634 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 4, 1887. 
and of tlie lessons which could he deduced from them. 
Thus, the statement that the lightly-wafted thistle¬ 
down is the fruit of the thistle led to the enquiry what 
fruits were the children bringing forth in their lives. 
Again, the rough exterior of the thistle, contrasted 
with the juicy and wholesome stalks of some members 
of the thistle kind, and with the fragrance of others, 
suggested the reflection that a rough exterior some¬ 
times concealed sweetness and usefulness. So, the fact 
of the musk-thistle giving forth its perfume chiefly at 
night was the text of a little discourse to show that 
the night of sorrowoften produced the richest spiritual 
life. 
The lightness of the thistledown, and the result of 
its falling upon soil in the growth of a sturdy thistle, 
was made into a warning against the utterance of 
malicious words, which, borne by a tale-bearing wind, 
might lead to the growth of a crop of hatred and bit¬ 
terness. So “ if we would have friends we must show 
ourselves friendly, ” and other lessons of life and manners 
were taught to the young hearers from the thistle. 
Lastly, the thistle was treated as the emblem of a curse 
upon the earth, and in heaven there would be no curse. 
After the sermon an offertory was collected towards 
paying the cost of the new parish and Sunday school¬ 
room, and at the close of the service the congregation 
filed up to the chancel, and there deposited their bou¬ 
quets, which were afterwards conveyed to the Sailors’ 
Orphanage. 
--- 
BROWNEAS. 
The species of Brownea, of which seven or eight 
have been introduced to this country, are trees or shrubs 
belonging to the regular-flowered section of the great 
Pea family—that is, the petals are similar in shape and 
size, and not irregular and papilionaceous, as we have 
them in all the British Leguminosae. The flowers are 
generally collected in dense heads, which often resemble 
those of a Rhododendron, owing both to this arrange¬ 
ment and the regularity of the flowers themselves. 
The foliage, however, and inflorescence, taken together, 
constitute them magnificent plants for a stove or con¬ 
servatory, in which latter place the taller-growing ones 
have more room to develop their natural habit and 
size, which adds greatly to their imposing appearance. 
The flowers, furthermore, are, in several of the species, 
so densely arranged in a head as to appear like 
one flower (and they are often taken to be such), 
which, if measured, would prove of a far greater 
diameter than they appear to the eye when produced 
on the top of tall trees. 
The known species are all natives of some part of 
tropical America, chiefly the south, but some extend to 
central America ; and B. coccinea, which was the first 
one introduced to this country, is a native of the West 
Indies and some parts of the mainland, such as 
"Venezuela. It is, moreover, the most widely-cultivated 
in this country, and possibly flowers more frequently 
and abundantly than any other. Owing to their dis¬ 
tribution in those warm and humid regions, they 
necessarily require stove treatment before any measure 
of success can be attained. Given these conditions, 
however, there is no secret or difficulty in their 
cultivation. 
A compost consisting of equal parts of loam and peat 
or twice as much loam as peat, with a sufficient quan¬ 
tity of sharp sand to keep the whole porous and open, 
will meet the requirements as to soil. Good drainage 
is essential to success, as they require an abundant 
supply of water in summer while making their growth. 
Towards the end of the growing period, water may be 
partly withheld to induce the ripening of the wood and 
favour the production of flower buds. When the first 
growth has developed and ripened early in the season, 
a second may follow in the course of the summer, 
especially if the plants have been repotted and kept in 
a warm, moist atmosphere. Watering must be more 
cautiously performed when the plants are at rest, 
especially during the dull and sunless weather. A 
superabundance of moisture at the roots at that time 
often causes the latter to decay, when the plants get 
into a bad condition from which it is difficult to extri¬ 
cate them, or they may even perish altogether. The 
roots are of a fleshy character and, as a rule, not very 
numerously produced, consequently they must not be 
over-potted, or the soil is apt to become sour from not 
being fully permeated and occupied by the fibres which 
tend to keep it open and sweet. 
Propagation may be effected in two different ways, 
namely, by seeds and cuttings. Some of the species 
produce fruit in this country, and when occasion offers, 
seeds may be imported from which seedlings can readily 
be raised. Plants obtained in this way, however, take 
much longer to attain flowering size, which is very 
objectionable in houses of small size. In the case of 
rare or newly introduced species, or where hybrids are 
wanted, this method is imperative. Plants already in 
a flowering condition are obtainable from cuttings. 
Of course, considering the size of the flower truss, they 
cannot be expected, like Hydrangeas, to flower the first 
year, seeing that cuttings of the latter may, and are 
used with great certainty, having the flower buds 
already in an advanced state of development. Cuttings 
of the ripened wood in this case should be employed, 
and inserted in pots of very sandy soil, and placed 
under a bell-glass, keeping them moist, and standing 
them in a place with a brisk stove temperature. Those 
possessed of a propagating frame with a bed of cocoa- 
nut fibre in which the pots may be plunged, have all 
the conditions requisite for increasing stock. 
As soon as it is ascertained that the cuttings are 
tolerably well furnished with roots, they should be 
potted off singly, using a richer or more substantial 
compost than that in which they were rooted. The 
annual routine of culture is henceforth similar to the 
general run of stove plants. Some of them flower 
in a comparatively small state when obtained in this 
way, and the young foliage is especially ornamental, 
exhibiting remarkable shades and tints of colour seldom 
occurring in other members of the vegetable kingdom, 
which, moreover, disappear as the leaves attain their 
full size and commence to harden. 
B. coccinea, as already mentioned, was the first 
introduction, being grown as early as 1793. A figure 
appeared in the Botanical Magazine, t. 3964, in which 
it will be seen that the flowers are not so large, and 
produced in smaller clusters than in some of the 
other species—notably, B. Ariza and B. grandiceps, 
the latter of which is now tolerably common in col¬ 
lections. The leaves are leathery, and smaller than in 
most species, consisting of only two to three pairs of 
leaflets and an odd one. The scarlet flowers are pro¬ 
duced in clusters in the axils of the leaves or from the 
buds on the older parts of the stems and branches from 
which the leaves have fallen. The result of this is that 
the fullest effect the plant is capable of producing is 
somewhat lost, owing to the flowers being hidden away 
amongst the foliage. The object of this in a state of 
nature is, doubtless, the protection of the blossom from 
the fierce rays of the sun. The flowers, as a rule, are 
short-lived, but seem to remain in perfection in this 
case as long as any. The young leaves are of a beau¬ 
tiful shade of pink or flesh-coloured, and very orna¬ 
mental when about half developed. 
B. Ariza is evidently more often talked about than 
seen, judging from the fact that plants are in cultivation 
under the name of B. Ariza hybrida, but which, on 
inspection, prove to be B. grandiceps, or slight variations 
of it. A parentage between the latter and B. coccinea 
is more often visible in the seedlings. B. Ariza is 
synonymous with B. princeps, sometimes grown as B. 
stricta, a tall-growing erect and naked tree, with a 
branchless stem attaining a height of 20 ft. to 40 ft. in 
its native country, and not much smaller in this 
country, when grown in high-roofed stoves or con¬ 
servatories where it is allowed room to develop. The 
stem is firm and comparatively thin, but requires no 
artificial support, which tells greatly in its favour. 
These dimensions are obtained even when grown in a 
pot, while the thinness of the stem is attributable to 
its unbranched condition, bearing the huge leaves in a 
tuft at the apex, similar to the habit of Palms, Dracaenas 
and other Monocotyledons, whose stems, as a rule, do 
not increase much in thickness. The leaves assume a 
horizontal or drooping position, and consist of pairs of 
oblong-lanceolate deep green leathery leaflets. The 
mid-rib of the leaf alone, from which the leaflets 
ultimately fall at maturity, resembles a branch of 
considerable length and thickness. When the leaf- 
bud bursts in spring, numerous leaves come all of a 
mass, while the axis bearing them elongates, completes 
its growth and rests for the season. At first they are 
perfectly erect, and retain this position for some time, 
surrounded at the base by a mass of brown scales, 
consisting of the bud-leaves or bracts, and possibly the 
stipules. These young developing leaves have a 
beautiful satiny lustre, which they preserve for some 
time. The flowers are of an intense scarlet, and borne 
in drooping clusters of great size. This species is 
figured t. 6459 of the Botanical Magazine. 
B. grandiceps is as deserving of cultivation as any, 
and, perhaps, next to B. coccinea receives most atten¬ 
tion in this country. The small state in which it can 
be flowered, the size and beauty of the flower head, and 
the decidedly ornamental effect produced by the young 
expanding foliage, are, doubtless, the best reasons that 
can be given for the preference shown it. Young 
plants struck from cuttings are frequently used for the 
decoration of the stove, and its attractiveness is of no 
mean character when the young buds burst, an 
occurrence which may take place at any time during 
the course of summer, according to the state of the 
plant. They are at first of a deep brown hue, soon 
changing to pale green, copiously furnished all over 
with large irregular-sized brown blotches, and ulti¬ 
mately become green. It would be interesting to 
.ascertain the value of these curious markings in the 
economy of the plant ; but, at the same time, it seems 
feasible to imagine that the presence of other colouring 
matters besides chlorophyll in the delicate tissues of 
the leaves, shields the latter from the fierce rays of the 
sun till they attain a firmer consistency and develop 
the internal and protective tissue. The flowers are of a 
soft rosy red colour and densely arranged round a 
conical axis, forming a rosette or head of great dimen¬ 
sions. Those on the circumference of this mass are the 
first to expand, and while the central ones remain in 
bud condition, the whole bears a striking resemblance 
to a single huge flower, and is often reckoned as such 
by casual observers. 
Besides the three species above mentioned, there are 
several forms in cultivation variously described as B. 
hybrida, B. coccinea hybrida, B. Ariza hybrida, or 
such similar names, but there evidently appears to be 
a lack of system among hybridists, or, at least, the 
cultivators, for B. grandiceps is often made to pass 
muster for one of these hybrids, as is shown by the 
peculiar blotches or markings of the young leaves, and 
by the flowers themselves when they are produced. 
This may arise from the sending out of seedlings before 
they have been flowered and certified. There are, 
however, several distinct forms in cultivation, of which 
one cannot deny the hybrid nature, and whose parentage 
is often traceable from the foliage and flowers. Other 
species have been introduced, but if still in cultivation 
have not yet become common. — Taxus. 
--;2K-- 
ARDENING fllSCELLANY. 
♦ _ 
" ♦ 9 
Pickle Primroses. — Let me record another 
instance of the inconstancy of Primroses. In 1S85 I 
bought, of a well-known firm in the north, half-a-dozen 
plants of the crimson Primrose ; all were in full bloom, 
and all the blooms were of a deep rich crimson. I 
planted them near one anothe r, and quite apart from 
any other Primroses. Last year they flowered liberally 7 ', 
but, to my surprise and disappointment, the flowers 
were without exception pale yellow, and indistinguish¬ 
able from the field Primrose. I concluded that the 
crimson hue of the year before had beenamere “sport,” 
dependent, perhaps, like the blueness of the blue 
Hydrangea, upon some peculiarity in the potting-soil. 
I left the degenerate plants untouched, and thought 
no more of them, except as six fresh opportunities for 
practice of the grace of resignation. This year, how¬ 
ever, four out of the six have reverted to the crimson 
of two years ago ; while the other two, still walking 
in the wide path of declension, have presented me 
again with the ordinary custard - coloured flowers. 
Will someone accustomed to read the workings of the 
Primrose mind, kindly tell me what may be expected 
next spring? Will the four lower their standard again, 
or will the conduct of the two rise to its early level ? 
—c. a. a. 
Scilla hispanica (syn. campanulata).— Of 
all the Bluebells that are grown—and some are very 
beautiful—assuredly the one now under consideration 
is pre-eminent. As a plant for the herbaceous border, 
or clumped in masses beneath the shade of overhanging 
trees, it is fair to look upon ; but brought under the 
loving hand of an amateur enthusiast, given the re¬ 
quisites of cultural consideration, grown on in 6-in. or 
8-in. pots, and flowered under glass, it far surpasses 
