116 
THE FLORIST AND TOMOLOGIST. 
[ August, 
C. coccinea , and which Dr. Asa Gray referred 
to C. Viorna , under the varietal name of 
coccinea. It is a native of Texas, where it was 
gathered by Dr. Lindheimer, and it has since 
been found by Mr. 0. Wright about Austin and 
towards the Rio Grande. 
It is a pretty, slender growing climber, with 
opposite ovate leathery leaves, having a glau¬ 
cous surface, and the long-stalked flowers, which 
bear a pair of smaller ovate leaves (bracts) on 
their pedicel, are pitcher-shaped, with the tips 
of the leathery sepals recurved, of bright red 
or scarlet when fresh, but long enduring, and 
changing to a dull red as they become aged. 
The pairs of leaves are almost connate, being 
connected by a slight ridge which crosses the 
stem at the node. The woodcut shows the 
parts of the natural size.—T. Moore. 
FONDANTE DE BIHOREL PEAR. 
CARRIERE publishes, in a recent 
number of the Revue Horticole , the 
following description of the above- 
named French Pear, which, he observes, is still 
but little known, and which he does not find 
to have been previously described. 
Fondante deBihorel:—Fruit small, somewhat 
recalling the Rousselet, or even the Doyenne 
of July ; static straight, strong; eye very open, 
broad, with the divisions short or almost want¬ 
ing ; skin yellow, brick-red, or dark shining red 
on the parts strongly exposed to the sun; flesh 
yellow, close, melting; juice very abundant, fine, 
sugary, of an agreeable taste, which is, how¬ 
ever, peculiar— sui (jeneris. Mature during the 
first fortnight of August.—M. 
CLIMBERS AND TWINERS. 
HOPE some of our modern gardeners, 
r 4 and particularly our lady gardeners, will 
take up the subject of Climbers and 
Twiners, for who does not admire in the reserve 
garden a row or two of the homely Sweet Peas? 
and how useful for nosegays and indoor decora¬ 
tion ! Then what is there to equal Ipomceas, 
save and except thy latest Rose “the Queen?” 
But I must forbear. I begin to dream that 
long-forgotten climbers are rising again to view, 
and I seem to smell the fragrance of Mig¬ 
nonette in the Grape Vine in flower, and see 
its tendrils already formed to hang its bunches 
as quite a pattern to other Climbers. By going 
one step further, we come to the union of two 
dissimilar plants, producing a good effect when 
grown together. I recollect a low tree in the 
flower garden at Kenwood (Lord Mansfield’s) 
on which was trained a gourd of the small 
globular kind, and the union was most happy, 
as seen at a short distance. The Weeping Ash, 
too, with its pinnate leaf, takes the Rose 
readily as a partner; and the same may be said 
of the Weeping Elm—it makes a happy pair, 
and a living prop, holding up the queen of 
flowers to her well-merited admiration. 
The Convolvulus major is but a homely 
subject, but some lady gardeners do wonders 
with it on a balcony, with a few strings for it 
to lay hold of, and a green box of earth no 
larger than a hat-box; and this plant lived 
and bloomed where scarcely any other 
annual could hold its own. The homely 
Scarlet Runner was originally a flower-garden 
plant, and though it has lost dignity, still it is 
worthy of honour, and is not to be despised 
because it makes a dish for the table, as well as 
running and flowering wherever it gets a 
chance. It is a sure cropper, and it is a nice¬ 
sized seed for beginners to experiment with. 
Many a cottager cultivates it successfully, sits 
under its shade, and praises its blazing blossom 
and rough pod, that bring him good cheer.— 
Alex. Forsyth. 
DICKSONIA BERTEROANA. 
« HANDSOME specimen of this noble 
tree fern is one of the most striking 
ornaments of Messrs. Veitch and Sons’ 
Fern-house, at Chelsea. It is a distinct and 
characteristic plant, a native of the island of 
Juan Fernandez, whence it was introduced to 
our gardens by Mr. Downton, in his capacity 
of collector for Messrs. Veitcli’s establish¬ 
ment. It has a special interest, as being one 
of the very few plants indigenous only to that 
remarkable island which are met with in culti¬ 
vation in British gardens. 
In the mature state, Diclcsonia Berteroanct 
forms a short stem (caudex), reaching to a 
height of from 12ft. to loft., at the top of 
which it developes a crown of arching fronds, 
which spread gracefully in all directions. The 
fronds are coriaceous in texture, rhomboid. 
