246 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 19, 1891. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM 
WILLIAM WESTLAKE. 
I notice in your last issue a letter referring to 
Chrysanthemum William Westlake, and stating 
that this variety is an old one, called Aigle d’Or. 
This is not true. William Westlake was shown and 
certificated at the centenary exhibition of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society as a new variety. 
I at once purchased the stock and distributed it the 
same season, and all who have had it have been 
unanimous in saying that it is one of the finest 
yellow exhibition “poms" we have. If this variety 
is Aigle d'Or, why did not the Floral Committee 
(a body of Chrysanthemum experts) detect it when 
placed before them, both as plants and cut flowers. 
Your correspondent first states that he has grown it 
under the style of Aigle d’Or, and then later on 
gives his opinion that it is a superior form of that 
variety. This is rather contradictory, for if it is 
superior to Aigle d'Or it cannot be that variety. 
H, J, Jones, Ryecroft Nursery, Lewisham, S.E, 
Allow me, in reply to Mr. C. B. Green's letter in 
your last issue, to state that I have not taken any 
active part in obtaining a certificate for the above ; 
nor was I aware of the Hornsey—-it should be High- 
gate—gardener's intentions, until the evening before 
he submitted it to the consideration of the Floral 
Committee of the N.C.S. I have no pecuniary 
interest in it, neither have I assisted in “ rushing it 
into the market." Furthermore, I did not see any 
blooms of Mr. Green’s which I “ duly admired; " 
the admiration was on the other side, when he saw 
my blooms, which were, as he says, grown from 
cuttings which he supplied, but which were not 
taken from a plant grown on his premises. If your 
correspondent has “ grown it for many years under 
the name of Aigle d'Or,” why has he been running 
all over the place trying to find the name of it ? I 
have seen William Westlake and Aigle d’Or shown 
side by side, and I maintain that they are distinct; 
the latter showing an eye when fully expanded, while 
William Westlake does not. Surely the committee 
of the N.C.S. are better judges than Mr. Green. 
The latter gentleman says “he was not aware he 
possessed so much valuable property; " the Highgate 
gardener was, Hence these tears,— William Westlake. 
§ardening Miscellany. 
CLEMATIS FLAMMULA. 
It does not appear to be generally known that there 
are worthless forms of this [plant (illustrated at p. 
161), not worth growing. The best form has showy 
white flowers as sweet as a posy, but there are forms 
with dingy, greenish, fugacious flowers that emit 
little or no perfume. I for one should be very glad 
to know where the true white-flowered and sweet- 
scented Clematis Flammula vera can be obtained. 
It is rarely seen, but well deserves general culture.— 
F. W. Burbidge. 
BOUSSINGAULTIA BASELLOIDES. 
There are something like ten species of Boussin¬ 
gaultia, but apparently only two of them have been 
introduced. That under notice was originally intro¬ 
duced in 1835 and has greenish or yellowish-white 
flowers, which are by no means attractive individually, 
but taken in the aggregate they are pretty when pro¬ 
duced in such quantity as they are at Hanger Hill 
House, Ealing, the residence of E. M. Nelson, Esq. 
whose gardens are under the management of Mr. E. 
Chadwick. Some growers have a difficulty in 
flowering this species of Boussingaultia, but Mr. 
Chadwick manages it admirably, flowering it regu¬ 
larly in the winter months. Nor is a stray raceme 
here and there all that he can obtain, for pieces of 
the stem a yard in length, bearing quite a profusion 
of flowers throughout their length, and forming gar¬ 
lands may be cut. The agreeable, and yet powerful 
odour of Hawthorn which the flowers possess, is not 
the least of their recommendations, as they may be 
arranged in vases mixed with other subjects in a cut 
state, where they will make their presence felt in the 
dwelling-room. Botanicaliy this plant is the type of 
a tribe belonging to the Goosefoot family, and is 
curious in several respects, but particularly in having 
fleshy stems which thicken here and there, forming 
tubers, sometimes of considerable si?e, bearing buds 
on the thickened portions, which nearly as often 
terminate in slender shoots of the ordinary form, 
bearing leaves, The plant may be propagated to 
any extent and with the greatest facility by means of 
these tubers. 
SELAGINELLA AMCENA. 
In form and habit this is comparable to S. caules- 
cens minor, but it is even neater and of a clearer or 
brighter green. The stems are three or four times 
branched,and closely covered with bright green foliage, 
so that on the whole they have a plumy appearance. 
They seldom exceed 6 in. in height, and are often 
dwarfer, for which reason a batch of plants in 48-size 
pots would prove useful for many purposes both in 
the stove, greenhouse, conservatory, or dwelling 
house when so required. It proves amenable for 
culture both in a high and a low temperature, and 
growers may be guided thereby in giving the plants 
the necessary treatment in order to harden them off 
for removal into the cool and dry atmosphere of 
dwelling rooms. If grown in a greenhouse, at least 
for a time, the stems and foliage acquire the neces¬ 
sary consistency to enable them to withstand a 
sojourn in a dry atmosphere. 
TODEA BARBARA. 
When this is imported from its native habitats for 
the sake of its large size we are confronted with 
specimens weighing many hundredweights and some¬ 
times almost a ton. This weight is due of course to 
the huge rootstock of interlacing fibres for which the 
species is noted. It has as many synonyms as the 
number of uses to which it may be put, and we meet 
with it under the names of T. africana (although not 
a native of that country), also T. arborea, T. rivu- 
laris, and T. Vroomi. Large old plants are hand¬ 
some objects for greenhouses or conservatories, with 
bipinnate fronds 3 ft. to 4 ft. long, and of leathery 
texture, quite distinct from T. superba and T. 
hymenophylloides, which are classed amongst filmy 
ferns. Seedlings, on the contrary, are useful for 
decorative work in the small state, when the fronds 
are gin. to 12in. long. Even at this stage they are 
quite leathery in texture, bipinnate, and somewhat 
triangular in outline. In this condition they are very 
useful for London work, as the leathery texture of 
the fronds enables them to exist with impunity in a 
dry atmosphere. The plant is a native of Australia 
and New Zealand, We noted a large batch of it in 
the nursery of Messrs, J. Veitch & Sons, at Chelsea, 
BEGONIA DOUBLE JOHN HEAL. 
It may be remembered that the winter-flowering 
John Heal was obtained by crossing one of the 
summer-flowering tuberous types with pollen of 
B. socotrana. The experiment was repeated with 
singular and unexpected results. A single-flowered 
variety was operated upon, and this lends even more 
interest to the new acquisition, which has double 
flowefs. The latter are about the same size as those 
of John Heal, but they are of a carmine rose, just a 
shade darker than those of the old variety. The 
sepals are numerous, without being in any way 
crowded, in colour resembling some Carnations, but 
wavy as seen in many other Begonias or Hollyhocks. 
The flowers, though double, are therefore neither 
lumpy nor ungainly, and are carried erect upon the 
stalks. The whole plant is as dwarf and neat in 
habit as is John Heal, and may be grown to per¬ 
fection fn 48-size pots. We noted this new acquisi¬ 
tion in the nurseries of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
at Chelsea the other day, and think it will prove 
even more attractive and desirable for winter flower¬ 
ing purposes than the single form. 
ANTHURIUM LEODIENSE. 
This is one of some hybrids obtained by hybridising 
A. Andreanum and A. Veitchii. The leaves are of 
great size, oblong, with a cordate base, and of a rich 
green, with a yellow midrib. In several of these 
characters, but especially in respect to shape and 
size, the leaves take strongly after A, Veitchii. The 
heart-shaped spathe is of a brilliant rose-red, and 
of large size, with a stout, cylindrical, greenish- 
yellow spadix arising at its base, and attaining a 
length of 6 in. The plant is therefore a useful de¬ 
corative subject, either for the sake of its foliage 
alone, or that and its flower spathes combined. 
Being a strong grower, it requires a large pot and 
also plenty of room for its perfect development, as 
in the case of A. Veitchii. It may be seen in the 
unrsery of Messrs, J, Veitch & Sons, at Chelsea, 
OSMUNDA REGALIS CORYMBIFERA. 
The more common name of this plant in gardens is 
O. japonica corymbifera, but the latter is merely a 
name applied to a dwarf and slender form of O. 
regalis, having the ends of its fronds strongly 
tasselled or crested. The fronds of a full sized 
specimen would be 12 in. to 15 m. long, but owing to 
their peculiar and gracefully arching habit they ap¬ 
pear to be much shorter than they really are. Young 
plants are particularly beautiful, with slender, pale 
red petioles, and delicate light green fronds. They 
are easily raised from spores, as those know who 
grow them for market or for ordinary decorative 
purposes. Seedlings can be grown in very small 
pots, or shifted about to meet the convenience of the 
decorator under given circumstances. The shades 
of colour are more pleasing than in old plants, and 
the destruction of a young plant or two is imma¬ 
terial seeing that they can be so readily raised from 
spores. 
WINTER HELIOTROPE. 
Such is the popular name very aptly applied to 
Petasites fragrans, also known as Tussilago fragrans. 
While making its growth in the summer time its 
claims to the attention of the horticulturist are few, 
and at that time may be reckoned valuable chiefly 
for covering the ground in partly shaded positions 
with its foliage. The shelter afforded by trees or 
bushes in the winter time well accords with the re¬ 
quirements of the plant, which is liable to have the 
bloom destroyed by sharp frosts. The usual period 
of flowering is February, but this depends greatly on 
the nature of the weather. The mildness which has 
prevailed throughout the autumn has had the effect 
of bringing it into bloom by the first or second week 
of this month. Notwithstanding the dullness of the 
weather and the absence of sunshine, the flowers are 
as strongly redolent of Heliotrope as one could 
expect at midsummer, The heads are by no means 
showy, owing to the absence of rays, and they are 
white, but appear tinted with lilac, owing to the 
dark colour of the anthers inside. The flowers are 
useful for mixing with more showy subjects for 
the sake of the grateful odour they give off, 
--f.- 
THE QUINCE AND 
QUINCE MARMALADE. 
An evening paper informs us that the word mar¬ 
malade is at any rate as old as the reign of Henry 
VIII., for it is on record that the King most heartily 
thanked her good ladyship for her “marmalade," 
which was made of Quinces, But according to Mr. 
Leo H. Grindon, Quince marmalade is of much greater 
antiquity, as the Romans manufactured Quince mar¬ 
malade. boiling them with honey, and they called the 
preparation “melimelum," “ mel " being the Latin 
name for honey. From this word, in course of time, 
came the Portugese “ marmalade." We have it upon 
the authority of Sir Joseph Banks that the Romans 
had three sorts of Quinces, one of which was called 
Chrysomela from its yellow colour, and, as already 
stated, they manufactured marmalade by boiling 
them with honey. 
The Quince appears to be widely distributed. Ac¬ 
cording to the best modern botanists it is to be found 
in Italy, the South of France, Spain. Sicily, Algeria, 
Constantinople, Cashmere, and even in the north of 
India. From Phillips' work on “ The Historical and 
Botanical Account of Fruits known in Great Britain," 
the learned Goropius maintains that Quinces were the 
golden Apples of the Hesperides, and not Oranges as 
some commentators have supposed. In support of 
his argument he states that the Quince was a fruit 
much revered by the ancients, and he assures us 
there has been discovered in Rome a statue of Her¬ 
cules that held in his hand three Quinces. This, he 
says, " agrees with the fable which states that Her¬ 
cules stole the golden Apples from the Gardens of 
the Hesperides ; " and, further, we are informed, upon 
what appears to be good authority, that the Orange 
tree was unknown to the Greeks, and did not grow 
in those parts where the Garden of the Hesperides 
was placed by them. 
The Hortus Kewensis is the authority for stating, 
that the Quince was introduced to this country in 
1573 ; but Gerarde, who was alive at that date, says, 
it was often planted in hedges and fences in gardens 
in his time, and from this it may be concluded the 
tree was common long before the period above 
mentioned. Mr. Leo Grindon gives us something 
i;> -ic; .... —. - 
