220 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 7, 1889. 
Kalanehoe camea. 
Comparatively few succulents are grown for winter 
flowering, but that under notice is justly considered a 
subject for this purpose, and will be more largely 
grown for tho sake of the variety it affords when it 
comes to be better known. It was introduced from 
South Africa in 1886, and is already finding its way 
into many gardens. The system of culture adopted by 
many, is to grow on the plant annually from cuttings ; 
and this is a very easy matter to do considering the 
easy-rooting nature of all plants of this class. In habit 
it resembles some of the Crassulas or Sedums, such as 
S. Telephium and S. spectibile, but the individual 
flowers, which are borne in terminal corymbose cymes, 
are much larger. They are flesh-coloured, as the 
specific name implies, and agreeably fragrant like K. 
grandiflora, which has yellow flowers. Of the two, 
this is the dwarfest, at least, when grown on annually 
from cuttings. The leaves of K. carnea are ovate or 
oval, toothed at the margins and usually simple ; but 
when grown strongly they occasionally develop three 
leaflets or segments cut right down to the midrib. 
We noticed a healthy batch of plants the other day at 
Tower House, Chiswick. 
Dahlia imperialig. 
It is unfortunate that this noble Mexican herb cannot 
be grown and flowered in the open air of this country ; 
for then we should see it in a much greater state of per¬ 
fection than is possible under pot culture. The great 
size it attains, and the short time it takes to reach a 
height of 10 ft. or 12 ft., are good evidence that it is a 
rapid grower, and consequently a gross feeder. Could 
it be grown and flowered in the open garden its culture 
would soon be greatly extended for sub-tropical garden¬ 
ing purposes. An attempt has been made to meet its 
wants in the temperate house at Kew, where some of 
the best specimens are grown in large tubs. They 
have been flowering for some time past, and those 
plants in tubs stand about 12 ft. high, and are furnished 
with large lateral branches from near the base. These 
are also flowering, though less strongly and somewhat 
shorter than the main stems. The elegantly drooping 
and spreading or almost campanulate flower-heads are 
borne in huge panicles in a state of nature, and the 
best inflorescences at Kew arealsoconsiderably branched. 
The ray florets are strongly three-nerved, with four 
smaller veins, taper to the apex, where they are two or 
more often three-toothed, white tinted with lilac, and 
stained with reddish purple at the base. From a 
botanical point of view they are interesting, owing to 
the frequent development of one or more small petaloid 
processes, as if the florets were tending to become 
double. The disc is orange-yellow. 
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Gardeners 1 Improvement Societies. 
Birmingham. 
At the meeting of this society on November 26th, Mr. 
Latham, the curator of the Botanic Gardens, read a 
most interesting paper, entitled, “A Chat about 
Ferns,” in which the early history of Ferns, and our 
earliest writers about them, were introduced, and 
pleasant chatty information was conveyed to a much 
larger attendance of members than usual. In some 
parts of North America the young fronds of our native 
Lastrea Filix-mas are used as a vegetable, and in Siberia 
the same plant is used for brewing purposes in flavouring 
ale. In New Zealand, Pteris esculenta—seemingly a 
variety of our well-known P. aquilina—is used by the 
natives as an article of food. Mr. Latham alluded 
especially to the work done by the late Mr. John Smith, 
the first curator of the Kew Botanic Gardens, and his 
more than forty years’ experience amongst Ferns, 
and who had at Kew probably the best collection 
extant in those days, got together chiefly by his own 
exertions. He was the author of two standard works 
on Ferns —namely, Ferns, British and Foreign, pub¬ 
lished in 1866, and the History of Ferns, published in 
1875. Mr. Latham gave the following as a quotation 
from the latter work :—“ The total number of garden 
Ferns introduced previous to 1813 was eighty-three 
(not including British Ferns), and the entire collection 
of exotic Ferns at Kew at that period was not more 
than forty species. In 1846 there were 348 species in 
the Kew Gardens, and in 1857, 600 species were known 
in British gardens. In Smith’s Ferns, British and 
Foreign, published in 1866, 164 genera are described, 
and 1,028 species are enumerated.” Passing on to the 
much greater interest taken in Ferns, and the formation 
of collections from 1840 to 1860, to what is done now, 
Mr. Latham paid a tribute to the memory of the late 
Mr. Thomas Moore, who did so much in determining 
new species and varieties. 
A great deal of most interesting information was 
given as to the formation of spores and their treatment 
for propagating purposes, from the prothallus stage 
onwards, and their sexual conditions necessary to 
ensure a change from the first stage of development to 
the formation of the first almost imperceptible sign of 
a frond. Then, asked Mr. Latham, “ What is more 
beautiful than the soft and charming colours to be 
found in the fronds of many Ferns, from the darkest 
green, as seen in some of the Polystichums, Lastreas, 
Adiantums, and others ; and follow them through the 
many shades of green to the lovely, pellucid, almost 
transparent green of the young fronds of Trichomanes 
reniforme, Hymenophyllums, Todceis, and other filmy 
Ferns 1 Then we have the greys and rusty greys, so 
well represented in Lepicystis incana, L. sepulta, L. 
squamata; also in some of the Cheilanthes,Platyceriums, 
Elaphoglossum rubiginosum, E. squamosum, Notho- 
chlrena, Marantas, and a host of others which could be 
named.” In the first rank as ornamental plants stand 
the gold and silver Ferns, included in the genus Gyrnno- 
gramma, Nothochlsena sulphurea, Cheilanthes argentea, 
C. farinosa, C. pulverulacea, and one or two Adiantums. 
What flowers can excel the tints found in the young 
fronds of Adiantum rubellum, A. tinctum, A. Farley - 
ense, A. rhodophyllum, and others ? In the genus 
Pteris we have P. tricolor, P. cretica albo-lineata, and 
P. argyrea, all beautiful variegated forms ; and so we 
could go on enumerating others remarkable for the 
charming colouring of their foliage. 
Ealing. 
At the meeting on November 27th there was a very 
large attendance. Mr. R. Dean occupied the chair, 
and Mr. J. Hudson, the Gardens, Gunnersbury House, 
Acton, read an exhaustive paper on “The Vine.” 
Commencing with the propagation of the Vine, he 
treated on the different stages of its growth till it was 
ready for planting in the Vine border or for potting ; 
next, the soil and the different ingredients required to 
be mixed with it, depth of the border, concrete, drainage, 
depth of soil, &c.—all treated in a very comprehensive 
form. His opinion was given of the way to get rid of 
numerous insects that attack the Vine ; also on tying, 
pinching, watering, damping and syringing. The 
temperature recommended from starting to finishing 
of Grapes, pruning, and winter dressing, were explained 
with a desire to benefit the members, and they were 
the matured opinions of Mr. Hudson after the experience 
of many years of patient observation. He named as 
the best six all round Grapes in cultivation, Black 
Hamburgh, Madresfleld Court, Foster’s Seedling, Muscat 
of Alexandria, Gros Colmar, and Lady Downes. The 
exhibits, owing to the frosty state of the weather, were 
small comparatively. Mr. Richard Dean exhibited 
fruit of the West Indian Custard Apple, Anona 
squarrosa ; the sweet Potato, Batatas edulis, which he 
stated was known in England some time before the 
common Potato, and by old writers confounded with 
it; a root of Celeriac or Turnip-rooted Celery, so much 
used in Germany, where it is either eaten raw like 
ordinary Celery, or boiled ; and specimens of King of 
Tomkins County and Gravenstein Apples, imported 
from America ; giving a short account of each previous 
to the reading of Mr. Hudson’s paper. The honorary 
secretary, Mr. E. Chadwick, announced that after 
paying expenses, £20 would be sent to the Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund as the result of the concert on November 
20th, which included donations of 2 guineas from Mr. 
Leopold de Rothschild, of 1 guinea from Mr. C. N. 
Peal, and of £1 from Mr. Alfred A. George, a statement 
received with much applause. 
-- 
ORCHID NOT ES AND GLEANINGS. 
The Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 
The past week has given us a taste of winter, and 
shown how necessary it is to have all the plants in their 
winter quarters before severe weather sets in. Where 
growers are blessed with good houses, free from drip, 
and with an abundance of piping and boiler power, 
they can look on severe weather with complacency ; 
but even then the fact remains that a great amount of 
fire is not good for the plants, for, like fumigation, it is 
at best a necessary evil. 
In many places where Orchids are grown there is, 
unfortunately, not enough piping to keep up the tem¬ 
peratures without making the pipes excessively hot, 
whereas double the quantity of pipes and the same 
boiler power would give out a much more healthy 
atmosphere. 
Pure air being so necessary to the well-being of the 
plants, it is evident that the grower must take every 
opportunity of admitting it on all favourable occasions 
during spells of severe weather when hard firing has to 
be resorted to. Those who have lofty houses, with top 
ventilators a good distance from the plants, can more 
readily admit a chink of air than those whose houses 
are low and ventilators near the plants, bat in both 
cases use may be made of the bottom ventilation near 
the ground line without causing cold chilling draughts. 
Where a range of houses join each other, all the 
inner doors may with advantage be opened for a little 
while in the middle of the day, if only for half-an-hour. 
If in cleaning through the structures the laps of the 
glass are cleared out there will be little chance of the 
houses becoming close and stuffy. 
Drip was a great evil in by-gone years, but as most of 
the houses erected of late years for Orchids have a groove 
down the bars and rafters, it is almost a thing of the 
past. However, where Orchids are growing in dripping 
houses, the best plan is to have strips of zinc, with the 
edges turned up, screwed securely to the underside of 
the bars and rafters, so that the water may run down. 
Hard firing at night and bright sunshine in the day 
causes the plants to get dry more quickly than in the 
autumn months, and watering should be done in a 
careful and systematic manner. Cattleyas, with long 
slender bulbs, such as C. bicolor, C. velutina, and C. 
Harrisome, soon begin to shrivel if allowed to become 
too dry, and perhaps nothing presents a more pitiable 
sight than these long, thin-bulbed Cattleyas when in 
an unhealthy state. It frequently happens that in 
watering through a lot of plants some of them are 
found neither dry nor very moist, and it seems a query 
whether to water such or not, and, as a rule, it is well to 
remember that it is best to lean towards the dry side in 
winter and the wet side in summer. 
The remark is frequently made that where “the 
sphagnum moss is growing well there the plants are 
doing well.” This I do not admit by any means as 
invariably true, for by constantly watering it is not very 
difficult to keep Moss growing luxuriantly, though 
the plants growing in it might be fast going home. 
Moss is a very essential element in the compost 
for most Orchids, and where a few heads peep out here 
and there, it indicates well by its colour whether the 
plant is in want of water, for when dry it assumes a 
whitish colour, and on the other hand the bright green 
of the moss on plants supposed to be at rest has often 
indicated where drip existed. Masdevallias do not like 
to get dry at the roots, though if they are in a very 
cold house they should not be damped down late in the 
day ; it is better to keep them at a night temperature of 
50° and moist, than at 40° and dry, for I am convinced 
that the black spots so often seen on the under side of 
the leaves is the result of being kept too wet when 
growing in a low temperature. 
Temperatures for December. —Odontoglossum 
house, 45° night, 50° day ; Cattleya house, 55° night, 
60° day ; East Indian house, 60° night, 65° day.— JV. P. 
Orchids from Arddarroch. 
A small box of Orchid blooms has been sent us 
by Mr. James Brown, gardener to R. B. White, Esq., 
Arddarroch, Garelochead, N. B. Evidence of good 
cultivation is furnished by two twin-flowered scapes of 
Cypripedium insigne ; and Mr. Brown tells us that 
others are borne on the same plants. Those under 
notice were grand samples, not of a small bloom sur¬ 
mounted by a smaller, but both were equal in size, and 
large for the species. The spotting and colour were 
well brought out, although they presented nothing 
beyond that of the type. Two widely distinct forms of 
Odontoglossum crispum accompanied the above, and in 
the early days of Orchid introduction might have been 
considered distinct species. One had very broad, over¬ 
lapping pure white sepals and petals, with a chestnut- 
brown irregular or lobed blotch on the centre of the 
former, and an oblong, smaller blotch on the latter. 
The second flower had narrow, not imbricated, segments, 
with rich chocolate blotches on the centre of all the 
segments. The variability of Cattleya Bowringiana was 
also illustrated by two differently-coloured varieties. 
The sepals and petals were of a rich warm rose hue, and 
the lamina of the lip of one was of a dark crimson, fading 
towards the margin, and the creamy white throat was 
striated with faint lines of purple. The other variety 
had a rose-coloured lamina to the lip, and a creamy 
yellow throat and tube without any other markings. 
