which is a clear yellow 
that lasts well. Paste not always dense enough, 
and apt to run thin towards its outer edge, 
giving the flower a cloudy look, but -when in 
good order, a pure white, dense, broad, and 
circular. Ground-colour pure black, fading 
with age to a violet tint, of good breadth, and 
boldly laid on. Edge a delicious, magnificent 
green, exquisitely pure, vivid, and enduring— 
one of the very best of greens, and occupying 
its fair proportion on the pip. 
Booth’s Freedom. —A variety not plentiful 
now in any hands, and one that seems very 
impatient of any neglect or wrong treatment. 
No one would suppose from healthy plants of 
it that it had a delicate constitution, but it has 
been so long and often seen in an emaciated 
condition, that it may well have a name for 
being delicate. After severe struggles, it has 
come round with me to be one of the best 
growers I have, and has kept itself up. Plant 
when in health is of bold habit. Foliage glossy 
green, moderately abundant, large and broadly 
pear-shaped, with edges irregularly creased and 
serrated. Truss with and without guard-leaf, 
and al ways disappointingly small; a very strong 
plant, giving but a lean-looking head of 6 to 8 
pips, carried on a stem that proves to be too 
long. The buds in their infancy are very 
peculiar, being merely a few many-pointed 
green stars clustered together. Pip medium 
size; at its best, fairly circular, but often 
angular, of good substance and flat. Tube a 
good yellow, round, and closed by the anthers 
meeting towards the centre. Paste bright, 
pure, and dense, but sadly angular, especially 
if the petals are so too. Ground-colour a superb 
velvety jet-black, that never fails; sometimes 
too broad, but always of richest texture, giving 
the flower a high finish, and finely defined 
against the dark-green edge and bright white 
paste. Edge a deep pure green, the darkest shade 
of any of the greens, and of unsurpassed beauty, 
though sometimes not broad enough in pro¬ 
portion to ground-colour. 
Prince op Greens. —Plant one of the hand¬ 
somest of the green-leaved Auriculas, and of 
capital constitution. Foliage very abundant, 
broad, curly, roughly-toothed, of a polished 
smooth bright green, not veined. Truss very 
