1878.] 
THE AURICULA—CHAP. XV. 
43 
large, sometimes from 25 to 35 pips ; a great 
contrast to Freedom. The stem carries a 
strap-shaped guard-leaf, of form very distinct. 
The pip is very circular and very flat, and of 
medium size or under, in consequence of which 
the abundant buds will require timely and judi¬ 
cious thinning. The plant, however, will carry 
11 or more, if in fine order. The foot-stalks are 
very long, throwing the flowers far apart, and 
if over-thinned the truss will have a spoiled 
appearance. Tube large, round, and open, of 
such poor substance and colour as to let down 
the whole flower long before the other parts 
are worn out. In a few days the tube bleaches, 
making the whole flower look cold and watery. 
The golden tube is a grand property, and with 
the expressiveness, life, and fire it gives, a flower 
possessing it, though weak and poor in other 
respects, looks rich and beautiful. In Prince 
of Greens the paste is very circular, and it might 
often with advantage be a little broader and a 
little denser. Ground-colour pure black, of 
great power, beautifully proportionate, and con¬ 
stant to the last. Edge a rich, pure, faultless 
green that, with the body-colour, lives fresh on 
the pip after the tube has died to a livid 
purple. 
Anna. —A much freer grower than its parent, 
Freedom. Foliage plentiful, of upright pointed 
habit when young, and afterwards recurving, 
balloon-shaped, and much serrated on the 
upper edges, much veined, and of a deep green ; 
good truss. Pip large, of great substance, and 
broad petals very circular and flat. Tube 
yellow, open, round, and bold. Paste brilliant 
and broad and circular. Ground-colour broad, 
bold, and of a curious dead-black, never chang¬ 
ing. The edge is a dark pure green, broad and 
lasting. This flower has none of Freedom’s 
angularities, and also not its brilliancy, but it 
is a distinct and correct green-edge. 
Page’s Champion. —Where this variety 
succeeds well, it makes a very free and hand¬ 
some plant. Foliage glossy, bright green,very 
broad and thick in texture, richly curved and 
veined, edges crumpled and serrated. Truss 
large, with or without a small guard-leaf, and 
generally more pips than it can equally perfect. 
These, however, should not be thinned, upon 
this variety, till it can be seen whether the 
interior is tolerably correct, as the paste is 
often severely cut by the stiff petal segments, 
and the tube is apt to be large and awkward. 
Pip of medium size and great substance ; 
petals numerous, short and round, making 
up a circular outline—the pips are flat at 
their best, upon foot-stalks sometimes short 
enough to draw the head rather too close 
together. Tube a fine lasting yellow, round 
and large. Paste circular, dense, and 
bright, suffering at times from encroachments 
on its breadth by the large tube, and on its 
outer edge from cracks at the petal-segments. 
Ground-colour a rich reddish plum, of gr et 
beauty when fresh, but losing its brilliancy before 
the rest of the flower has grown old ; heaAnly laid 
on, and always broad enough, sometimes too 
much so, for the proportion of edge. Not in¬ 
frequently the pips bloom with a convex sur¬ 
face of paste and ground-colour, and it becomes 
impossible to get the flower flat. Edge a 
beautiful, vivid, pure emerald-green, of great 
refinement. 
Impeeator. —A good grower, making a large, 
well-furnished plant, though never so with me, 
owing to the heart continually dividing into 
heads after the bloom. Foliage smooth bright 
green, serrated on the upper portions, long, 
pear-shaped, and plentiful. This variety should 
have shown its truss before spring, to be in 
good character. Indeed, all the green-edges 
should be truss-bare early ; the only exception 
I know being Prince of Greens, which has 
always given me the best blooms from a truss 
formed later, and its worst from one bare in 
winter. With many brilliant points latent in 
its nature, no flower so commonly makes a hash 
of it as Imperator, being often seen in a dis¬ 
graceful condition. Truss large, carried on a 
stem much too long, small guard-leaf, and pips 
entirely devoid of meal, an exception to the 
rule that Auriculas of even the greenest habit 
will honour their flower-stems and pips with 
this graceful decoration. Pip large, of stout 
substance, with petals more or less pointed, 
often obnoxiously so ; flattens fairly, but must 
not be exposed to a chill. Tube good in colour 
and very lasting, round, and of good proportion, 
paste at its best, brilliant circular and sufficient, 
but often seen in the vilest condition,— i.e ., 
thin, rough, and scattered. Ground-colour a 
splendid enduring black,—a very grand feature 
when correct, but often not broad enough, and 
“ foxy.” Edge a pure, superb, rich, bright 
green, apt to be left too broad when the 
ground-colour fails in volume. A now 
almost traditional truss of Imperator, once 
grown by Colonel Lee, lives in the memory 
of our oldest growers as the most wonderful 
example of a green-edged Auricula ever seen by 
mortal eye, but the number of times it has 
been seen before and since as the most execrably 
bad, is past all computation. I have gone so 
far as to knock Imperator’s head off, as a scan¬ 
dal to the house. 
Talisman. —A seedling, raised by Mr. 
Simonite, from Admiral Napier, to which it 
is greatly superior, rather surprisingly so, since 
its parent has faults so ingrained as angularity 
and instability of form. Talisman is a lovely 
green plant, with a dust of gold-meal on its 
tender growths. Foliage very plentiful, hand¬ 
somely recurved, broad and thick, and stoutly 
serrated. Truss large and well carried, with 
