January 11, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
209 
Lomaria buxifolia. 
Br some authors this is classed under the generic name 
of Lomariopsis, which signifies like a Lomaria. What 
most strikes the observer in relation to this Fern is the 
curious climbing appearance of its stem, which is green, 
about the thickness of a goose quill, and gives off leaves 
along a great part of its length. There is a fine piece 
of it in the Royal Exotic Nursery at Chelsea. This 
used to be trained over a piece of tree-fern stem ; but 
the latter decaying, the space is now filled up with peat. 
The leaves are linear, pinnate, leathery, and evergreen, 
with short, roundly heart-shaped pinnse, suggesting 
the specific name, which means box-leaved. The stems 
are about 3 ft. high, and are both curious and strikingly 
different from the tree-like habit of L. gibba, or the 
dwarf and tufted habit of L. Spicant, or the shortly 
creeping L. Patersoni. 
Dictyosperma aureum. 
Formerly this was included under the genus Areca, 
is so now in gardens, and probably will continue to be 
for many years. We noted some fine specimens at 
Chelsea in the nursery of Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons. 
The petioles are remarkable for the golden yellow hue 
which they assume, suggesting the specific name. 
Several other species also take their names from the 
colour of the petiole. The latter in the species under 
notice rises up almost straight, bearing a long and 
gracefully arching, pinnate blade, somewhat after the 
style of the Iventias, and in this case the plant stands 
about 9 ft. high. It is a native of the Sychelles 
Islands, and likes a temperature of about 60° at night 
in winter. For decorative purposes it is very suitable 
and highly ornamental. 
Lycopodium Hippuris. 
Attempts are frequently made to cultivate different 
species of Lycopodiums in ferneries and other warm 
damp houses ; but, as a rule, if they continue to exist, 
they seldom make good growth. A very fine species 
under the above name may be seen in the nursery of 
Messrs J. Yeitch & Sons, Chelsea. The plant is a 
moderately large one, and is grown in a basket sus¬ 
pended from the roof of the Rhododendron house. The 
branches rise clear of the basket, and droop on all 
sides to a considerable length. They fork repeatedly, 
and are densely clothed throughout their length with 
long, spreading, light green leaves, somewhat after the 
style of a Hippuris, except that the leaves are much 
closer and differently arranged. The plant is capable 
of division, as it was taken from another, and young 
shoots are sent up as suckers from the roots, or at all 
events from under the soil. 
Anthurium Waroqueanum. 
With the exception of A. Veitchii there are few whose 
leaves can match those of this species for ornamental 
effect and rare beauty combined with size. There is a 
bold specimen in one of the stove3 in the Royal Exotic 
Nursery, Chelsea, with shield-like leaves about a yard 
in length and half as broad at the widest part. The 
surface is of glassy smoothness, dark olive-green except 
the stronger ribs, which are paler, and shining with a 
velvety lustre. The size above given refers to the 
blade, which is suspended from the top of the petiole. 
The latter requires some support to keep it in position 
and enable it to carry such a weight of material. It is 
a native of Columbia, and in this country thrives best 
in a moist, warm stove ; it likes an open compost 
consisting of loam, fibry peat, sphagnum* charcoal or 
broken crocks and silver sand. An unstinted supply 
of water is necessary in summer when growth is rapidly 
progressing. 
Peristrophe speciosa. 
Notwithstanding the fact that a large number of the 
family to which Peristrophe belongs consists of weeds 
of tropical countries, yet some of them, including 
P. speciosa, Serieobonia Ghiesbreghtii, Jacohinia 
magnifica, and several others are amongst our highly 
valued hot-house plants, particularly on account of 
their flowering in winter. The special features of the 
plant under notice are the way in which the rich 
purple flowers are arranged on twin-flowered axillary 
peduncles, their large size, and the inverted condition 
of the two lips of the corolla. What should be the 
lower lip is the uppermost, and is both the largest and 
furnished with a large deeper purple blotch at the base. 
This is brought about by the twisting of the tube, a 
character which is indicated by the generic name. 
This is one good reason for separating it from Jus- 
ticia, under which it used to be classified by some 
botanists, hut it is still known amongst gardeners as 
Justicia speciosa. A batch of plants of it has been 
quite gay for some time at Syon House, Brentford. 
A Variegated Carex. 
Last summer a variegated species of Carex received a 
First Class Certificate from the Royal Horticultural 
Society. Already it has found its way to Syon House, 
Brentford, where its merits as a garden plant will soon 
be tested. Like those of most other species of Carex, 
the leaves are partly evergreen, but lose their freshness 
considerably during the winter season. In this case the 
leaves are long, very narrow and slender, drooping over 
the sides of the pots. They also spring from a com¬ 
pact tuft in a similar way to the green stems of Scirpus 
riparins (Isolepis gracilis), but apparently it will be 
more useful for summer than winter work ; hut time 
only can prove this when the proper temperature for it 
has been discovered, so that it may be grown under as 
natural conditions as possible. The central creamy 
white stripe is distinct and well defined, and, of course, 
adds much attractiveness to the slender and drooping 
habit of the leaves. 
Acacia lophanta. 
Few of the species of Acacia are more popular or more 
frequently grown for the sake of their foliage than A. 
lophanta. It is also largely planted for sub-tropical 
gardening purposes both here and on the Continent, 
more so perhaps in the latter case. On the other hand 
we seldom see it in a flowering state, although it will 
flower freely, and does so in this country when allowed 
to attain a height of 6 ft. or 8 ft. after the wood has 
somewhat ripened. It also hears seed pods of consider¬ 
able length, and ripens seeds. In the wings of the 
conservatory at Syon House, Brentford, the seat of the 
Duke of Northumberland, there are several large plants 
now flowering freely. The pale yellow flowers are 
borne in axillary brush-like spikes, and if not very 
conspicuous are welcome at this period of the year for 
the sake of variety in a greenhouse. The foliage is 
also good, but not so compactly arranged, nor does it 
hide the stems so well as when the plant is quite 
young. 
Ficus Porteana. 
Ax first sight the large leaves of this species remind 
one of an Artocarpus. They are oblong, shallowly 
trifid, with occasionally a few more coarse teeth or 
shallow divisions, dark shining green above and paler 
beneath, or even yellowish. On strong plants they 
measure from 12 ins. to 16 ins. long, including the 
short petiole, and from 3 ins. to 6 ins. broad. There 
is a good-sized specimen of it planted out in the con¬ 
servatory at Syon House, Brentford, where, of course, 
it receives stove treatment. Young plants grown 
vigorously in pots would doubtless produce much 
larger leaves and be useful as ornamental-leaved 
subjects in the same way as Tococa latifolia and 
Miconia maguifica. Most of these large-leaved subjects 
are most ornamental when young and grown on vigor¬ 
ously, because when they get older and taller the leaves 
are mostly borne in tufts at the end of the main axis 
and the branches. 
Zonal Pelargoniums. 
Gardeners who have to keep their greenhouses gay 
with flowers in winter, and supply cut blooms for indoor 
decoration, will find the double-flowering zinal Pelar¬ 
goniums, M. Bruant and F. Y. Raspail, very useful 
sorts to grow. They bloom freely and keep fresh for a 
considerable time. They associate well with white 
Chrysanthemums. P. T. Humphris, Childe OTceford, 
Blandford. 
Asparagus plumosus nanus. 
The varietal name of this plant was originally given in 
the belief that it was a dwarf form ; but when grown 
freely or planted out, it invariably throws up long 
straggling stems in the same way as the type. These 
ultimately throw out side-branches, having the usual 
leafy form ; hut the most noticeable feature of the 
so-called dwarf variety, is the peculiar manner in 
which all the needle-like small twigs, generally called 
leaves by gardeners, become arranged in one plane, as 
well as all the whorls belonging to any one branch. 
In the type, as well as the form named A. tenuissimus, 
they are more thinly arranged and point in all 
directions. The dwarf habit is best retained when the 
plant is grown in pots, in an intermediate house, 
when there is less inclination to produce the long 
straggling shoots. There is a specimen at Devonhurst, 
Chiswick, between 3 ft. and 4 ft. in diameter, grown 
in this way, forming a close mass of the finest green 
plumy stems and branches, none of which are more 
than 12 ins. to 15 ins. above the top of the pot. 
Winter Heliotrope. 
Although the flowers of Petasites fragrans do not 
commend themselves to cultivators or to the public 
generally on account of their colour, they do so by 
their fragrance, which recalls that of Heliotrope very 
strongly, so that there is some justice in the application 
of the popular or English name. The florets are white, 
more or less tinted with pink or lilac, and have purple 
anthers. Contrary to the rule in many, or perhaps 
most species, hermaphrodite flowers occupy the greater 
part of each individual head, that is, there are stamens 
and a pistil with a well-developed style in each of the 
disc florets, and pollen is produced in great abundance. 
Usually the male and female flowers are on different 
plants. There are a few ray florets in each head, but 
they are not longer than those of the disc, and, there¬ 
fore, hardly noticeable. In Loudon’s Pncyclopcedia 
of Plants the following statement occurs:—“It is 
remarkable that no plant belonging to the tribe of 
Tussilaginese has been discovered with hermaphrodite 
flowers.” The plant is of a very rambling nature, and 
when introduced to gardens should be planted where it 
can spread without interfering with other dwarf subjects, 
as at Devonhurst, Chiswick, where it forms a large 
patch in front of a shrubbery border. 
The Silver Wattle. 
The native home of the Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata) 
is Australia and Tasmania. Those who have it planted 
out in a large conservatory know what a display it 
makes in early spring. Trained as a wall specimen, 
however, no idea can be conceived of the magnificent 
spectacle produced by a broad-headed tree in full bloom. 
The flowers are produced in the greatest abundance on 
axillary compound racemes, and are of a fine clear 
yellow, harmonising with the glaucous foliage. The 
latter is alone sufficient to recommend the cultivation 
of the plant for conservatory decoration. The leaves 
are twice pinnate, with much finer leaflets than those 
of the well-known A. lophanta, so largely grown for its 
foliage. A peculiar feature of the species under notice 
is, that when cut, the leaves close up showing the 
silvery under-surface. The flowers remain fresh in 
colour for a long time, and in this condition the leafy, 
flowering branches are annually imported into our 
markets from the south of France, and perhaps other 
countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Already 
they appear amongst other dried or fresh flowers in con¬ 
siderable quantity. It is fortunate for the growers of 
it that they keep their fresh appearance for so great a 
length of time even after being cut and allowed to 
become dry. 
— — 
Asplenimn resectum. 
A filmy Fern would least of all be expected amongst 
the Aspleniums, because, as a rule, the leaves in that 
genus are very leathery. They are so thin in this case, 
however, that the species has as much right to be 
classed amongst filmy Ferns, as Todea superba or 
Triehomanes radicans. The fronds are merely once 
pinnate, and therefore lack the delicacy which is so 
characteristic of most species of Hymenophyllum and 
Triehomanes. The pinnse are veiy numerous, and 
almost horizontal ; but as occurs in many other species 
of Fern, the midrib passes along the edge of the pinnse 
for almost the whole of the length. So delicate is the 
texture that full exposure to the sun would destroy it 
much sooner than the finest-leaved Adiantum. It is a 
native of Japan and the Himalayas, ascending to an 
elevation of 8,000 ft. ; and it also extends to Ceylon, 
the Fiji Islands and the Mauritius. 
Strelitzia Reginse, 
For horticultural purposes this is the finest of all the 
Strelitzias, both because the flowers are large and showy 
and the plant is of a size that can more easily be accom¬ 
modated in a stove or conservatory than the larger 
ones, such as S. Augusta, which reach a height of 10 ft. 
before they bloom. The leaves are borne on long stout 
petioles, with an oblong-ovate blade, and of a pleasing 
sea-green or glaucous hue. The scapes equal or slightly 
overtop them, and while still in bud bear a remarkable 
resemblance to a bird’s head, owing to the curvature of 
the inflorescence j ust at the base of the bracts enclosing 
the flower buds. Several blooms are produced from 
this bud in succession, and the resemblance to a bird’s 
