1879. ] 
M.VRIE LOUISE D UCCLE PEAR. 
181 
Victoria has deep reddish-maiive flowers. These 
all have, more or less, of the Viticella and Jack- 
manni blood. To the Jackmanni group, again, 
pertain two varieties which have the peculiarity 
of showing a well-defined bar of a veiy dis¬ 
tinct shade of colour down the centre of each 
sepal—a distinct feature, which renders them 
very desirable and attractive; they are called 
C. Star of India and C. magnifica, the former 
being of a deep purple, with a dark maroon- 
red bar, the latter of a lilac-purple, with the 
bar of a bright claret-red. 
The varieties named 0. Lady Bovill and C. 
Madame Grange, both of the same type as 
the foregoing, generally have peculiar con¬ 
cave rarely flattened sepals, so that the flowers 
are more or less cup-shaped, especially while 
young. Lady Bovill is extremely free-flower¬ 
ing, and of a greyish-blue colour; while 
Madame Grange is of a very bright mulberr}-- 
crimson, and specially remarkable for the velvety 
richness of the colouring, in which respect it 
is unapproached by any other known sort. 
Another unique variety is C. Viticella rubra 
grandiflora, whose brilliant medium-sized claret- 
crimson flowers are wonderfully effective when 
lighted up by sunshine. It is a very free-growing, 
free-blooming, but rather slender variety^ and 
one which, for its colour, should always be in¬ 
cluded in any selection, however limited in 
number, but the “ grand flowers ” must be 
understood as comparing with the ordinary 
Viticellas, and not with the larger-flowered 
Jackmanni and lanuginosa breeds. 
The paler-tinted sorts are mostly those in 
which lanuginosa blood predominates. One of 
the best, unquestionably, is C. Lady Caroline 
Nevill, which is free in growth, large in size, fine 
in form, and striking in colouring, the French- 
white sepals being each marked by a distinct 
mauve-lilac bar. Another grand sort is 0. Otto 
Frccbel, one of the very largest varieties, the 
flowers being 8 to 9 inches across, with broad 
imbricating sepals, the colour being white, just 
flushed with flesh-colour passing to mauve, in 
a degree scarcely perceptible ; the noble flowers 
of this variety compel admiration. Amongst the 
really useful tinted whites must be included C. 
lanuginosa Candida, which is a good grower and 
a free bloomer, for all practical purposes ad¬ 
missible as a white, but actually more or less 
flushed with mauve when it first expands, 
C, Madame Van Iloutte and C. Heiu'yi are the 
best of the older large pure whites. The former 
has finely formed and well imbricated flowers, 
while in the latter they are very large and 
telling. C. Duchess of Teck and 0. Mrs. 
George Jackman are fine new sorts, white, 
with medium-sized flowers, very pure in colour, 
and exceedingly promising, the latter especially 
showing a strong tendency to be a free Lite 
bloomer, while the former is faultless in shape. 
To these must be added C. alba magna, which, 
as originally shown, was, on account of its large 
size and the'extraordinary breadth of its sepals, 
much the finest of all the whites. 
In this lanuginosa group, C. lanuginosa itself, 
one of the finest of its colour, a pale or greyish 
blue, must not be overlooked, for it pro¬ 
duces noble flowers of good form, and in some 
abundance. Of a somewhat similar tone 
of colour are William Kennett, Princess of 
Wales, Excelsior, and Blue Gem, all of which 
have finely-formed flowers, varying slightly 
in character, shape, and tint, the three latter 
especially having a beautiful satiny surface ; 
the}^ are all really meritorious, and useful 
as being not only good summer varieties out- 
of-doors, but amenable to pot-culture under 
glass in the spring season. 
Some few additional sorts may be usefully 
introduced into a collection, for the sake of 
variety and contrast of colour. Of these the old 
0. Viticella venosa, perhaps the best of its type, 
is of slender and elegant habit, free-flowering, 
having reddish-purple medium-sized flowers, 
prettily veined, and mottled over the paler 
centre. 0. Viticella marmorata is another of 
the same slender and free-blooming habit, the 
colour a pale bluish lilac, mottled with white. 
0. picturata is a medium-sized and pale-coloured 
variety, of a very pale lilac, with a motley bar 
of pale blue down the sepals. Finally, 0. 
ccerulea odorata, with purple sepals and con¬ 
spicuous white filaments, though small-flowered 
and scarcely climbing, ought always to be grown 
for its powerful and pleasant hawthorn odour. 
—T. Moore. 
MARIE LOUISE D’UCCLE PEAR. 
HIS Pear promises to be one of great 
excellence. The finit is of a good size, 
handsome in appearance, the flesh fine¬ 
grained and buttery in texture, and of an ex¬ 
ceedingly rich flavour. The shape of the fruit 
is pyriform, the skin being yellow, marked 
with deep russet patches, in a manner similar 
to that of the Marie Louise. The tree is hardy, 
and moreover grows freely and vigorously, form¬ 
ing a handsome pyramid, and promising to be 
