34 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
their forms, has been the foundation of that new style of gardening which is 
designated “ sub-tropical.” The North is ever at war with the South, ever 
seeking to wrest from it fresh spoils; not content with the rich fruits and gor¬ 
geous flowers of the South, the North must have all that is beautiiul and good 
—the very leaves. These are the latest conquest, and to them, and to the 
culture of the plants they belong to, the work of M. le Comte de Lambertye is 
directed. He is known to be one of the most active and advanced amateurs in 
France, the author of an excellent work on the Strawberry, and in his hands 
the task is sure to be conscientiously and well performed. 
He informs us in his preface that being struck with the effect produced by 
the tropical plants introduced into the public gardens of Paris by M. Barillet- 
Deschamps, to whom the work is dedicated, he commenced to form a collection 
which soon became sufficiently extensive for studying the characters and adap¬ 
tabilities of these plants, that none is described which he does not possess, and 
that the mode of cultivation given is that which he has himself followed. 
The work is to be completed in three parts, of which the first is devoted to 
Solanums, the second is to be confined to Gannas, and the third will comprise 
all the other genera. 
The Count commenced his collection of Solanums in 1862, and two years 
later he possessed seventy-six reputed species, but many of these were found to be 
incorrectly named, and others worthless, the result being that they were reduced 
to thirty, the number described, but not more than eighteen or twenty are of 
undoubted merit. The stem, leaves, flowers, and the fruit when it has been 
produced, are each fully described, and then the culture, followed by general 
remarks on the effect of the plant in an ornamental point of view. All the 
dimensions which are given have been derived from actual measurement. We 
shall here extract some remarks respecting a few of the most ornamental 
species, omitting the much fuller details given by the author. 
Solanum amazonicum, about 2^ feet high at the end of summer; leaves about 
5 inches in length, as if powdered with golden bronze when young; flowers 
large, numerous, of a fine violet blue, produced from June till frost sets in. 
S. auriculatum, attaining 54 feet in height the first year, the shoots and the under 
sides of the leaves covered with white down; leaves 19 inches long by a foot 
across ; flowers small but very numerous, violet and white ; suitable for single 
specimens on lawns ; when planted in masses from 3 to 4 feet should be allowed 
from plant to plant. S. betaceum attains in the first year the height of 3 feet, 
and has handsome leaves 16 inches long and nearly as much across, deep 
purple when young; suitable for planting in groups of three on lawns, or for 
massing along with other species at 2 feet or more apart. S. citrullifolium 
grows about 3 feet high by the end of the season : leaves small and elegantly 
lobed; flowers numerous, delicate lilac, produced throughout the summer. 
S. crinitum, known in many gardens as fraudulentum, grows 5 feet high in the 
first summer, and has leaves nearly 2 feet long, exclusive of the leafstalk 
10 inches in length, and 21 inches across; both the shoots and leafstalks 
densely covered with white down. S. enneodonton, 5 feet high, and has 
elegant foliage, suitable for groups of three on lawns. S. glutinosum, one of 
the finest, grows 4 feet high in the first year, and has leaves 15 inches long by 
9 across, of an orange tint when young; flowers 1^ inch across, bright blue, 
numerous, and produced in long succession; forms beautiful groups of from 
three to five plants in each, and is also suitable for massing alone or associated 
with other species. S. hyporhodium grows 5 feet high, and has leaves 2 feet 
9. inches long and 20 inches across, with pure white midribs, and of a fine 
violet purple on the under side. This is the S. purpureum, S. discolor, and 
S. bicolor of some, and S. galeatum of M. Andre. S. Karstenii (S. callicarpum 
