1881. ] 
mr. iiorner’s lecture on the auricula. 
05 
TULIPA GESNERIANA STRANGWAYSII. 
[Plate 537.J 
URING the last few years several inter¬ 
esting additions have been made to 
the family of Tulips, notably the 
Tulipa Greigi of Turkestan, the T. Eichleri of 
Georgia, and the T. Orphaniclea of Greece, all 
of which, in their original or wild condition, 
possess a large share of attractiveness and 
beauty. T. Gesneriana is a better known and 
equally showy species, the apparent original of 
that gorgeous race of flowers which the florists 
have assisted in decorating with a coat of many 
colours, and which presents a marvellous array 
of rich and unique variegation. Of this latter 
race, our present subject is a magnificent example. 
Its origin is unknown, though it is probably a 
wild plant collected by the Hon.W. F. Strang- 
ways, who is well known to have taken great 
interest in the collection and cultivation of 
hardy bulbs. Mr. Strangways’ plant figured in 
the Botanical Register, 1838, t. 46, was “found 
without any disposition to vary, in fields at 
three places near Florence,” and was considered 
by him, on account of its form, its smoothness, 
and its robustness, to be identical “ with the 
Self Tulips , from which the gay varieties of 
the Tulip-fancier are bred.” 
This grand Tulip was exhibited on May 25tli, 
1880, before the Floral Committee, by Colonel 
Trevor Clarke, and received a First-class Certi¬ 
ficate for its splendid properties as a border 
flower; it was then called T. Gesneriana 
magnijica, a name which has since in the offi¬ 
cial records of the Committee been changed to 
that which is here adopted. The flowers are 
of very large size, and of the richest deep crim¬ 
son colour, which Mr. Fitch has well reproduced 
in the drawing, though the high lights of the 
chromo-lithographer are somewhat harsh in 
the subjoined plate. We are indebted to 
Colonel Clarke for the flowers represented, 
and for the accompanying note respecting 
them :— 
“ The history of this fine plant, as far as I 
am concerned in it, is as follows :—Many years 
ago, Mr. James Carter, who was very curious in 
such things, gave me a bulb of the Tulip in 
question, saying that it was given to him by 
Mr. Strangways, and it was a ‘ kind of Oculus 
Solis.’ Two years ago I was so struck with the 
effect given by the sun shining brightly through 
a large bed of it, that I determined to grow a 
batch expressly for the purpose of distributing 
it amongst our Fellows. For this purpose a 
number of bulbs were last autumn placed in 
the hands of Mr. Barron, and a few were also 
given to a friend or two about London. I 
believe it to be the plant figured in the 
Botanical Register , and Mr. Moore has con¬ 
firmed me in my opinion. It is remarkable 
that, although presumed to be a wild form 
growing near Florence, it has never, here, pro¬ 
duced a perfect capsule, being, apparently, 
quite sterile. The chromo drawing scarcely 
indicates the handsome dark eye.— R. Trevor 
Clarke.” 
MR. HORNER’S LECTURE ON THE AURICULA. 
E are indebted to the Rev. F. D. 
Horner for the opportunity to publish, 
in extenso , his very interesting lecture 
on the Auricula, delivered at the Show held by 
the Southern Section of the National Auricula 
Society, in the Royal Horticultural Gardens, 
South Kensington, on April 19th :— 
“ I am asked to say a few words to you this after¬ 
noon upon the Auricula, which is a special feature 
in the flower show, contributed by the members of 
the National Auricula Society. With the flower in 
its beauty before you, my pleasant task can only be 
to say of it that which it has no power to express 
for itself. Mere praise to its very face would be as 
idle and unhappy as holding up a coloured picture 
to the inimitable original in life. But something of 
the past history of this flower, and something of the 
qualities that constitute its grace and beauty in the 
eyes of those to whom it is a very dear favourite, 
will add, I trust, to the interest with which you will 
regard and remember our flowers to-day. 
NO. 41. IMPERIAL SERIES. 
“ This plant has so long been under the care of 
man, that, like his domestic animals, though sprung 
from a naturally wild and hardy thing, it would not 
live apart from him, and without that attachment 
on his part which it seems to so faithfully appreciate 
and reward. 
“ Some of the plants here to-day, you are wont 
to see in their accustomed place season after season, 
some even in successive shows. The Auricula is, 
among them, one brief spring-day, rare enough to 
be a floral phenomenon. It flashes into sight like 
some meteor across the sky, and is gone. It is 
apparently a new-comer, but in reality it is one of 
the very oldest of show flowers, for there were 
exhibitions of Auriculas in Lancashire more than 
150 years ago. Indeed, to anticipate a little, I 
might have brought you a plant of a venerable sort, 
called ‘ Jingling Johnny,’ shown at Eccles, then a 
straggling village near Manchester, a round century 
since. But the public career of the ' Jingler,’ as he 
was familiarly called, is closed, his long days nearly 
numbered, and no reasonable extension of a class- 
list could now set him up again on a pinnacle of 
floral fame. 
F 
