May SO, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
627 
intense reddish-crimson. The disc is yellow. The 
flower as a whole is of medium size and handsome. 
Award of Merit. Messrs. Kelway & Son, Langport, 
Somerset. 
Iris germanica australis.—The large flowers of 
this variety are of an intense violet-purple, the falls 
being the darkest and furnished with a white beard, 
the hairs of which are tipped with yellow. Award 
of Merit. Messrs. Kelway & Son. 
Trollius Orange Globe.—This is a variety of T. 
asiaticus, and is of great vigour, with large globular 
light orange-yellow flowers. The strap-shaped petals 
are longer than the stamens and dark orange. Award 
of Merit. Mr. M. Prichard, Christchurch, Hants. 
Carnation Lord Rosebery.—In this we have a 
tree variety of the Malmaison type, having large 
flowers of a rich scarlet. The broad petals are very 
numerous, though not crowded, and slightly incurved 
at the margins. It is a decided acquisition to its 
class. Award of Merit. Martin R. Smith, Esq., 
The Warren, Hayes Common, Kent. 
Carnation Lady Grimston.—Here we have 
another of the Malmaison type and quite a novelty 
in its way, for the large flowers are splashed, flaked, 
lined and mottled with scarlet on a pink ground. 
The blooms are fragrant, and have numerous petals 
irregularly arranged, Award of Merit. Martin R. 
Smith, Esq. 
Rose Grand Due A. de Luxemburg.—The 
buds of this hybrid Tea Rose are of a beautiful red 
on the outer face of the petals, but as the bloom 
expands this gradually fades to a soft rosy-purple. 
Curiously enough the petals are of a silvery-white on 
the inner face. The combination is both curious and 
beautiful. Award of Merit. Messrs. Wm. Paul & 
Son, Waltham Cross. 
Carnation Loveliness.—The flowers of this 
variety are large, and of a charming soft pink 
colour, with broad, smooth petals, making a lovely 
flower, indeed, and quite in keeping with the name. 
Award of Merit. Mr. C. Turner, Slough. 
Carnation Little John.—In this we have a 
variety of the Malmaison type, with flowers of 
moderate size, and of a rich red colonr. The outer 
petals are the best. Award of Merit. Mr. C. 
Turner. 
Carnation Cardinal Wolsey.—The flowers of 
this yellow-ground Carnation are of very large size, 
and heavily striped with red from the margins in¬ 
wards. Award of Merit. Mr. C. Turner. 
Carnation The Gift.—The yellow-ground is 
more predominant than in the last case, and is 
ornamented with very numerous short red or crimson 
lines, extending from the edge inwards. It is 
certainly a handsome variety. Award of Merit. 
Mr. C. Turner. 
Canna Madame Pichon.—The flowers of this 
Canna are large, with broad bright yellow segments 
beautifully spotted with scarlet, the spots on the 
small segments being much the largest. Award of 
Merit. Messrs. Paul & Son, Cheshunt, 
Rhododendron H. M. Arderne.—This is a 
hybrid from R. Fortunei with large trusses of soft 
rose flowers, and a few yellowish-brown spots at the 
base of the upper segment. Award of Merit. 
Messrs. Paul & Son. 
Rhododendron Helen Paul.—The large bell¬ 
shaped flowers in this case are rosy-pink externally 
but white internally along the centre of each segment, 
with some rusty-brown spots on the base of the 
upper one. Award of Merit. Messrs. Paul & Son. 
Pteris Boultoni.—The froDds of this Fern are 
about 18 in. long, erect, and two or three times 
pinnate, with wavy, dark green, linear pinnae. The 
wavy character is the leading feature of the variety. 
Award of Merit. Mr. T. S. Boulton, 17, Tyrrell 
Road, East Dulwich, S.E. 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Nectarine Cardinal.—The fruits of this Nectarine 
attain a good average size, and are yellow, heavily 
overlaid with bronzy-crimson or red on all the more 
exposed portions. It is certainly a very handsome 
fruit. A First-class Certificate was awarded it as a 
forcing variety. Mr. Thomas Rivers & Son, Saw- 
bridge worth. 
Cucumber Sensation.—The fruits of this 
variety are of good average length, straight, of ex¬ 
cellent shape, and of a rich dark green. The plants 
are very prolific. Award of Merit. Mr. S. 
Mortimer, Swiss Nursery, Rowledge, Farnham, 
Surrey. 
GLASGOW BOTANIC GARDENS. 
Under the able management of Mr. D. Dewar as 
curator, and the Glasgow Corporation as proprietors, 
these gardens are assuming an importance in every 
way worthy of a great and progressive city. It was 
a lucky day for horticulture in Glasgow and the west 
of Scotland when the council bought up these 
gardens. From being practically a nursery, and a 
non-paying one, they are fast becoming the home of 
everything rare and beautiful in the horticultural 
world. The Corporation is to be congratulated on 
the rapid progress made during the last few years. 
The citizens themselves have not been slow to note 
the great improvements which have taken place; 
and the number, already considerable, taking advan¬ 
tage of the free use of these beautiful gardens, is 
constantly increasing. With first-class bands dis¬ 
coursing sweet music amid pleasant surroundings, 
the population of the great city finds in the Botanic 
Gardens breathing space and relaxation from toil. 
It is impossible to estimate the educational influence 
of such a place as this, but it must be very great. 
We hope the Corporation will continue their liberal 
policy towards such a deserving institution ; and we 
are satisfied they have in Mr. Dewar a manager 
capable of making the most of every penny spent. 
At the time of our visit the Daffodils were in full 
bloom outside ; but it was the houses towards which 
we trod. In the Kibble conservatory, a unique and im¬ 
posing structure, we found much to admire. Among 
the first objects of interest we saw was a fine 
specimen of the South American Tea tree—Ilexpara- 
guayensis—which is characterised as a species by its 
ovate-lanceolate leaves and much branched racemes 
of flowers. The leaves of the Mate, the name by 
which it is known in America, are 4 in. to 5 in. long. 
It occupies the same position in the domestic 
economy of South America as the Chinese Tea does 
in this country. Among other interesting specimens in 
the Kibble Palace we noted the following :—Dolichos 
lignosus is a curious Leguminous climber, with 
branches twisted round the main axis in the form of 
a cable ; and Magnolia fuscata, a low growing shrub 
with evergreen leaves and dull purple flowers which 
occasionally fill the large conservatory with an 
exquisite odour. There are large specimens of 
Rhododendron argenteum, R. ferrugineum and R. 
Nuttallii, Phormium tenax, or the New Zealand Flax, 
is a plant with sword-shaped leaves growing in 
opposite rows and clasping each other at the base. 
Its flower spikes, which are large and alternately 
branched, rise up from the centre of the leaves to a 
height of 6 ft. to 8 ft. The leaves contain a large 
quantity of useful fibre to which the name New 
Zealand Flax has been given. When Capt. Cook 
first landed in New Zealand he found this Flax in 
common use among the natives for making various 
articles of clothing, string, nets, etc. 
A large specimen of Boehmeria nivea , known as 
China Grass, and one of the Urticaceae, has a 
striking resemblance to the common Nettle. The 
beautiful fabric called grass-cloth, rivalling the 
best French cambric in softness and fineness of 
texture, is manufactured from the inner bark of this 
shrub. Experiments made with a view of testing 
the strength of this fibre have proved it to posess 
nearly double the degree of tenacity of Russian 
Hemp. The plant is a native of China and was 
named after George Rudolph Boehmer, a German 
Botanist. Ruscus androgynus, or as it is named by 
some, Semele androgyna, is a singular-looking plant 
growing up one of the pillars. It belongs to the 
Asparageae of Liliaceous plants and is a native of 
the Canaries. It bears its small greenish-white 
flowers along the edges of the so-called leaves in 
fascicled umbels, and makes an ornamental ever¬ 
green greenhouse climber. 
The Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata) is a 
genus peculiar to Japan and closely allied to Sequoia. 
The Maidenhair Tree (Salisburia adiantifolia) is a 
plant of much botanical interest, and here we met a 
good specimen. The small twigs are thick and 
tubercled, and bear a tuft of four or five closely- 
packed, stalked leaves, surrounding a terminal scaly 
bud. The leaves are fan-shaped, deciduous, leathery, 
notched, and have numerous closely set forking 
veins like those of Ferns. We also noticed large 
specimens of Podocarpus, Araucaria, and the Giant 
Stringy Bark or Gum Tree, the latter needing the 
protection of glass in this country. Acacia melan- 
oxylon is an odd-looking plant, with flattened leaf 
stalks, resembling leaves, and an occasional branch 
with true tri-pinnate leaves. 
The " Plank ” plant (Boissiaea scolopendrium) is a 
Leguminous shrub with stems quite destitute of 
leaves. Several species of Callistemon, a name in¬ 
dicative of the beauty of the stamens, have much 
the appearance of the common Weeping Willow. 
The young foliage of some of the species is of a pink 
colour, so the plants appear from a distance as if in 
bloom. Areca sapida is a Palm with a lofty stem 
and pinnate leaves. Chamaerops excelsa has large 
panicles of staminate flowers. This is the most 
northern genus of Palms. The leaves are shaped 
and plaited like a fan, having the margins cut into 
numerous sharp-pointed divisions ; and the bases of 
the long and generally prickly footstalks are inserted 
into a mass of coarse fibrous hair. The finest feature 
of the Kibble is, perhaps, the unique and magnifi¬ 
cent collection of Tree Ferns under the central 
dome. One may travel far before they meet the 
like,. Prominent among this group are grand speci¬ 
mens of Cyathea medullaris, a fine tri-pinnate 
species from New Zealand and the Pacific Isles, and 
used by the natives of those countries as a common 
article of food. The part eaten is the soft medullary 
substance, which occupies the centre of the trunk. 
The Silver Tree Fern (Cyathea dealbata) with 
tufts of fronds crowning the trunk, and which are 
white beneath with a silvery powder, is a very beauti¬ 
ful specimen. The Tartarian Lamb (Cibotium 
barometz) with its decumbent shaggy caudex is a 
handsome Fern. Noble specimens of Marattia and 
Angiopteris, two genera differing from other Ferns 
in having oblong sessile sori made up of concrete 
spore cases, and seated on a fimbriate persistent 
involucre. They are coarse-habited plants, with 
large globose scaly rhizomes and bi-pinnate fronds 
with fleshy stipes and large oblong lance-shaped 
pinnules, bearing the sori near their margins. Large 
specimens of Alsophila excelsa, Dicksonia Smithii, 
and D. afibrosa complete a group of Tree Ferns 
worth a long journey to see. One noticeable feature 
of these great Ferns is the trim and healthy condition 
they are in. It is no wonder Mr. Dewar is proud of 
them.— Scoticus. 
(To be continued.) 
-■*.- 
BETWEEN MAIDENHEAD AND 
COOKHAM. 
The casual reader might, perchance, be disposed to 
enquire, "Well, and what is there of special note 
between Maidenhead and Cookham ? ” and I for my 
part, should be inclined to add “ go and see,” for it is 
quite impossible to describe that beautiful river of 
ours, with its floral setting, its arboreal glories, its 
gently-moving bosom, its devotees, its water- 
meadows, its lights and shades, its eternal wander¬ 
ings, its vegetation, its leafy heights, or its thousand 
and one other beauties which—“ By Nature's swift 
and secret-working hand ” is filled " with lavish frag¬ 
rance.’ ’ The “ hanging ’ 1 woods are just now " alive ' ’ 
with verdure, and some of the individual trees are 
worth going a long way to see. For instance, the 
Laburnum is a "rain” of golden glory, for rarely 
can it be seen in such a fine condition. The Red 
May, too, is intensely vivid, and can be picked out 
in the landscape as far as the eye can scan. The 
White May, on the other hand, rather reminds one 
of the winter rather than the spring, for it is no 
exaggeration to say that specimens hereabouts are 
really veritable mountains of snow. Then the Horse 
Chesnuts, both red and white, with their pyramids of 
bloom, are not often seen in greater perfection ; the 
Bird Cherry with its beautiful white cones of 
blossom, is all too rare; the Snowball tree ; the 
purple Beech ; the Holm Oak ; and a host of other 
trees and shrubs in their several ways are now 
beautiful objects of admiring eyes. 
Between Maidenhead and Cookham there are 
many other glorious things ; there are the great 
gardens of Cliveden, Dropmore and Taplow Court; 
there are the many-coloured woods of Pine, Beech, 
Oak, Ash, Willow, etc. etc , which, in their variously 
verdant phases, afford relief to the eye and reflection 
to the mind—they have a cool and pleasant aspect. 
As we wind up the river, that magnificent mansion— 
Cliveden—once the property of the Duke of West¬ 
minster, unfolds itself to our view. It is a noble 
house, on a noble site, amidst noble woods, and 
yearns, I am told, for its late owner, with an intensity 
begotten of despair However his Grace came to let 
