March 30, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
485 
ARDEN1NG MISCELLANY. 
New Plants and Certificates. 
Judging from late observations, the power of the pres9 
is very great in directing attention to accidental 
irregularity or initial neglect in respect to new plants 
staged for certificates ; as an instance of this we quote 
the blue Primrose lately exhibited. At the Royal Botanic 
Society’s show on Wednesday, the 20th, we staged 
a very fine basket of our new Cineraria, Emperor 
Frederick, the entire stock of which was purchased 
by us from the raiser under the name of Alexander 
Warwick. To our surprise, and the astonishment of a 
great many others who knew the plant, and also knew 
that it had never been at the Royal Botanic Society 
before, no notice was taken of it by the judges. 
It would be interesting to know how it was possible 
for a plant of such a distinctive character, and of such 
great commercial value, to have been overlooked. 
Perhaps one of these gentlemen can explain what at 
present appears to be an oversight. If the plants 
remain in sufficiently good condition, we shall send 
comparable to the well-known type, N. pallidus preecox, 
in its early-flowering character, and in being in this 
case of a soft canary-yellow. Both the segments and 
the crown are coloured almost precisely alike. The 
flowers, however, are altogether smaller than those of 
N. pallidus praecox ; and the variety, together with 
many other closely allied kinds collected by Mr. Barr, 
in Spain, were flowering in the grounds at Tooting long 
before the commoner types expanded a flower. 
Calamus ciliaris. 
Of the feather-leaved Palms, this is certainly one of 
the prettiest and most graceful when in a young con¬ 
dition. The stem is slender and erect, and the leaves 
somewhat thinly arranged along it; but they arch over 
gracefully, and certainly have a singularly feather-like 
appearance owing to the fineness and close arrangement 
of the divisions or pinnae. They are of a light green, 
and furnished with erect, brownish, and soft hairs, not 
only at the margins, suggesting the specific name, but 
also all over the surface. It is one of the dwarfest of 
the species of Calamus, and grows very slowly com¬ 
pared with its congeners, so that it is specially adapted 
them to the next show, when, perhaps, like the blue 
Primrose, they will be more successful .—James Carter 
& Co., High Holborn, IV.C. 
Rhododendron Early Gem. 
Amongst the early-flowering Rhododendrons none 
probably is more easily forced than Early Gem, an 
improvement upon R. prsecox, which is perfectly hardy, 
and flowers early in spring in the shrubbery border. 
The flowers are of a soft purple, but are larger and 
darker than those of R. prfecox. Both of them differ 
in the shape of the flowers from those of R. ponticum 
type, inasmuch as they are widely bell-shaped and 
open. The chief recommendation of Early Gem is that 
it readily responds to forcing, and may be had in 
flower with the use of comparatively little fire heat. 
It naturally forms small bushy plants from 12 ins. to 
18 ins. in height, and therefore proves very convenient 
for conservatory work. AVe noticed numerous specimens 
of it in the flowering plant house of Messrs. J. Veitch 
& Sons, Chelsea. 
Narcissus asturicus. 
This name has been given by Messrs. Barr & Son, 
Lower Tooting, to a form of N. Pseudo-Narcissus, 
for cultivation in any ordinary-sized stove, whereas 
other kinds are liable to rapidly outgrow the space at 
their command. It is a native of the East Indian 
Islands. We recently saw some beautiful and healthy 
specimens of it in the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, 
Upper Holloway, where it was grown in the same house 
as other fine-foliaged stove plants. 
Begonia manicata aurea maculata. 
The ordinary type of this old-fashioned plant is a 
familiar object in many stoves and conservatories, 
which it serves to keep gay with its spray-like cymes 
of small pink flowers. The petioles of the leaves are 
also furnished with curious clusters of large, brown, 
horizontal scales, in an irregularly whorled manner, 
and are so noticeable as to form a conspicuous feature 
of the plant. The leaves arise from short, thick and 
fleshy slow-growing stems, and are stout in substance, 
and evergreen. The variety under notice differs only 
in being irregularly blotched all over with yellow 
markings. These are of various sizes and of different 
shapes, but not infrequently oval or round, reminding 
one of the old-fashioned, half-hardy plant best known 
under the name of Farfugium grande. It is flowering 
in Mr. B. S. Williams' nursery, Upper Holloway. 
Luculia gratissima. 
Gardeners find great difficulty in the propagation of 
this plant by means of cuttings, which take a long time 
to develop roots. AVe noticed a fine batch of young 
plants in Mr. B. S. Williams’ nursery at Upper 
Holloway. Many of them have been grown from 
cuttings taken from seedlings raised in the nursery. 
All look strong and healthy. More interesting it is to 
see L. Pinceana, which although a fine thing is very 
rare in cultivation. In general appearance it resembles 
L. gratissima, but the leaves are smaller, more leathery, 
smooth, and of a deep green colour. The flowers are 
much larger than those of the better-known kind, pure 
white, and more strongly fragrant. 
Licuala Veitchii. 
There is apparently some affinity between this species 
and L. grandis, now well known as a handsome 
decorative subject for the stove or conservatory. It 
will be remembered that the leaves of the latter are 
somewhat orbicular, but owing to a greater luxuriance 
of growth near the margin than in the middle, they 
become concave. Many cultivators, taking advantage 
of this peculiarity, reverse the concavity so that moisture 
may not be retained by them, and probably from 
fancy that the leaves become more ornamental by being 
convex above. L. Yeitchii has roundly fan-shaped 
leaves that are nearly flat, with the margin divided 
into very short segments, so short indeed that the 
margin might be described as merely scolloped. They 
are borne on short spiny petioles, so that the plant is 
very compact. It is extremely rare, and we noticed 
what is probably the only plant in Britain in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. It was 
imported direct from Borneo, is now about 18 ins. or 
21 ins. high, and is furnished with eight fine leaves. 
Chorozema flava. 
The dark-coloured species of Chorozema are so frequent 
in collections of greenhouse plants that a distinct and 
pleasing shade of colour would be afforded by C. flava, 
the flowers of which afford two distinct shades of 
yellow, as the standard, which is the largest and most 
conspicuous part of the flower, is of a bright yellow, 
while the wings are of a pale creamy yellow, almost 
white. The leaves are lobed and spiny at the margin, 
similar to those of the Holly, only on a smaller scale. 
The flowers being freely produced in axillary racemes, 
they exhibit a fine effect against the dark background 
formed by the foliage. The plant is as easily grown 
as the dark-flowered kinds, and requires to be trained 
in a similar way when it attains a large size, to keep it 
within the limits assigned to it. For the cool con¬ 
servatory it is highly suitable. 
Rhododendron nilagericum. 
This showy Rhododendron may be described as a 
geographical variety of R. arboreum, which is a native 
of the Himalayas, attaining the dimensions of a small 
tree. As the name implies, R. nilagericum is a native 
of the Neilgherry Mountains, which are situated near 
the southern part of India. The leaves are much 
shorter than those of the type, deep opaque green above, 
and densely felted with rusty red hairs beneath. The 
flowers are moderately large compared with many of 
the magnificent Himalayan types, but are equal to those 
of the parent form. They are produced in the greatest 
profusion in dense heads or clusters, terminating the 
shoots ; they are bell-shaped, of a charming rosy pink 
colour, thickly dotted all over the interior with purple. 
A fine specimen of it has been flowering for some time 
in the temperate house at Kew. The typical R. 
arboreum is also in flower, and has deep blood-red or 
almost crimson flowers. In a wild state on the 
Himalayas it occurs with white, rose, pink, scarlet-red, 
and other shades. In this country it has been much 
used for hybridising with R. ponticum and R. Cataw- 
biense, many early-flowering kinds being produced as a 
result of it. 
Agapetes buxifolia. 
In this beautiful greenhouse shrub we have an Indian 
representative of what is best known as the AY hortle- 
berry family. The latter is distinguished from the 
Heath family, in which some botanists include it, by 
the fruit being inferior—that is, situated below the 
calyx and other parts of the flower. The fruit is also 
baccate—that is, fleshy or pulpy like a berry. For 
horticultural purposes, however, the value of the plant 
depends on its tubular, showy, scarlet flowers, which are 
produced in axillary clusters along the shoots of the 
previous year. The leaves are somewhat similar in 
shape to those of Box, as the name implies j but they 
