144 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ September, 
duced from Persian gardens into Europe. That it 
is not a native of Persia is beyond doubt. Lerche, 
who died at St. Petersburg in 1780, found this species 
wild in the Eastern Caucasus, but certainly not 
indigenous. M. Decaisne believes that it will prove 
to be a native of South-Eastern Europe. [S. persica 
is cultivated in Kashmir and Lahore ; and Brandis 
states that Dr. Stewart found the entire-leaved 
variety apparently wild near Kanigorum, the chief 
village of Waziristan, on the eastern flank of the 
Suliman range, at 8,000 feet.] S. rothomagensis is 
undoubtedly S. chinensis (the S. dubia of Persoon), 
and is a wild species, native of North China, as 
Decaisne has proved, by comparing Bunge’s original 
specimen.” 
— ©he Ferns at Lambton Castle are 
grown in a house that affords very much more 
light than the structures usually devoted to 
these plants, and are very thinly shaded. The 
result is that all are ranch more enduring than when 
grown in a darker situation, and the tints of the 
young fronds of some are almost indescribable— 
Adiantuni farleyense, for instance. The fronds of 
this fern, as is well known, are influenced in colour 
by the light they receive, but in the plants here it 
existed to an extent we have not previously met 
with. The leaves up to being almost fully grown 
were of the most beautiful deep pinkish magenta, 
and many other sorts were alike influenced. 
— $Tb. Pearson, of Chilwell, has recently 
exhibited some seedlings from Pelargonium 
echinatum, showing that the species has been 
broken into, and may yield varieties of increasing 
merit. His four seedlings were named Pixie, 
Hybridum, Ariel, and Beauty. They were free- 
flowering and neat-growing plants, with colours of 
the softest and loveliest tints of pink and rose. 
Ariel and Beauty are a decided advance upon any¬ 
thing that has been seen before from the same 
breed, and deserve the appreciation of the floral 
public. 
— ©he pretty dwarf Daphne Blagayana, 
a neat-growing, hardy, spring-flowering shrub, 
with abundant creamy-white flowers, in umbels 
lj- inch across, is said to be one of the most beau¬ 
tiful and rare plants of the Carniolian flora, and 
extremely fragrant. It grows there with Erica 
carnea, in calcareous soil, and is not only a good 
plant for forcing purposes, but will form a good 
low-growing hardy shrub for calcareous rocks. 
— ©he beautiful Pinguicula yallisnerle- 
folia has been recently figured in the Garden. 
It differs from others in its clustered habit of 
growth, several crowns being sometimes densely 
massed together in one clump. The leaves are 
yellowish-green, and almost pellucid, linear or 
linear-oblong, undulated, and towards the end of the 
season become much elongated, not unfrequently 
measuring from 4 to 7 in. long. The flowers, which 
are large, are of a soft purple or lilac-purple, with 
large white or pale centres, the lobes more spreading 
than in P. grandiflora. Dripping fissures and ledges 
of calcareous rocks (frequently in tufa) suit it per¬ 
fectly. It requires very free drainage, continuous 
moisture, and a very humid atmosphere. It comes 
from the lofty mountains of Spain. 
— £n order to Flower the Amaryllis 
well, Mr. Douglas recommends the use of small 
pots—a 48 for medium bulbs, and a 32 for the 
largest. The soil should be good turfy clayey loam, 
a small portion of leaf-mould and rotted manure, 
with a dash of sharp sand. Two-thirds of the bulb 
should be above ground, and the compost must be 
pressed firmly round its base. The bulbs should be 
potted when they are at rest. When the plants 
have done flowering, they should be placed in a 
warm house until growth is completed, then 
gradually inured to cooler treatment; and when the 
bulbs are ripe, water must be entirely withheld. 
— <Kt a recent meeting of the Linneean 
Society, Mr. J. R. Jackson exhibited specimens 
of Yucca baccata, of Torrey, consisting of 
fruits, leaves, and portions of the stem, the latter 
being used as a substitute for soap. This plant ex¬ 
tends from South Colorado far into Mexico; and 
while northwards it is acaulescent, southwards it 
developes a trunk ten feet high. The fruit, a dark- 
purple berry, is preserved and eaten as winter pro¬ 
vision, and the plant is commonly known as the 
Rocky Mountain Banana. 
©iJttttavg. 
— W- A. Thozet died on June 1, at 
Rockhampton, Queensland. He was one of the 
most earnest and indefatigable practical natural¬ 
ists in Australia, and his efforts in the introduction 
of useful plants to the colony in which he resided 
were -worthy of all praise. 
- m. Barthelemy Du Mortier, Count of 
the Holy Roman Empire, Minister of State, 
died on July 9, at Tournai, in his 82nd year. 
M. Du Mortier was the leadiug botanist of Belgium, 
and though of late years better known as a politician 
than a botanist, he was enabled as a Minister to 
do excellent service iu promoting the organisation of 
the Botanic Garden at Brussels, with its herbaria, 
museums, and library. 
— IliJR. James Fleming, the well-known 
seedsman, of New York, died on July 10, at 
the age of 45. He was an excellent type of a 
Scotch gardener—an educated, intelligent man, 
thoroughly versed in all the branches of horticulture, 
and besides, an excellent botanist. Open-handed, 
open-hearted, genial,' and hearty always, he will 
long be remembered by scores of poor fellows into 
whose plodding lives he threw many a gleam of 
sunshine. 
— PlR. Robert Sim died at Foot’s Cray 
on August 3. He was born at Belhelvie, near 
Aberdeen, on August 26, 1791, and conse¬ 
quently had nearly completed his 87th year. After 
being educated in Aberdeen, he found employment 
in the nurseries of Messrs. Reid and Son, of that city, 
aud subsequently for a time at Slains, Methven 
and Wemyss Castles, Donibristle, and Messrs. 
Dicksons and Co.’s Edinburgh Nurseries, whence 
in 1814 he turned his face Southwards. At Messrs. 
Cormack and Co.’s nurseries, at New Cross, Mr. 
Sinclair found in him a willing pupil in the study 
of our native and other forage grasses. After 
serving the late J. Berens, Sen., Esq., at Kevington, 
for several years, he established, in 1830, a nursery 
at Foot’s Cray, which has since become famous for 
its inimitable trade collection of both British and 
foreign ferns. 
