644 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 12, 1886. 
influence. Without doubt the impression 
which has been created that only foreigners can 
produce these and some other things, militates 
against the popularising of home-grown produce. 
Once we grapple with the matter, and create 
our own bulb farms, that impression must be 
broken down, for our own people and home 
trade must have the first consideration. It 
may be said that if we pay the Dutch less they 
will have the less to spend with us ; but, on 
the other hand, if we spend more at home our 
own people will be enabled to promote home 
trade. Certainly we must use the land profit¬ 
ably somehow if we are to exist as a nation, and 
every effort to that end, however small, merits 
our most careful consideration. 
-->x<-——- 
GARDENING MISCELLANY. 
Meetings for Next Week.— Monday: Con¬ 
tinuation of the National Horticultural Exhibition at 
Manchester. Thursday and Friday: Horticultural 
Exhibition at Brentwood, Essex. 
Rose Prospects. —The prospects of the Rose 
season, especially as regards the earlier shows, does not 
appear very encouraging, at least, as far as we can 
judge from our own plants, and from those we have seen 
during the last week. There are a few buds opening, 
but they are not' coming kindly, and the majority are 
very late. We have an abundance of blooms under 
glass, but the main Rosery outside is far from satis¬ 
factory, though there has been a decided improvement 
within the past week. We should be glad to hear the 
experience of other Rosarians on this important matter, 
for it would surely not be too much to expect that the 
committees might postpone any shows that are ob¬ 
viously too early for the respective districts. 
“Cottage G-ardening.” — We have received 
from the publishers, Messrs. Houlston & Sons, a copy 
of Mr. E. W. Badger’s admirable little manual on 
cottage gardening, in the form of a revised and much 
enlarged edition, in which, while keeping the special 
wants of the cottager always in view, the author 
has also endeavoured to meet the requirements of 
small amateurs by giving lists of fruits, flowers, 
shrubs, &c. Many of our readers will remember 
that this was the essay to which the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society awarded the prize offered by Mr. W. 
Egerton Hubbard, in 1870, and a most useful guide to 
outdoor cultivation it is, just the sort of little work 
that landed proprietors should distribute among their 
cottage tenantry. 
Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums.— In the very com¬ 
plete collection of Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums now under 
cultivation at Chiswick, Mr. Barron has a very attractive 
variety in Emile Lemoine, a semi-double flower of a 
bright scarlet colour, which is novel and distinct. 
Gloxinias at Chelsea. —Much attention has 
been paid to Gloxinias in Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons’ 
Chelsea Nursery for a number of years, and the result 
is that a choice and beautiful strain has been formed, 
and some handsome varieties have been obtained, that 
have been found worthy of names and certificates. 
One house is now very gay with a collection of these 
plants in flower, very gracefully arranged with Ferns ; 
and as the colours have been carefully selected, the 
contrast and general effect is extremely fine. Of the 
brightly coloured varieties, Flambeau is far the best ; 
and its value for decoration, in contrast with lighter 
coloured flowers, cannot be over-estimated. The flowers 
are of medium size, erect, and of an intensely rich 
glowing scarlet—a glorious tint that, with the pure 
white variety, is most telling. Boule de Feu is also 
a richly coloured variety, but it is not so brilliant as 
the other. Cybele, white, with a purple ring; Monarch, 
purple and spotted; Coronet, spotted with purple ; 
Marchioness of Abergavenny, beautifully spotted with 
rosy crimson ; and several others, might be mentioned 
as being scarcely less attractive. 
Imantophyllums. —The beauty and utility of 
these plants is not fully appreciated in British gardens 
at present, although a few plants are found in many 
collections, yet in few cases has any attempt been made 
to grow a number sufficient to produce a good general 
effect. The continental nurserymen have amply proved 
the ornamental value of Imantophyllums, for besides 
being easily grown plants, a consideration of some inn 
portance, they are evergreen, and their broad strap-like 
dark green leaves render the plants very suitable for ar¬ 
ranging with other plants in conservatories or elsewhere. 
"When in flower they have a grand effect, the huge 
umbels of orange-scarlet blooms having a noble appear¬ 
ance, quite unlike anything else cultivated under glass. 
A few of our nurserymen such as Mr. B. S. Williams, 
Messrs. James Yeitch & Sons, and Messrs. J. Laing & 
Co., have made specialities of the Imantophyllums in 
recent years, and collections may be seen in their 
nurseries now, many plants being in flower at this time 
of year. There can be no doubt that as the merits of 
the plants become more widely known, they will be 
more generally grown than is the case at present, and 
they are certainly worthy of a place in any garden. 
Fuchsia Madame Thibaut.— A large collec¬ 
tion of Fuchsias is being grown this season for the 
Floral Committee at Chiswick, and among them is one 
which at present has not been thought worthy of a 
Certificate, but which will become a popular variety 
when better known. It is Madame Thibaut, a won¬ 
derfully robust grower, with large handsome foliage, 
and a still more wonderful bloomer, so remarkably 
freely does it produce its large single blossoms, the tube 
and sepals of which are crimson and the corolla violet- 
purple. 
Market Flowers. — Enormous quantities of 
flowering plants are now sent into Covent Garden every 
market morning, and an early visitor, who is a 
stranger to the ways of the place, might imagine that 
some grand national floral fete is about to take place. 
Scores of waggons, carts and barrows will be seen 
waiting in the streets around the market, and all 
loaded with the gaily flowered plants which are grown, 
to meet public demands, by hundreds of thousands. 
Just now the showy decorative Pelargoniums are in 
strong force—beautiful dwarf “stocky” plants such as 
would be valued anywhere, but which are seldom seen 
in private gardens. They have strong growths, clothed 
with fine leaves down to the rims of the pots, and are, 
in fact, models of what plants for decoration should be, 
as far as appearance goes. The same remark applies 
to all the other plants—beautiful little Fuchsias, in 
48-size pots, and loaded with flowers ; lovely little 
specimens of Rhodanthes, Hydrangeas, Calceolarias, 
and many others, are sent into the market by the best 
growers, in capital condition ; but purchasers are some¬ 
times disappointed because, if they take them home, 
and place them in hot dry exposed windows, the flowers 
and beauty are soon gone. They will not endure such 
treatment ; and if it is desired to preserve their attrac¬ 
tions for a reasonable time, they should be placed in a 
house, and carefully attended until they are somewhat 
hardened. __ _ 
THE FERTILIZATION OF 
ORCHIDS.* 
The great Orchid family is computed to contain 
about 5,000 species, ranged under 334 genera. Many 
are extremely variable, both in a state of nature and 
under cultivation, so that the above numbers are 
altogether arbitrary, as all calculations of this nature 
must ever be. They are widely distributed throughout 
all parts of the world, except the Arctic and Antarctic 
regions, ascending the mountains in the tropics till the 
higher Alps are reached, where they become compara¬ 
tively rare. All are perennial herbs, neither attaining 
a woody character nor relapsing to the condition of 
annuals, and the habit, life history, and slow rate of 
growth are strong characteristic features of the whole 
family. 
As far as habit is concerned, a rough division maybe 
made into those that are terrestrial and have creeping 
stems like the deciduous Cypripediums, the Goodyeras, 
or a fleshy fibrous rootstock like the Neottia, or a 
tuberous one like Orchis; and again into those that are 
epiphytical and cling to trees, rocks, or other objects 
merely for support in their position, using their fleshy 
roots as holdfasts. The former generally inhabit extra- 
tropical or temperate countries and alpine regions, 
although not strictly confined to them, while the latter 
are more dominent in tropical regions, though liable to 
overlap the habitats of the terrestrial genera. Singular 
as are the above mentioned characters, they are alto¬ 
gether surpassed by the modifications and adaptations 
exhibited by the flowers of Orchids. There must needs 
be a vast amount of variation to distinguish ail these 
* A paper rea<l by Mr. J. Frazer before the Birkbeek Students 
Scientiflc Association. 
5,000 distinct species, and numerous instances of ex¬ 
treme specialisation occur. The order itself is unique 
in the vegetable kingdom, and so disguised are the 
essential organs of the flower, namely, stamens and 
pistil, that the homology of parts, with that of other 
natural orders, is with difficulty recognisable. All 
these extraordinary changes from the primitive ances¬ 
tors of the family, have been brought about chiefly 
through the instrumentality of insects. 
Parts of the Flower. 
The perianth consists of six pieces, in two series of 
three each. Usually, all are more or less highly 
coloured, and serve at once as a protection to the 
essential organs and as a flag of attraction to insects at 
a distance. The three outer are generally described as 
sepals, the two lateral and inner as petals, while the 
third of this series is known as the labellum. The 
sepals are frequently narrower or less conspicuous than 
the petals, but no definite rule can be laid down, not 
even in the same genus, as they are in many cases 
similar to the petals in Yanda, Dendrobium, Odonto- 
glossum, Lselia, and Sophronitis. They are, moreover, 
the most conspicuous feature in Masdevallia, Cirrho- 
petalum, and some species of Bulbophyllum, where the 
petals and labellum dwarf into insignificance. The 
petals attain a maximum development in Cattleya 
labiata and its allies, such as C. Mossice and C. gigas, 
in Sobralia, and some Cypripediums, as C. caudata and 
C. laevigata. They are much smaller than the sepals 
in Stanhopea, Lycaste, and some species of Ccelogyne, 
while they often resemble the antennae of an insect in 
Oplirys, Restrepia antennifera and others. The la¬ 
bellum is usually or nearly always the most highly 
differentiated of the floral envelopes, and frequently 
serves a manifold purpose, the most important of which 
is that of a landing-stage for insects. In a typical 
flower it is posterior, but in most instances it is made 
anterior by one or another arrangement. Darwin and 
other authors seem to be of opinion that it is always 
brought about by a twisting of the ovary or its pedicel; 
but this is altogether unnecessary if a normally erect 
flower-spike is bent downwards, so as to be pendent or 
arching. The labellum is then, or appears to be, 
anterior, and the arrangement is complete if the flowers 
are directed to the upper side of the flower-stalk, so as 
to have their faces upward. This is precisely what 
occurs in Angrsecum citratum, Odontoglossum crispum, 
O. Pescatorei, several species of Phalsenopsis, and many 
others. A large number have their long pedicels 
slightly twisted in arching racemes, so as to make the 
labellum lateral to the peduncle but anterior to the 
flower. 
The labellum often assumes the most fantastic shapes, 
resembling birds, beasts, insects, or even human beings, 
and the likeness is generally greatly augmented by the 
other floral envelopes.- These resemblances are borne 
out in Peristeria elata, Palumbina Candida, Cycnoclies, 
Gongora buffonia, Ophrys, and Aceras anthropophera. 
No less than thirteen or fourteen species of Ophrys are 
named as resembling some animal. The labellum, 
furthermore, is, in the majority of species, the largest 
and most conspicuous part of the flower ; but in Mas¬ 
devallia, Disa, Cirrhopetalum, and others it is sub¬ 
ordinate in size to the sepals. 
In the pristine condition of Orchids we have good 
reasons to believe that there were six stamens and 
three styles, which are now amalgamated into one piece, 
the column bearing normally only one fertile anther, 
belonging to an outer series of three, in all Orchids, 
except a small tribe, the Cypripedice, where there are 
two fertile anthers belonging to an inner series of three. 
The three stigmas we should expect to find, are visibly 
present in the Cypripediums, but confluent in one, 
while in all other Orchids, two are invariably present 
and distinct or confluent in one. The third is modified 
into a rostellum, concerned only in securing the trans¬ 
portal of the pollinia or pollen masses from one flower 
to the stigmas or the stigmatic disks of another. The 
stigmatic disk is hollow and viscid to retain the pollinia 
except in the Cypripedeae where it is convex and 
entirely without viscid matter, except, perhaps, in 
Cypripedium acaule. The complex arrangement of 
contrivances for effecting the sure and safe transportal 
of the pollinia will be best understood by reference to 
a few examples from each of the five tribes into which 
Orchids are divided. These great primary divisions 
depend chiefly on the structure of the pollinia and their 
appendages. 
