346 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 1, 1890. 
not good practice to waste it in this way. I know 
that such a course is often pursued, and also recom¬ 
mended, for what reason I cannot say ; perhaps because 
its economical value is not understood by those good 
people.— Alfred Gaut, The Gardens, Berwick, Shrews¬ 
bury. 
-- 
Gardening 
ISCELLANY. 
Mound Caves for Tender Plants. 
Those of your readers who like out-of-the-way devices 
in gardening as I do, may care to hear of the results 
from our little mound caves, of which I wrote in The 
Gardening World, December 18th, 1S86, p. 251, 
and will, I hope, experiment in the same direction. 
The first caves were built with too small pieces of 
stone, so that, after showing that greenhouse Ferns such 
as Adiantum cuneatum and Pteris serrulata would 
stand the winter, the roof began to drop in ; these 
were planted in February, 1885. We made a new 
series of mound caves, and planted them in October, 
1887 ; these had one large stone for each side, back, and 
roof. They have stood well, and the greenhouse Ferns 
in them are now green, and have produced seedlings 
along both sides of the stone, showing that they are 
quite at home. In another set of caves Cyclamen 
macrophyllum is thriving, and a number of different 
varieties of Adiantum are planted, but have not yet 
had time to establish themselves. I have tried a good 
many bulbs and tender Primroses, but these failed ; I 
suppose from insufficient light. There must, I think, 
be many plants which would succeed as well as in a 
greenhouse. In very cold weather a slab or slate may 
be used across the mouth of the caves. —GeoracF. TFilson, 
Ileatherbank, JFeybridge Heath. 
Lachenalias. 
These are so easily managed that amateurs might well 
grow a few kinds either in pots or baskets for the 
adornment of the greenhouse or conservatory. They 
should be potted up in September or October, or even 
sooner, as they naturally start early. Those who do 
not now possess any would do well to look forward to 
obtaining some at the commencement of the season. 
Daring vfinter they require merely to be kept cool and 
near the glass, say upon a shelf, anl attended to with 
water. The largest and best for amateurs are L. 
tricolor, with red, yellow aud green flowers; L. t. 
aurea, of a fine golden yello .v ; L. t. quadricolor, red, 
yellow and purple, with larger flowers than the type, 
and more expanded at the mouth. The hybrid, L- 
Nelsoni, is a very vigorous and beautiful yellow kind' 
and L. pendula has red, purple and green-tipped 
flowers, larger, perhaps, than those of any other kind. 
A Good Basket Fern. 
Some of the forms of Aspidium (Polystichum) angulare 
are well adapted by their drooping habit to be grown 
in baskets for the decoration of cool conservatories or 
ferneries where little or no heat is given, even in 
winter. There are many such places owned chiefly by 
amateurs ; and if they would give their attention to 
plants of this class, there would be less difficulty in 
maintaining a respectable or even attractive appearance 
during winter than where flowering plants are wholly 
relied upon to bring about this end. Another point is 
that Ferus of this class require but little attention 
beyond watering for the greater part of the year. 
A. angulare proliferum densum is a variation from the 
old and at one time very popular proliferous vaiiety, 
and both are characterised by the spreading habit of 
their fronds, bearing numerous buds or tufted little 
plants along the upper surface of the frond, but par¬ 
ticularly in the close neighbourhood of the midrib. 
The variety under notice differs in the dense arrange¬ 
ment of the pinme, and the way in which the pinnules 
are cut into tertiary segments, which are decurrent 
upon the midrib of the pinnules. 
crimson and gold that reflect a metallic lustre when 
the light falls upon them. The habit of the plant is 
good, and pitchers are freely produced. It may be seen 
in the collection of Messrs. J. Teitch & Sons at 
' Chelsea. 
Crocus biflorus Weldeni. 
The forms of C. biflarus are numerous and varied, both 
in size and colour. That under notice is one of the 
pigmies, but it is exceedingly pretty. Being an early- 
flowering kind, the protection of a frame is essential to 
make sure that it does not get destroyed in the bluster¬ 
ing and stormy early months of the year. Rain and 
snow would, of course, soon break it down, as they 
would much more hardy and robust subjects. The 
flowers have a short bell-shaped lamina when expanded, 
and are white, with a blue neck just above the tube. 
There is a sub-variety of this, an albino, which is pure 
white. These two are worthy of a place in a 
collection of the species of Crocus. We noted them in 
the Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. 
Iris stylosa alba. 
The correct name of this plant is I. unguicularis alba. 
The leaves are narrow, grassy, evergreen, much over-top¬ 
ping the fliwers, which are notable for the great length 
of the tube. This type of plant is interesting from 
the fact of its flowering in the open border in February, 
which is still winter ; but if accorded the protection of 
a frame, flowering will take place in January, and give 
greater satisfaction by producing a larger number of 
flowers, and of fresher appearance. The white variety 
under notice has yellow claws to all the segments, and 
a conspicuous orange blotch on the middle of the falls, 
otherwise the inner face of the respective segments is 
white. The styles are similarly coloured. The flowers, 
in addition to their pleasing colour, are agreeably 
fragrant, and the plant is therefore worthy of a little 
extra attention, and should be planted in a frame along 
with similar hardy plants requiring protection for the 
sake of their flowers, as the plant itself is quite hardy. 
I. unguicularis was introduced many years ago, but the 
white variety is a quite recent introduction, and has 
been flowering for some time past in an unheated 
house in the nursery of Mr. T. S. Ware. 
Iris Rossnbachiana. 
The leaves of this beautiful Iris are in course of 
development during the time the plant is in flower, but 
are short, aud sheathing the flower-scape or its tube. 
The latter is yellow, stained with purple, and bears the 
large flower about 4 ins. or 5 ins. above the soil. The 
falls are obovate, deep purple, white along the disc 
with a golden yellow ridge along the centre ; their 
claws are striped with yellow, reflexed, and lilac at the 
sides. The standards are spathulate, narrow and lilac, 
while the deeply bifid styles are of the same hue, except 
at the base, where they are yellow. Here, then, we 
have a wonderful mixture of colours in the type, 
besides two forms which have received varietal names. 
The species was introduced from Turkestan in 1886, 
and is consequently not yet very widely disseminated. 
With the protection of a handlight or frame it flowers 
freely during January and February, as it is now doing 
in the Hale Farm Nurseries. 
Iris Bakeriana. 
Of the I. reticulata type, the form here noted is one of 
the boldest and showiest. The leaves are of the usual 
quadrangular type, and develop contemporaneously with 
the flowers. The falls are tipped with a rich violet- 
purple, aud spotted all over the rest with deep blue on a 
white ground ; they are also striated with blue on the 
outer surface. The standards are narrow as usual, and 
together with the styles are of a pleasing light blue. 
The flower taken as a whole is of large size, and 
reminds one of I. Histrio in the manner of spotting, but 
the colours are different. Bulbs have been flowering 
for some time past in a frame in the Iris grounds at 
New. 
Nepenthes Dicksoniana. 
This is evidently going to be one of the Nepenthes of 
the future, and which will hold its own for many years 
to come. This is warranted by the large size the 
pitchers attain, and the beautiful colour they assume 
when under proper conditions. Fair-sized pitchers 
attain a length of 10 ins. easily, are cylindrical in 
outline, and light green, richly blotched all over with 
crimson. It is furnished with broad wings, and the 
annulus or collar round the mouth is broad, reflexed, 
and covered with closely arranged transverse ridges of 
Lastrea Filix-mas crispa. 
There are many very distinct forms of the male Fern, 
and some authors classify them under three different 
specific names. That under notice is a variety of that 
named L. pseudo-mas, the characters of which are that 
it is truly evergreen when protected, and has fronds of 
leathery texture, flat pinme and almost entire pinnules. 
The developing fronds are yellowish green, covered 
with golden brown scales, and the stem under favour¬ 
able conditions rises above the soil so as to form a 
trunk. In this, one may detect the characters of what, 
in the late Mr. T. Moore’s time, used to be called L. 
Filix-mas paleacea, or L. F.-m. Borreri. To this group 
belongs, then, L. F.-m. crispa, which forms a dwarf, 
compact, deep green tuft about 6 ins. or 9 ins. high. 
The pinnae closely overlap one another by the non¬ 
development of the spaces between them. It is admi¬ 
rably adapted for pot culture in a cool fernery, and 
should be kept near the light. A sport from this 
furnished us with L. F.-m. crispa gracilis, whose 
distinctive characters are that the pinme are bent 
backwards, while the pinnules are brought forward, 
giving the plant a crisped appearance. 
Nephrolepis davallioid.es 
The variety N. d. furcans is so often grown in private 
establishments that one is occasionally inclined to 
doubt whether it has not been lost to cultivation. We, 
however, noted it recently in the nursery of Messrs. J. 
Yeitch & Sons, Chelsea. The fronds form compact 
tufts of drooping habit, and attain a length of 2 ft. or 
3 ft., according to the vigour of the plant. The pinme 
are linear, and under ordinary treatment attain a 
length of 4 ins. to 6 ins., while their edges are deeply cut 
bearing a sorus to each near the margin. The sori are 
therefore arranged in two rows upon each pinme, and 
are beautiful when viewed from beneath. The stipes 
or stalk of the frond is often purple. Tne species is a 
native of the Malayan Archipelago, aud was introduced 
in 1852, but is quite uncommon in cultivation. 
Pitcairnia muscosa. 
There are many plants of the Pine Apple family 
which might be grown with advantage for the deco¬ 
ration of stoves in winter, and the plant under notice 
comes in this category. The leaves are narrow, tufted 
and grassy in appearance, or more like some of the 
Sedge family, deep green above, scurfy and white 
beneath. From the centre of this tuft the flower 
scapes rise to a height of IS ins. or 2 ft., bearing a 
dense raceme of tubular, scarlet flowers towards the 
top. The anthers, which expose themselves at the 
obliquely-twisted mouth, are yellow. The scapes are 
furnished with numerous bracts, w hich become gradu¬ 
ally shorter upwards, but are not highly coloured as 
in many other members of this order A bright bit of 
colour is, however, produced by the flowers in the dull 
winter season. Cultural requirements are very simple. 
Osmanthus fragrans. 
The leaves of this plant are elliptic, leathery, ever¬ 
green, serrated at the margin, and the whole plant is 
of branching habit, somewhat similar to a Holly, 
though not, perhaps, to the same extent as 0. Aqui- 
folium, or its variety 0. A. illicifolius, both of which 
are hardy, and may be grown in the open or with the 
protection of a wall. 0. fragrans is, however, more 
tender, and requires the atmosphere of a cool green¬ 
house. It forms a bushy plant, varying from 5 ft. to 
10 ft., according to age an'd the method of treatment 
it receives. Of course, it can be kept within reasonable 
bounds by pruning back the more rampmt shoots with 
a knife. The flowers are small and creamy white, but 
produced in numerous axillary clusters, and deliciously 
fragrant. This is the great redeeming feature of the 
plant, and that which recommends it to all who have 
large and cool conservatories to fill ; for the odour of 
the flowers pervades the whole house in which it is 
grown during the winter months. 
Chrysanthemum, Beauty of Castlehill. 
A seedling Chrysanthemum, flowering for the first 
time, has been sent us by Mr. Robert Owen, Floral 
Nursery, Castle Hill, Maidenhead, under the above 
name. It is a Japanese variety, and measured 7 ins. 
to 8 ins. in diameter, which is not bad for a Chrysan¬ 
themum in the last week in January. Of course, it 
may be expected to be larger and finer next season, 
when it has received the cultural treatment necessary 
for the production of big blooms. The heads are 
bright yellow, more or less tinted with a bronzy hue, 
apparently irregularly from the outside to the centre, 
but this will, no doubt, be more definite when grown 
on again at a more seasonable time. The florets are 
quilled or tubular mostly to the very tip, and a small 
opening may be perceived only afeer they are getting 
old. Tne outer ones spread widely and become slightly 
incurved at the tip, while the inner ones are all dis¬ 
tinctly rolled inwards or hooked, and generally broader 
with a longer lamina. It is a fine thing as it is, but 
one cannot help thinking it will appear in grand form 
later on, when it will take its place alongside of the 
other fine kinds that have recently been raised at 
Castle Hill. 
