April 9, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
501 
the Messrs. Williams annually raise a large number. 
Looking over the collection a few days ago, we noted 
a number of grand varieties, among which may be 
mentioned Curiosity, a flower in shape and substance 
after the florist's own heart, being nearly circular in 
outline, and white, heavily reticulated with crimson ; 
The Lord Chamberlain, a more trumpet-shaped 
flower, but also having a white ground, reticulated, 
and the segments tipped with crimson; Lord 
Salisbury, a massive and imposing scarlet; Ophelia, 
a flower showing unmistakably its Leopoldii origin, 
having long segments, white, and flushed with crim¬ 
son in the centre of each ; Aphrodite, a large and 
well-formed flower, white barred with scarlet; George 
Wainwright, a large and handsome scarlet, with 
white venation ; Meteor, another grand scarlet, with 
a light centre; Emperor Frederick, a superb crim¬ 
son ; and Joseph Chamberlain, a very striking seed¬ 
ling, the stout scape bearing four noble flowers, with 
the rich crimson segments barred with white, very 
distinct, and a decided acquisition. Those named of 
course are only a tithe of the number of sorts in 
bloom when we visited Holloway ; and others have 
accustomed to bordered Carnations, popularly 
termed Picotees, the artificially-coloured flowers of 
that kind look more natural than Lily of the Valley 
when so treated ; but no lover of natural and fresh 
flow'ers could look upon either with much favour. 
The green-edged Lily of the Valley is simply an out¬ 
rage upon good taste. In order that the results may 
be complete, the stems are dipped in the colouring 
matter for forty-eight hours, and several cuts or 
notches are made so that the liquid may run up more 
quickly. The colouring matters are described as 
harmless. 
As yet the colours are not very numerous, the best 
known being green, violet, and rose. The first is 
obtained by the brilliant green of tetraethyldiamido- 
triphenylcarbinol. Violet is obtained from methyl 
violet, and rose from fuchsin. A dark blue is also 
obtained from tetramethylparadiamidophenylorthoxi- 
phenylmethane. Faddists will now be able to ob¬ 
tain a black Dahlia, a blue Rose or blue Dahlia, and 
other productions of that nature without waiting for 
the evolution of slow and disappointing Nature. The 
Revue dc VHorticulture Beige says that the discovery 
which are numerous, are each borne on a single stem, 
rising from the root like the winter Aconite 
It is surprising to what a depth the Hepatica will 
send down its roots, therefore it should be planted in 
deep soil. Where there is depth enough the roots 
go down perfectly straight ; when the roots are con¬ 
fined in pots they curl round as is natural with 
plants. The roots are like bristles, and in the case 
of a strong plant there are a great many of them. 
H. angulosa is an East European species and 
differs materially from others indigenous to Europe. 
One of the best known is H. angulosa, a plant of 
very strong growth, with large, lobed leaves and pale 
blue flowers, much larger than those of the varieties 
of H. triloba. In the open air it grows into a very 
large tuft. 
Hepaticas are increased by division of the roots, 
as every crown has a few root fibres attaching to it. 
It is well not to divide the plants until they have 
established themselves and grown into size, then 
they separate into better rooted crowns ; and I find it 
the best plan to put a few round a 48-sized pot, and 
in a year or two pot them singly into pots. — R. D. 
Amaryllis House in the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries. 
no doubt been added since. The collection will 
be well worth seeing for a few weeks to come. 
----J-- 
GREEN CARNATIONS. 
We cannot be said to have escaped the craze which 
has laid hold of the Parisians for some time past. 
About the beginning of last February green Carna¬ 
tions were sold in Paris at two francs apiece, but 
such a fashion, such prices, could not be otherwise 
than ephemeral. The police, smelling some hoax, 
seized the flowers, and had them sent to the labora¬ 
tory of the City of Paris, where M. Garrard, the 
chemist of the City, soon recognised that they were 
coloured artificially. The freshly-cut flowers have 
their stems dipped into some colouring matter, which 
forthwith ascends the tubes or vessels by capillarity, 
and ultimately shows itself in the petals, becoming 
oxidised by contact with the air. The colouration 
thus artificially imparted is confined to the edges of 
the petals, to which it forms a border of greater or 
less breadth. 
Various flowers can be treated in this way, includ¬ 
ing Carnations, Narcissi, Lilac, Lily of the Valley, 
etc. The first and last named may now be seen in 
the shops in Covent Garden. Seeing that we are 
was originally due to a mistake made by two women 
engaged in the artificial colouration of flowers, and 
who placed some fresh white flowers of Carnations 
in a vase containing colouring matter. 
-- 
THE HEPATICA. 
My pretty Hepaticas are delightful just now. A few 
years ago I planted out some large clumps of the 
single blue, pink, and white, and the double red, 
giving them a full exposure under a low west wall, 
but they have done remarkably well, have grown into 
great size, and I should think are producing from one 
hundred to one hundred and fifty blooms each. By 
top-dressing the plants with soil while they are in 
bloom, some surface soil is provided, and seeds being 
matured, which is not very often—I do not appear 
to have had any since Jubilee year—they drop upon 
the soil, germinate, and so form seedling plants. 
They want time to get into size to flower. The 
varieties of the single pink and the double blue are 
the scarcest, the latter especially always commands 
a high price. 
The leaves of all the Hepaticas which have come 
to us from the various parts of Europe are thick and 
leathery, and of a dark green colour, and the flowers, 
THE CHINESE YAM. 
Can anyone tell me if this plant (Dioscorea batatas) 
is still in cultivation ? It was introduced from the 
north of China, where it is indigenous, to France 
about the year 1S49, and when it came over to this 
country it was said at the time it would supersede 
the Potato. Tubers readily fetched half a guinea 
each, but its reputation soon melted away, and pro¬ 
bably it is only now to be met with in botanical 
gardens. Pamphlets were written in praise of it, 
and Professor Decaisne gave it the benefit of a special 
report, in which he did not hesitate to regard it as 
superior to the Potato, and much richer in point of 
nutritive properties. " Its roots,” he stated, “ were 
as white as snow, in the interior they neither contain 
any visible fibre nor woody matter: cooked by 
steam and roasted they look and taste like the best 
Potatos.” 
All this was very flattering, and it greatly 
helped to sell the Yam, and, no doubt, there were 
some who made a good thing by it. Among other 
features of value it was said to possess, was that it 
occupied only a very small space of time to be 
thoroughly cooked; another was that it could be 
preserved from one year to another, and even longer, 
