THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 24, 1885. 
122 
rv l rJ 
new range of glass by a corridor, the roof of wliicb is 
to be used largely for climbing plants; already there are 
established strong plants of Lapageria rosea, and L. 
alba, Taesonia van Volxemii, Cobfea scandens varie- 
gata, Mandevillea suaveolens, Rhynchospermum jas- 
rninoides, Clematis indivisa, Exogonum purga, Myrsi- 
phyllum asjiaragoides, Fuchsia, Solarium jasminoides, 
Bignonia grandiflora, Tea Roses, &c. Here is a fine 
specimen of Dicksonia fibrosa,large masses of Dendrobium 
speciosum, a collection of British Ferns and varieties ; 
the old Salvia splendens in large plants, is now very 
gay ; also S. Bethelli ; Pleroma Knuttsiana, with its 
larger purple flowers, is a grand plant for flowering at 
this season, and plants from spring struck cuttings are 
now very gay ; here is also a large lot of Azaleas for 
winterand spring flowering; Camellias, Rhododendrons, 
Lueulia Pinceana, and many other greenhouse plants. 
From the corridor we pass into the main entrance. 
Here are two stoves and two greenhouses, in the first 
stove we find a large collection of Orchids, including : 
Cattleyas, such as C. Dowiana, C. Gaskelliana, C. 
gigas, C. gigas Sanderiana, C. intermedia, now flower¬ 
ing ; C. labiata, C. labiata Vfarnerii, C. Mendelii, C. 
Mossiar, C. Percivalliana, C. Trianse, Lcelia purpurata, 
L. anceps, L. purpurata, &c. Of Dendrobiuins, there are 
good specimens of thefollowing; Dendrobium clavatum, 
D. erassinode, D. Dalliousianum, D. densiflorum, D. 
chrysotoxum, D. Devonianum, D. Falconerii, D. fim- 
hriatum, D. fimbriatum oeulatum, D. moschatum, D. 
nobile, D. Parishii, D:' primulinum, D. thyrsiflorum, 
D. Wardianum, and others. Zy 7 gopetalum intermedium, 
a large plant of a good variety is now flowering ; 
Cypripedium Schlimii, C. longifolium, C. Spicerianum, 
C. Sedeni, C. Haynaldianum, C. insignis, are all 
flowering ; and also a good established plant of Vanda 
Sanderiana, with fine large flowers ; Vanda coerulea, 
Odontoglossum grande, Pleoine lagenaria, P. Reichen- 
bachiana, are flowering ; there are also here fine masses 
ofCcelogynecristata, Cypripedium Boxallii, C. villosuru, 
various Oncidiums and other Orchids. Amongst Ferns 
we note Gymnogramma Pearcei, Davallia Mooreana, 
Hothochkena sinuata, Elaphoglossum rubiginosum, 
also the curious Ceropegia Sanderiana in flower. From 
this house we enter a hot stove, where Dipladenia 
Brearlyana, D. insigne, D. regale have been flowering 
most profusely for the last two months ; Nepenthes 
grown in pans are suspended from the roof; N. 
albo-marginata, N. ampullacea, N. Hookeriana, N. 
Veitchii, N. Mastersiana, very fine ; N. Rafflesiana, 
N. pliyllamphora, and other species and varieties, 
altogether a large collection ; Aerides, Vandas, An- 
gnecums, Crotons of the best varieties, Dracaenas, 
Anthurium Warocqueanum, A. Veitchii, &c. ; Difien- 
bachia imperialis, a noble plant seldom seen ; the 
pretty little Fern, Actiniopteris australis, Maranta, and 
other plants. From here we return through the first 
stove and enter the greenhouse, which is gay with 
Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Celosia plumosa, Abutilons ; we 
here note the pretty oldWatsonia eorvmbosa, flowering; 
Begonias, Salvia patens, Petunias, Valotta purpurea, 
Early flowering Chrysanthemums, &c. 
In the warm greenhouse is a large collection of 
Stapelias, grown in pans, and suspended from the roof; 
Pointsettias, Euphorbia jaequinajflora, Centradeuia 
floribunda, Clerodendron Krempferii, a showy plant too 
seldom seen, has been gay with flowers for more than two 
months; Centropogon Lucyanus, Thyrsacanthus ruti- 
lans, Lasiandra macrantha, a grand flowering plant; 
Gesneria insigne, a beautiful plant at this season ; 
Linum ti’igynum, Epiphyllum, Gesneria zebrina ; we 
also notice here that terrible stinging plant, Jatropha 
urens ; Asparagus tennissimus, A. plumosus. Amongst 
Ferns, Gymnogramma Lathomii, a beautiful hybrid 
r lised here between G. schizophylla and G. decomposita; 
Xiphobolus augustata, Thyrsopteris elegans, and a 
collection of T. officinale is being formed here. 
In a north house is a large collection of Masdevallias 
and other cool Orchids. M. racemosa Crossii, M. rosea, 
M. erythrochete, M. bella, M. Estradee, M. Schlimii, 
M. radiosa, M. polystieta, M. triangularis, M. Hout- 
teana, M. Davisii, M. Veitchii, M. trocliilus, M. 
Shuttleworthii, M. Reichenbachiana, M. Lindenii, M. 
Harryana, M. Roezlii, M. tovarensis, M. ehimsera, M. 
chimiera Wallisii, M. coriacea, M. ignea, M. maculata, 
M. peristeria, M. zanthocaulis, M. zauthina, &c. ; 
Odontoglossums, Dendrobium infundibulum, &c. Here 
we noted amongst Ferns Pellcea intramarginalis, P. 
flexuosa, P. cordata P. atro-purpurea, Lepicystis 
sepulta, L. squamata, Nothochliena canariense, Wood- 
sia polystichoides Veitchii, Lastrea marginalis crista ta, 
L. fragrans, Cheilanthes elegans, and C. tomentosa. 
In a small span-roof Orchid house we saw Lielia 
anceps, L. anceps alba, L. autumnalis, L. liarpopliylla, 
L. purpuracea, L. superbiens, showing a strong flower 
spike ; Cattleya Lawrenciana, showing flower, and other 
species ; Odontoglossum phalsenopsis, 0. vexillarium, 
Cypripedium Pearcii, flowering; Dendrobium earini- 
fulrum Wattii, a pretty white flower with yellow throat; 
also a good collection of Stanhopeas. 
In a large span-roof stove near here were some good 
plants of Phalsenopsis, including: P. amabilis, P. 
grandiflora, P. Luddemanniana, P. Sanderiana, P. 
Schilleriana, P. Stuartiana, and P. violacea. Odonto¬ 
glossum Roezlii, a very fine plant of Dendrobium 
macrophyllum giganteum, and other Orchids. Good 
plants of the best ^varieties of Ixoras, Dichorisandia 
mosaiea, and other plants. In Ferns there were Platy- 
cerium stemmaria, P. biforme, P. ’Willincki, Onycliium 
auratum, &c. 
In a cold frame under a north wall are some fine 
plants of Todsea hvmenophylloides, T superba, T. 
Fraserii, Triehomanes radicans, Hymenophyllum demis- 
sum, and other filmy Ferns. In conclusion let me 
advise any of your gardening friends who should be in 
this part, to visit these gardens, and I will guarantee 
they aie well repaid for their visit.— Alfred Outram, 
Victoria aiul Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloivay, 
London, N. 
•-- 
BOTANICAL MARE’S-NESTS— 
CHIEFLY FUNGOLOGICAL. 
( Concluded from p. 92 .) 
Foil. mat iox of Cork. 
In speaking of the disease called “scab” in Potatos, 
I have shown that the mare’s-nest about the “forma¬ 
tion of cork ” seems to make the Potato tuber capable 
of mental discrimination. A Potato has got “eyes,” 
and so may possibly “see” an invading fungus, unless 
it has unfortunately got one of Dr. Carpenter’s 
resting-spores in its eye ; but fungi are, as far as 
I know, all devoid of eyes. A botanical teacher, 
in a published list of the fungi of West Cornwall, 
whilst writing of the common cellar fungus, named 
“Zasmidium cellare,” has taught us that sometimes it 
(the cellar fungus) “pays its unwelcome visits to 
country cellars ; but only where good old wine is 
kept.” Here we seem to have a very knowing old 
fungus, with an acquired and aristocratic taste for 
“good old wine” only. Ho south African sherry, 
British port, Tarragona or prime gooseberry will suit 
this refined old epicure ; possibly he confines his atten¬ 
tion, in Cornwall, to “comet port” and “Chateau 
Yquem.” The discrimination may be true of the 
Cornish Zasmidium, but the fungus certainly has a 
poor relation round London, who is content with a 
cellar containing the publican’s mystic “ fourpenny ”—- 
in fact, to such straits is this plebeian London Zasrni- 
dium occasionally driven, that he sometimes hangs out 
in the subterranean London dairies, and contemplates 
the mixture of the minimum of milk with the maximum 
of water. Publicans court the presence of the Zasmi¬ 
dium, and when the dusty fungus is backward in 
coming forward, the London publican cunningly manu¬ 
factures a spurious Zasmidium out of old spiders’ webs, 
dirt, and sawdust. This artificial fungus is then dex¬ 
terously twisted round the necks of a few bottles, con¬ 
taining stuff called “port” (five minutes in bottle) and 
placed in the publican’s window as a proof of the age 
and superb quality of the wine. Some outcast scions 
of the Zasmidium family hang about the roofs of the 
Loudon sewers. There are vulgar as well refined mem¬ 
bers of even the fungus tribe, but the discovery of a 
discriminating fungus in Zasmidium cellars is an 
appalling mare’s-nest. 
A “Very Rare Plant.” 
The Algse arc not to be beaten by the fungi, even if 
the latter do sometimes live upon them as parasites, 
and so produce lichens. At a meeting and excursion 
of the Penzance National History Society, in 1882, a 
well-known botanical authority directed the attention 
of the members to a “ very rare plant ” in Towednack 
Church. “Thirty years ago,” said the instructor, 
the plant was all over the walls, and being of a sky- 
blue colour, it gave a peculiar colour to the interior.” 
This wonderful “plant” was evidently an early 
member of the Blue Ribbon Army, as well became a 
well-bred water-borne Alga. A good deal of this “ rare 
plant ” was, said the teacher, destroyed in past times 
by dry-rot. Fancy a watery Alga dying of dry-rot ! 
The botanical instructor concluded his lesson by saying 
the Alga in question “was only found in churches, and 
nowhere else ; and he left it for others to explain what 
it did before churches existed.” If this discrimination 
is a fact, it would be interesting to learn whether 
the discriminating Alga here referred to confines itself 
to the churches belonging to any special denomination, 
or whether some of its congeners at times furtively 
appear in dissenting chapels, or the meeting-houses of 
the Plymouth Brethren. The name of the Alga 
referred to is Oscillatoria cyanea. Water probably 
helps the oscillation of the Alga, as the “good old 
wine ” helps the oscillation of the Zasmidium. How 
the Alga lived “before churches existed” it is difficult 
to say. Perhaps some advanced evolutionist, as Mr. 
Grant Allen, will help us to clear up this point, whilst 
we denounce the discovery of a discriminating Alga 
as a rank mare’s-nest. 
Fungi in Churches. 
Fungi occasionally find themselves placed in churches 
as distinguished visitors, for amongst the so-called 
“decorations” of a London church (not far from Old 
Street), during a harvest festival in 1882, an enormous 
fungus, measuring 4 ft. by 3 ft., played an important 
part. This fungus was not a magnificent fragrant and 
edible Sparassis for which one might feel truly thankful, 
but a hideous, flabby, fungoid growth teeming with 
disease-germs, and peeled from the top of a filthy 
sewer in Old Street, St. Lukes, where it was found by 
a workman. From the foul London sewer the reeking 
treasure was transferred to the Church, and the dim 
religious light pouring through the stained glass win¬ 
dows flickered fitfully over the frowzy fungoid monster. 
After the “ thanksgiving service” was over, the work¬ 
man returned for his treasure, and placed it once more 
temporarily in the sewer for safety. He refused a 
moderately Large sum of money for its purchase, but 
announced his intention of selling it to the authorities 
of the British Museum. A fungus named Polyporus 
sacer is worshipped in West Africa as a fungoid god. 
There is an example in the British Museum, its assumed 
divinity is of course of mare’s-nest ; the supposition 
that there is anything like pure Christianity in many 
“harvest thanksgivings,” especially 7 the one where the 
frowzy fungus figured, is, as I think, a mare’s-nest. 
I have no record of a “discriminating” lichen, but 
no doubt Dr. Schwendener, or some of his minor 
satellites, could mention many. A good many persons, 
of whom I am one, look upon the Sclnvendeuerian 
hypothesis as a prodigious mare’s-nest; but I am content 
to leave this nest, its numerous rotten eggs, and its 
army of blow-flies in the hands of the Rev. James 
Crombie. If ever a single egg belonging to that nest 
gets hatched, after the punishment bestowed by Mr. 
Crombie, I shall be greatly surprised. 
Fungoid “Discoveries.” 
In bringing these notes to a conclusion, I will very 
briefly 7 mention a few fungoid “discoveries” which I set 
down as unmitigated mare’s-nests. The subjects would 
occupy 7 too much time to discuss in detail, but as many 7 
of them are taught as facts in our text-books and in 
our schools, I here enter my protest against them. 
The first is that a fungus named Polyactis einerea is 
one condition of a fungus found under Peziza. The 
assumed connection is all “moonshine.” 
That the fungus named Peziza amorpha causes the 
disease of larches ; the supposition is all “moonshine.” 
That a fungus named Neetria ditissima can cause 
“canker” in fruit trees: the supposition belongs to 
the same species of “moonshine” as the last. 
That the disease of Vines called Anthracnose is 
caused by a fungus named Phoma uvicola. The fungus 
is extremely common in the United States, where the 
disease called Anthracnose is unknown. Dr. Max 
Cornu’s discovery, that the Phoma causes the disease, 
must therefore be all “moonshine.” 
That a slightly abnormal form of the common Clavi- 
ceps of Ergot is a totally 7 dilferent fungus, and a parasite 
of Ergot. This idea is pure “moonshine,” and (as I 
esteem it) a cruel satire on Professor de Bary, as the 
bogus parasite is called after him, by 7 the name of Barya. 
That the little sclerotium from which the commonest 
blue-mould fungus, Penieillium crustaceum, springs, 
is a truffle. Dr. Oscar Brefeld made this mistake, and 
no doubt soon found it out to be one, and repented of 
