April 13, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
517 
I read, I tliink, in the Gardeners' Magazine, under the 
head of “Peeps at Nurseries,” that Richard Smith, of 
Worcester, grafted 40,000 Lord Suffields annually at 
that time. This shows that it was a fruit which had 
become of national importance .—From a ‘paper on 
Garden Gossip, by Mr. Barlow. 
-- 
ORCHIDS AROUND MELBOURNE, 
AUSTRALIA. 
The bulk of our native Orchids belong to the tribe 
Ophrydeie, of which the Bee Orchis (Ophrys) is typical. 
A collection of dried plants, of which nineteen species 
are Orchids, was sent us by Mr. A. Shaw, of the 
Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. The specimens were all 
collected in the immediately surrounding neighbour¬ 
hood of that place, and although Australian Orchids 
are rather small, and looked upon with indifference by 
horticulturists in this country, yet a number of them 
are exceedingly interesting and pretty, even when 
compared with our natives. All of those sent belong 
to the tribe Neottiie, represented in this country by the 
Lady’s Tresses (Spiranthes), and the Tway Blades 
(Listera), including the Bird’s Nest Orchid. Judging 
from the specimens sent, the bulk of the Orchids in the 
neighbourhood of Melbourne belong to this tribe, and 
constitute a striking contrast to the lordly Sobralias— 
their representatives in the 
new world. They are all 
terrestrial, many of them 
inhabiting the dry sand¬ 
hills of Australia, New 
Zealand and Van Diemen’s 
Land, and many have tuber¬ 
ous roots. 
Some of them are suffi¬ 
ciently pretty or ornamental 
to he worthy of cultivation 
even in this country, either 
in the Orchid house or on 
the rockery, provided they 
could be made to succeed. 
The Spider Orchid (Cala- 
denia Patersoni) is exceed¬ 
ingly pretty, and notable for 
its great variation in colour, 
being described as almost 
white, or variously reddish, 
greenish, or pale yellow, 
as well as in the long or 
short fringes of the lip. The 
specimens sent exhibited two 
very distinct types in this 
respect, while the upper lobe 
of the labellum was of a 
deep purple. This species, 
as well as C. latifolia, are 
notable amongst Orchids for 
the hairiness of the stems 
and leaves, as in Pon- Dendrobiu 
thieva, a New World genus, 
belonging to the same tribe, 
and often cultivated in 
Orchid houses here. Curiously enough, Caladenia 
suaveolens is perfectly glabrous. Few could ignore the 
butterfly-like beauty of Diurus sulphurea, with bright, 
yellow blooms, having dark purple, almost black spots, 
of which there are two on the upper sepal and the 
labellum. Glossodia major has blue flowers, paler 
outside, and rarely quite pink or white on both sides. 
It reminds us of the South African iridaceous plants, 
such as Ixia or Sparaxis, with large flowers. 
The collection included five or six species of Ptero- 
stylis, a genus of hooded flowers, in shape reminding us 
of Masdevallias. They are neat and pretty, but not 
showy plants, with flower-stems arising from the centre 
of a rosette or radical tuft of leaves. Their colours are 
not very bright, with the exception, perhaps, of P. 
vittata, having red flowers striped with white, and 
borne singly or in crowded racemes. The majority 
bear only one flower on a stem. A singular-looking 
Orchid is Lyperanthus nigricans, with a solitary broad 
leaf near the base of the stem, and bearing a raceme of 
curious reddish flowers. The whole plant on drying 
becomes as black as a nigger. A rare plant in 
Australia is Lyperanthus Burnettii of Mueller, or 
Burnettia cuneata of Lindley, recorded in the Genera 
Plantarum, from Tasmania only. It is, however, 
recorded from Victoria in the Key to the System of 
Victorian Plants, vol i, pp. 412 to 413, a new book 
by Baron Fred. Von Mueller, K. C.M.G., &c., Super¬ 
intendent of the Botanic Garden at Melbourne. 
A singular-looking Orchid is Corysanthes pruinosa, 
resembling a miniature Aristolochia both in its two 
leaves and flowers, either of which are blackish purple. 
It grows on dry sand-hills. Thelemytra antennifera 
has yellow flowers deeply stained with brownish red 
externally, reminding one of the colour of a dark 
variety of Crocus vitellinus. It derives the specific 
name from two blackish purple appendages to the 
column. The tiny flowers of Microtis minutiflora 
remind us of a miniature specimen of our native 
Spiranthes autumnalis. Prasophyllum elatum resem¬ 
bles a giant form of our native Man Orchis (Aceras 
anthropophora) in colour and general appearance.— J. F. 
-- 
DENDROBIUM WARDIANUM. 
Of the thousands of imported plants of Ward’s Den- 
drobe that have flowered in this country since the 
importation of the immense piece for which Lord 
Londesborough gave 100 guineas some years ago, the 
finest that has come under our notice is the one now 
illustrated, which made its appearance recently at 
Stevens’ Rooms, and passed into the splendid collection 
owned by Baron Schroder. The plant was but a 
small one, but there was no mistaking the wonderful 
rotundity of its flowers, owing to the unusual breadth 
of the petals. 
The flowers measured 3^ ins. across the petals, which 
m Wardianum : a variety in Baron Schroder’s Collection 
were more remarkable for their width than their length, 
and measured If in. in diameter, and were of a beau¬ 
tiful shining waxy white, with a deep purple tip. 
The sepals were broadly oblong, blunt, white, tinted 
with blush, and purple at the tip. The lip was very 
round, deep yellow on the basal portion, with two 
large, velvety, brown blotches at the base ; this yellow 
was surrounded with a white band, and the lip was 
purple. On the whole, then, the flowers were not only 
highly coloured for the species, but they showed great 
regularity, and a considerable approach to the florists’ 
ideal of the round flower, with broad, overlapping 
segments. Several forms in gardens which have 
received special varietal names are less worthy of the 
distinction than this fine variety, for the opportunity 
of illustrating which we are indebted to the kindness 
of Baron Schroder. 
--»$«>- 
Gardening Siscellany. 
Monocheetum ensiferum. 
The quantity of flowers that even small plants of this 
Melastomaceous subject will produce in the course of 
the winter is truly surprising. A genial warmth must 
be maintained, such as that which greenhouse plants 
require to flower in winter, and ventilation must be 
freely given to induce a close bushy habit and short- 
jointed wood. Under these conditions, the flowers— 
not very durable, as a rule, in this family—will be 
more lasting. They are of a warm violet-rose, and 
individually about the size of a shilling, or even larger. 
A succession is developed from the side-shoots, as the 
flowers drop from the primary cymes. Numerous 
specimens may be seen in a house devoted to the culture 
of hard-wooded plants generally, in the nursery of 
Messrs. J. Laing k Sons, Forest Hill. They have been 
flowering for some months past, the speciniens being 
quite small, and closely furnished with dark green 
leaves. Altogether the habit is neat. 
Pilea muscosa. 
I have found this plant very useful for decorative 
purposes, its beautiful foliage standing out in pretty 
contrast when arranged with other plants. It is not so 
durable or so hardy as many other decorative subjects, 
and when once used in rooms will never completely 
recover, but should be at once cut up for future use. 
They strike very readily, and should be grown in suc¬ 
cessive batches as required, one plant or three or four 
in a 60 or 48-size pot, according to fancy .—Alfred Gaut. 
Reineckea carnea variegata. 
Feav gardeners seem to be aware of the hardiness of 
this Liliaceous plant, which may be compared to Lily 
of the Valley with narrow 
grass-like leaves, amongst 
which nestle racemes of 
flowers similar to those of the 
plant just named. They 
are, however, flesh-coloured, 
not white, but are deliciously 
scented, like those of its 
more favoured relative. It 
is not, however, advisable 
to grow the variegated 
form out of doors, because 
according to our experience 
the leaves either become 
entirely green or show the 
variegation to so small an 
extent as to be worthless 
from that point of view. 
The same thing applies to 
several other variegated sub¬ 
jects, which, -when grown in 
windows or cool greenhouses, 
lose most of the charms of 
the variegation they exhibit 
when grown in a warmer 
temperature. It rarely 
happens that hardy plants 
can be healthily grown 
for any length of time in a 
stove, yet there are some 
that will stand it, including 
Reineckea carnea variegata, 
as we have observed in 
more than one establish¬ 
ment, and recently DOtieed 
it in one of Messrs. J. 
Laing & Sons’ stoves in the nursery at Forest Hill, 
the young leaves are striped with pale yellow, be¬ 
coming white as they mature, and sometimes a whole 
rosette of leaves will be white. 
Double-spathed Richardia. 
High cultivation extending over a long period of time 
seems to be having its effect on Richardia africana, 
judging from the number or frequency with which 
double spathes—in most cases quite perfect—appear on 
well-grown plants. There are two ways- at least in 
accounting for the presence of the second spathe— 
namely, by the adhesion or inseparation of the leaf and 
peduncle as they emerge from the axis, or by the 
development of a second large bract or spathe just 
under the flower-bearing spadix. The former seems as 
likely to be the real origin of the second spathe as any, 
judging from a number of the species which we have 
examined. The lower of two spathes on a specimen 
from Devonhurst, Chiswick, was considerably larger 
and longer than the upper, and in all respects re¬ 
sembled a true leaf, except in colour, being quite white. 
It was inserted at a lower level on the flower-stem than 
the true spathe, and had a long sheath, which became 
decurrent on the peduncle, the latter being flattened 
on one side for the greater part of its length as the 
petiole of a leaf would be. The union of a true leaf 
with the peduncle of a flower can easily be accounted 
