February 13, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
375 
ADIANTU M VERSAILLENSE. 
Such is the name given by MM. Trufaut & Sons, 
Versailles, near Paris, to a remarkably divided and 
crested form of A. cuneatum. The frond is some¬ 
times divided to the base of the lamina, and then 
appears as if it consisted of two joined by their 
petioles. In other cases the lamina is deeply lobed, 
or heavily crested and tasselled in several ways, and 
the whole plant is compact and never of any great 
height. At all events it seldom, if ever, develops 
the vigour as seen in A. cuneatum grandiceps, and 
is always so much more crested as to appear quite 
distinct and easily distinguishable even by ordinary 
observers. We noted some plants of it in the Forest 
Hill nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons. 
BILLBERGIA DECORA. 
The leaves of this Bromeliad are strap-shaped, 
sharply serrated on the edges with small spines, 
somewhat hoary, with a thin coating of scales, and 
slightly blotched with yellow towards the base. They 
range from i8in. to 24 in. in length, and are arranged 
few together from each crown. From amongst these 
the flower scape proceeds, and becomes strictly 
pendulous as it attains length. A few of the bracts 
near the flowers attain a large size, and are lanceo¬ 
late, of a soft pleasing rose colour on both surfaces, 
the colour being toned down as it were with a coating 
of white or hoary scales. The ovary and the sepals 
are even more decidedly hoary with tomentum ; while 
the petals attain a considerable length, say from 
1J in to 2 Jin., and are of that soft or bluish-green 
hue which is peculiar to the flowers of a considerable 
number of this order. The bracts and flowers to¬ 
gether render the plant very ornamental by contrast. 
A plant flowered recently in the Victoria House at 
Kew. 
IPOM/EA RUBRO-CCERULEA. 
The large funnel-shaped, bright blue flowers of this 
species are very showy at whate/er season they may 
appear. Under certain conditions of cultural treat¬ 
ment, the plant flowers in July and August, but it is 
now flowering pretty freely in the Victoria House at 
Kew. The climbing stems are trained under the 
rafters, and the flowering shoots allowed to hang 
down loosely, The flowers are produced in short 
clusters or sometimes in elongated racemes from 
the axils of the leaves, and are white in bud, with a 
clear red lamina which becomes of a bright, rich 
blue when fully expanded, the tube retaining the 
original hue. The leaves are heart-shaped as in the 
annual species grown in gardens. It was introduced 
from South Mexico in 1830, and remains evergreen 
all the winter when grown in a stove. 
--t-- 
SOCIETIES. 
Royal Horticultural, February gth .—The annual 
general meeting of this society was held at 117, 
Victoria Street, S.W., on Tuesday afternoon, Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P.. presiding. The usual 
preliminary business having been got through, in¬ 
cluding the election of sixty-seven fellows, the 
largest number that had been elected at any one 
meeting of the society, and the appointment of 
scrutineers, Mr. W. Marshall and Mr. H. J. Veitch, 
the President proceeded to move the adoption of the 
report and balance sheet (which was taken as read), 
and in so doing said the key-note of the report was 
to be found in the first paragraph, which stated that 
the year 1891 had again been one of steady work and 
progress for the society. They had had more varied 
and more interesting meetings than ever before, and 
the public were gradually coming to appreciate the 
attractive displays made at the Drill Hall. Still the 
attendance was very small considering the interest¬ 
ing character of the subjects exhibited, the fact that 
almost all new things made their first appearance 
there, and that on the society's committees were 
men of great experience in their respective depart¬ 
ments of science and practice. The council greatly 
appreciated the work so generously done by the 
committees, and most cordially thanked them. With- 
regard to the Temple Show, he did not think that 
a more beautiful or complete exhibition the society 
had ever had. The Conifer Conference he believed 
would lead to the publication of a very valuable 
report; and the Sunflower Conference had also been 
the means of clearing up a good many of the 
knotty points that existed with reference to the 
nomenclature and classification of that showy tribe 
of plants. The Society's Journal had been pub¬ 
lished with commendable regularity, and still proved 
to be a valuable inducement to provincial horti¬ 
culturists to join the society. The society had ex¬ 
pended a considerable amount on the maintenance of 
the Chiswick Gardens, in which so many of the 
Fellows were interested. The council had under 
consideration a scheme for utilising the gardens as a 
school of horticulture; and they had dropped the 
Horticultural Hall Scheme, but for a time only, as 
they were not without hope that in more prosperous 
times the money would be forthcoming to provide a. 
suitable home for the society. With reference to 
the accounts he need only say that the balance of 
receipts over expenditure was larger in amount than 
the society could show for some years past, and 
unquestionably they could say now that the society 
was in a satisfactory condition. Baron Schroder 
seconded the motion, which was carried unani¬ 
mously. 
The scrutineers declared that Sir Herbert Maxwell, 
Bart., M.P., Mr. Owen Thomas, Windsor, and Mr. 
C. J. Lucas, Warnham Court, Horsham, were elected 
members of the council in the place of Sir J. T. D. 
Llewelyn, Bart., Mr. E. A. Hambro, and Mr. R. 
Martin Smith; and that SirT. Lawrence, Bart., M.P., 
was re-elected president ; Mr. P. Crowley, treasurer; 
the Rev. W. Wilks, secretary; and Messrs. Harry 
Turner, HenryWilliams, and A. H. Pearson, auditors. 
A cordial vote of thanks to the president brought the 
proceedings to a close. 
The exhibits at the Drill Hall meeting were more 
numerous than usual at this season, Orchids, Cycla¬ 
mens, hard-wooded greenhouse plants, stove plants, 
and Apples being the leading features. A Silver- 
Gilt Banksian Medal was awarded to Messrs. J. 
Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, for a group of Palms, 
Crotons, and other stove plants, freely intermixed 
with Orchids. A Silver Flora Medal was awarded 
to Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son, Upper Holloway, 
for a good-sized group of Orchids mainly composed 
of Cypripediums, Dendrobiums, and a sprinkling of 
other subjects. A Cultural Commendation was 
awarded to Mr. Miller, gardener to Lord Foley, Rux- 
ley Lodge, Esher, for a small group of grandly- 
flowered Coelogyne cristata Ruxley Lodge var. A 
Silver-Gilt Banksian Medal was awarded to Messrs. 
H. Low' & Co., Clapton, for a fine group of Orchids, 
including Phalmnopsis, Vandas, Cypripediums, &c., 
in great variety, set up with Ferns. Messrs. F. 
Sander & Co., St. Albans, had an interesting group of 
Oncidiums, Dendrobiums, Lycastes, and others, for 
which a Silver Banksian Medal was awarded. A 
small group of Orchids was exhibited by Messrs. J. 
Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, including Cypripedium Hera 
and Zygopetalum leucochilum, both hybrids. A vote 
of thanks was accorded F. Wigan, Esq. (grower, Mr. 
W. H. Young), Clare Lawn, East Sheen, for a pretty 
display of Phalaenopsis. A group of Cypripediums, 
Odontoglossums, Masdevallia macrura, and other 
Orchids, was exhibited by Messrs. Seeger & Tropp, 
East Dulwich, S.E. 
A fine group of. hard-wooded greenhouse plants, 
inclusive of Boronias, Pimeleas, Azaleas, etc., was 
exhibited by Messrs. H. Low & Co., for which a 
Silver Banksian Medal was awarded. A similar 
award was made to Mr. J. Walker, Whitton, Houns¬ 
low, for a well-flowered group of Cyclamens. Mr. 
John May, St. Margaret’s. Twickenham, also 
exhibited a fine group of Cyclamens, as did the St. 
George’s Nursery Company, Hanwell, W., and in 
each case a Silver Banksian Medal was awarded. 
A collection of Camellia blooms, large flowering 
branches of Acacia dealbate and others were shown 
by the Hon. P. C. Glyn (gardener, Mr. J. Friend), 
Rooksnest, Godstone, and a Silver Medal was 
accorded them. Late-flowering Chrysanthemums 
and some Chinese Primula blooms were shown by 
Mr. Robert Owen, Castle Hill, Maidenhead. A 
small group of Chinese Primulas was exhibited by 
Messrs. II. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, Kent. A fine 
head of bloom of Browr.ea Crawfordii, and a huge 
bunch of fruit of Caryota Cumingii, etc., were 
brought up from the Royal Gardens, Kew. 
At the meeting of the Fruit Committee a Silver 
Banksian Medal was awarded to Messrs. J. Cheal & 
Sons, Low-field Nursery, Crawley, for a collection of 
Apples and Pears in fine condition. A Silver Gilt 
Banksian Medal was awarded to A. H. Smee, Esq., 
(gardener, Mr. G. W. Cummins), The Grange, 
Carshalton, for a large and varied collection of 
Apples and Pears. A Silver Medal was accorded to 
Lord Foley for a smaller collection of Apples, who 
also exhibited Mushrooms. A basket of Lily White 
Seakale was shown by Mr. T. H. Crasp, Canford 
Manor, Wimborne. Mr. P. McArthur, 4, Maida Vale, 
submitted a sample of the new tying material, 
" Jaroba," which was sent to Chiswick for trial. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
Dendrobium barbatulum carneum, nov. var. 
Such is the name I suggest for a very pretty variety 
of D. barbatulum, which has been sent to our office 
by Robert Twiss, Esq , Birdhill House, Birdhill, 
Limerick, Ireland, who says that it is different from 
all the other plants of D. barbatulum he has seen (as 
far as the flowers are concerned), inasmuch as the 
whole flower is suffused with a light pink shade. 
I his is indeed the case ; hence my reason for suggest¬ 
ing the varietal name carneum. It might, however, 
with equal propriety be called D. barbatulum Birdhill 
var. if the owner so desired. The lateral lobes of 
the lip are also striated and suffused with purple in¬ 
ternally ; but in no other respect does the variety 
differ from the type. The variety is, nevertheless, 
very pretty, and at first sight reminds one of D. 
1-ytchianum roseum, but is paler in colour, and 
differs entirely in the petals being narrower than in 
the last named, and in the middle lobe of the lip 
being of a different shape, while agreeing exactly 
with D. barbatulum in that respect. 1 am not aware 
of this pink variety having occurred in any other 
collection. — J. Fraser. 
Cattleya Trianae delicta. 
The early-flowering forms of C. Trianas are now 
getting quite plentiful. Amongst a number pre¬ 
senting considerable variety in the nursery of Messrs. 
H. Low & Co., is the named sort under notice. The 
flowers are of great size with sepals and petals of 
the palest blush, and a pale pink lip having a large 
soft golden yellow blotch in the throat. The size 
of the flowers and their delicacy of colour will 
always render this variety one of the more distinct 
and appreciable in a collection. Alongside of it is 
another well marked form, without name however, 
and notable for the extreme width of the petals, 
which may be described as roundly ovate, and 
overlapping not only the sepals but even one another 
round behind the column. The lamina is also 
relatively large and richly coloured. 
Cypripedium callosum delicatissimum. 
Hitherto there has been comparatively little,if any, 
variation in the flowers of this species, all the plants 
imported bearing flowers very much alike in colour. 
That under notice however is a distinct break. The 
upper sepal is vdiite, with slender green veins, and 
lightly shaded with purple about the middle. The 
petals are pale green, with a few black warts on a 
white edge, and are of a soft rosy pink at the apex. 
The lip is of a pale dull purple. The varietal name 
therefore refers to this delicacy of colour pervading 
all parts of the flower. The variety may be seen in 
the nursery of Messrs. Charlesworth, Shutdeworth 
& Co., Park Road, Clapham. 
The Elms, Beigrave, Leicester. 
Many valuable acquisitions have been added to Mr. 
Wood’s fine collection of Orchids since my former 
visit, and two new houses have been erected for 
their reception with all modern appliances. It was 
very satisfactory to note the vast improvement in 
the health of all the plants since they have been 
transferred to more favourable conditions. Mr. 
Pearson, who is the indefatigable gardener, is a 
thorough orchidist, and he considers his success to 
be due to cleanliness more than anything else. I 
must say that I entirely agree with him—unless 
Orchids are kept clean, failure must be the result. 
The subjects in bloom were arranged with ex¬ 
quisite taste, the various colours blending with 
wonderful effect. Seeing a grand Coelogyne Cristata 
simply a mass of bloom, I was sorely tempted to 
count how many individual blooms there were, and 
the aggregate exceeded 300. Near by stood a fine 
plant of Coelogyne Cristata, Chatsworth variety, 
Lycaste Skinneri, and Saccelabium Blumii, models of 
culture and carrying fine spikes. Several Oncidiums 
stood prominently with huge but graceful spikes-, 
and what a grand effect they have in a group of 
Orchids. The curious and interesting Angreacum 
sesquipedale was carrying some fine flowers, the 
admiration of all who saw it. Calanthes were in 
strong force and really well done ; as many of the 
spikes had upwards of fifty expanded blooms, whose 
delicate and refined shades of colour gave a most 
pleasing effect to the whole, intermingled with 
numerous Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Laelias, Cvpri- 
pediums, and Vandas, making one of the prettiest 
sights J have seen for a long time.— J. McNab. 
