04 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ Aprii., 
- ftlR. Scott, of Aucliendennan, has 
recently discovered by accident the Hardiness 
of Gardenia Fortune!. A plant of this fine 
shrub, about 3 feet high, and growing in a 10-inch 
pot, was thrown on to the rubbish-heap. Six wrecks 
afterwards, when the ground w'as bound hard with 
frost, and the foliage of plants all around was droop¬ 
ing, the plant of Gardenia was discovered, and was 
found to be the freshest evergreen about the place, 
although the ball was frozen through. 
— According to Karl Koch, the species 
from which our Cultivated Apples have 
Originated may be divided into the shrubby 
and the arborescent. The former, independently of 
their habit, differ from the latter in producing 
suckers, or at least in throwing up a number of 
shoots from the base of the stems, which may easily 
be detached with a portion of root. There are three 
of this group—the French Paradise, the Codlin, 
Fyms frutescens, and the Doucin, or Sweetling, F. 
prcccox. The true English Codlin may possibly be a 
native of this country. The Doucin differs essen¬ 
tially from the others in the hairiness of its young 
shoots, and is probably the same as P. Sieversii. A 
very interesting and good old variety of P. prwcox, 
called in Germany the Fig Apple, was recently redis¬ 
covered and propagated by the late Andre Leroy, in 
whose catalogue it bears the name of Sans Queue ; it 
is the same as the P. dioica of books, and is remark¬ 
able for its very small petals. Gesner first men¬ 
tions it in the first half of the sixteenth century; 
according to him it grew in the vicinity of Zurich. 
Of arborescent apples there are three ; P. sylvestris, 
F. dasyplnjlla, and P. prunifolia ; to which may be 
added, though of less interest to the poinologist, P. 
haccata, and P. spectaiilis. The three first form the 
centres of so many groups of varieties, but inter¬ 
crossing has given birth to varieties which connect 
the whole. P. sylvestris (P. acerba) is very distinct 
from the other arborescent forms in its crowded 
branches, which often terminate in spines, and in 
other characters, particularly of the fruit, which is 
C[uite uneatable; it is, however, very near P. 
frutescens, and may possibly bo an arborescent form 
of that species. The Calvilles, Codlius, Eose Apples, 
audother varieties, have descended from P. sylvestris; 
whilst P. dasyphylla is the mother of most of our 
Reinettes, and P. prunifolia of the Astracans, and 
the singular Ice Apple of the Russians. 
— '^The charming Indian Primrose, Primula 
rosea^ has been flowering both at Kew and at 
Glasnevin. The leaves are lanceolate, slightly 
spreading, finely serrate, brownish when young, and 
at length pale-green ; the scapes rise to a height of 
5 in. just above the larger leaves; the be.st umbels 
have six to nine flowers, four or five expanded at the 
same time, with corollas nearly |^iu. in diameter. 
The buds are deeply coloured, and so are many of 
the flowers, while others shade off to the delicate 
tint of a Reach blossom. It grows in Kashmir at a 
height of 8,500 ft., where it flowers about the end of 
August, and is found also in Afghanistan. 
— 'S’he magnificent Sikkim Ehododendron 
Hodgsoni, a tree rather than a shrub in stature, 
with ample smooth and glossy foliage, silvery 
beneath, has been flowering freely this season in one 
of the cool conservatories at Glasnevin. The speci¬ 
men is 12 ft. to 14 ft. high, well furnished, and car¬ 
ried no less than one hundred and sixty of its gorgeous 
flower-heads. 
— ^ Presentation to Mr. William Hinds 
was made on February 17th, when a number 
of the principal gardeners of Liverpool and a 
few friends assembled at the Public Rooms, Aig- 
burth, to present him, on the occasion of his leaving 
Otterspool, wnth a gold watch, as a slight recognition 
of his sterling worth, and the able manner in which ho 
had represented Liverpool as a horticulturist. 
— ^T Kew, the Colchicum luteum has 
been flowering in the Cape house. This plant 
is of great interest, as being the only yellow- 
flowered species. Though known from about 1840, 
when it was discovered by Griffith, its introduction 
was effected only about four years ago, and it has 
since remained extremely scarce. It belongs to the 
Mediterranean grouj:) of the genus, the flowers and 
leaves being produced together towards spring. The 
flowers, when expanded, are not quite 11 in. across; 
the colour either pale, or deep yellow. It is a native 
of Kashmir and Afghanistan. 
— ^ Reminiscence of the Tulip Mania, 
has lately been recorded in the Deutsche 
G&rtner-Zeitung. Two houses in the main 
street of Hoorn, about twenty miles from Amster¬ 
dam, were offered for sale for demolition. These 
houses were purchased during the Tulip trade which 
flourished from 1634 to 1637, with the proceeds of 
throe Tulip bulbs ! The record of this remarkable 
purchase was preserved in a stone inserted in the 
gable of one of the houses. 
— ^T a recent meeting of the Berlin Horti¬ 
cultural Society, two New Miniature Conifers 
were shown. One, called Abies alba, var. 
Wbrlitziana, was raised from seed of the A. alba 
of Michaux (A. laxa, Ehrhart) ; this was between 
four and five years old, about 20 in. high, and of a 
beautiful, compact form, something like the Clau- 
brassil Spruce Fir. The other was a diminutive 
form of Abies nigra of Desfontaines (A. Mariana, 
Miller), ten years old, and only about a foot high. 
It was called Abies nigra, var. Jilhlkeana. 
— 2®e glean from the Garden the following 
particulars respecting Begonia polypetala, a 
new tuberous-rooted species, from the Andes of 
Northern Peru, introduced to the nursery of M. 
Frcebel, of Zurich, with polypetalous anemone¬ 
like flowers, and which apparently promises to be a 
great acquisition to this increasingly popular class 
of plants. In Europe it grows and flowers in the 
winter. The bulbs begin to grow in August, and 
the first flowers appear in October, opening in suc¬ 
cession until the month of January; during that time 
they are the most beautiful ornaments of the tem¬ 
perate house. 
— ®he Ferrugineous variety of Mag¬ 
nolia GRANDiFLORA, M. grandifloru ferruginea, 
is much the most desirable variety of this noble 
evergreen. In severe winters, the other sorts, and 
especially the favourite Exmouth variety, is killed 
down to the ground, if not indeed killed out¬ 
right, -while, under similar chcumstances, it usually 
happens that M. grandiflora ferruginea stands 
quite uninjured, and therefore we have come to re¬ 
gard it as the hardiest, the freest-blooming, and in 
every way the best variety of this grand American 
evergreen. We have noted its endurance for many 
years at the Knap Hill Nursery. 
