February 8, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
368 
Primula denticulata alba. 
Seeds obtained from tbe native habitats of P. denticu¬ 
lata have given, and continue to give, varieties of 
greater merit for horticultural purposes than the type 
itself. They are generally more vigorous, and provided 
we could induce them to go entirely to rest during 
winter, there would be no complaint as to their hardi¬ 
ness. The great drawback to this species and its 
varieties is that in mild autumns and winters their 
huge heads of bloom commence to push from amongst 
the leaves, and should frosty or cold and damp weather 
supervene, they damp off, and thus set up rotting iD the 
crown. A pure white variety occurred in a bed of 
seedlings at Kew. Quite recently it commenced to 
throw up a large umbel of bloom in the open ground, 
when it was lifted, potted, and placed in the hardy 
plant house, where it may now be seen. 
Didymochlsena lunulata. 
As a rule, this species, as well as its congener, D. 
polycarpa, is considered a Fern that requires stove 
treatment ; but it may be seen making growth even in 
quite a cool house in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch 
& Sons, Chelsea. It is of arborescent habit, resembling 
a miniature tree Fern, with a broad tuft of spreading 
leaves on the top of its stem. On strong vigorous 
specimens the fronds attain a length of from 4 ft. to 
6 ft. ; but moderate-sized specimens do not exceed 18 
ins. or 2 ft., and are spreading, bipinnate, with nearly 
square, somewhat crescent-shaped pinnules. The mid¬ 
rib is not central, just as occurs in many species of 
Adiantum, and this serves also to give the Fern under 
notice a distinct and unfamiliar appearance. At all 
events, it is a beautiful and interesting Fern to add to 
a collection, and requires no special treatment beyond 
that accorded to Ferns generally that are grown in 
pots. It may be grown in a stove or intermediate 
house, according to fancy. 
Gleichenia flabellata. 
One hardly ever sees the Gleichenias receiving that 
position and prominent attention which they formerly 
did in private establishments throughout the country. 
No doubt exhibitions used to be a great incentive to 
the growing of large plants ; and now that large exhi¬ 
bition plants are becoming more and more unpopular 
and discouraged, the Ferns suffer amongst them. The 
species in question, however, is quite ornamental even 
in a small state, and plants from 12 ins. to 18 ins. 
high might be grown in small pots, and used for the 
decoration of the stove, greenhouse, conservatory, or 
fernery just as readily as any of the more compact¬ 
growing kinds. In a warm temperature the fronds are 
subject to thrip and scale, but not so in a cool house. 
It is a native of Australia. The petioles are upright, 
and repeatedly give off forked branches, with the pairs 
of pinnfe arranged in a fan-shaped manner. The latter 
are feathery in appearance, with linear pinnules. 
Anemone angulosa. 
Notwithstanding the great size of the flowers, leaves, 
and, indeed, the whole plant of this species compared 
with A. hepatica, better known as Hepatica triloba, it 
is far less frequent in gardens than its more popular 
congener just named. One thing must be noted con¬ 
cerning A. angulosa, and that is its constancy under 
cultivation. It has not given rise to any new varieties 
differing in colour from the original. The flowers are 
of a deep blue on first expansion, and not very large, 
but as tbe sepals elongate and spread out they get 
much longer, and of a pale sky-blue. The stamens 
with their anthers are white and very conspicuous as 
they lie against the sepals, but as the latter become 
paler the stamens become less conspicuous. The 
carpels with their styles are yellow, and form a strong 
contrast in the centre to the other parts of the flower. 
The leaves are five-lobed on long petioles, with trifid or 
toothed lobes. It has been flowering for some time in 
the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Sons, Long Ditton, SAV. 
There is also a large-flowered variety—A. angulosa 
major—with flowers measuring If ins. even on small, 
recently planted specimens. The species is, perhaps, 
best known under the name of Hepatica angulosa. 
Anemone stellata. 
This species is likewise known as A. pavonina, and in 
some of its forms seems to approach A. fulgens in the 
form of both leaves and flowers. There are some 
named and unnamed varieties of it in the nursery of 
Messrs. Barr & Sons, Long Ditton, S.W. All have 
large, conspicuous and showy flowers. Some of them on 
first expansion are of a deep magenta fading to rose or 
pink. One named A. s. Jewel has deep magenta-purple 
flowers with a white zone at the base, and fade some¬ 
what during expansion. A. s. alba has white flowers, 
beautifully lined with violet veins on both surfaces, and 
lightly suffused with violet on the outer surface. This 
latter, however, is hidden when the flower is fully 
expanded. 
Forced Strawberries. 
Your, advice given to a correspondent on p. 349, to 
throw his plants in pots away after fruiting, induces me 
to plead for their retention if true to name, and they 
are reliable kinds. I used to throw them away, but 
have not done so of late years. Forced Strawberry 
plants if planted out on land prepared for them by 
being double dug and well manured, produce enormous 
crops the first year after planting. I plant them 2 ft. 
apart in the rows, and a little wider from row to row. 
I am required to produce this delicious fruit by the 
bushel, the requirements being great, and plants from 
the forcing house being hardened off, and then planted 
as stated, do produce the required quantities. I let 
them remain for two years. There is quite a demand 
for these pot plants among my neighbours, cottagers 
and others, who offer to buy them after seeing them 
fruit in my own cottage garden. I think there are 
plenty of gardeners who can testify to the same good 
results from forced plants, therefore I say, plant them 
out, and do not throw them away.— J. W., Norwich. 
[Excellent advice to all who can follow it, but it is not 
everyone who can do so.—E d.] 
Cheilanthes radiata. 
The various parts of this Fern so strongly resemble 
those of an Adiantum that it has been named Adian- 
topsis radiata by some authors. The petioles are erect, 
and from the top of these the pinnae, to the number of 
from six to nine, radiate horizontally, like the radii of 
a wheel. The pinnae are oblong, entire, and unequal¬ 
sided. Their texture, colour, and shape very strongly 
recall some species of Adiantum, and the Fern is 
elegant and pretty. It is a native of Tropical America, 
and requires a stove temperature. In appearance it is 
vastly different from the species of Cheilanthes with 
which we are familiar. Specimens may be seen in the 
Royal Exotic Nursery, at Chelsea. 
Billbergia nutans. 
The leaves of this species are linear, arching, forming a 
moderately close tuft, but otherwise they do not present 
anything striking. Well-grown plants flower regularly 
every year during winter and present a curious combina¬ 
tion of colours. The bracts that wrap round the upper 
part of the arching peduncle are of a bright rose colour 
and last some time in perfection. The ovary beneath the 
flowers is of a deep green ; the sepals are tinted with 
rose, and the revolute petals are green with broad, deep 
blue margins. In contrast to all these the anthers are 
yellow. The combination is peculiarly effective and 
interesting, and the plant therefore worthy of cultiva¬ 
tion for the decoration of the stove or warm conserva¬ 
tory during winter. 
Crocus chrysanthus. 
The exact time when this early flowering species will 
come into bloom depends upon the nature of the 
weather, and this season it is wonderfully forward, and 
the flowers will continue to expand during many weeks, 
provided the same conditions prevail. The typical 
form has deep orange-yellow flowers ; but there are 
several very distinct varieties of which C. c. fusco- 
lineatus is the finest, because most decided. The three 
outer segments are heavily feathered with deep purple- 
brown on the outer face ; the base of the inner seg¬ 
ments are stained with brown at the base. C. c. albidus 
has pale, nearly white flowers ; and C. c. fusco-tinctus is 
stained with brownish purple. All are very hardy, 
though their flowers are liable to be destroyed by 
severe weather ; and they are now showy in the open 
ground, especially during sunshine. 
Iris japonica. 
Although a native of China and Japan, this species 
is not sufficiently hardy to withstand our climate in 
the open. A warm greenhouse will meet all its require¬ 
ments, and we have seen it under rather moist, and 
under dry atmospheric conditions, and flowering so 
freely and, withal so beautiful, that it well deserves a 
place under glass, where it has the additional re¬ 
commendation of flowering in winter. The flowers are 
lilac, or of a beautiful soft lavender-blue, variegated 
with deep blue, white and yellow along the middle of 
the falls, which have a central bearded ridge, and are 
deeply lacerated at the margin, on which account the 
species is sometimes called I. fimbriata. It is also 
known as I. chinensis. The petals are also reflexed, 
and sometimes have a yellow blotch on the centre ; 
they, as well as the stigmas, are lavender-blue. The 
foliage is ample, and similar to the German Flag, but 
thinner and more drooping. 
Gymnogramme Peareei robusta. 
The fineness of the divisions of the fronds of this Fern 
reminds us of what occurs in G. schizophylla, but they 
are of a different shape, and covered with a white mealy 
powder, especially beneath, while those of the latter 
are nearly or quite devoid of powder. The fronds are 
triangular, and four or five times divided, with very 
fine segments. The variety under notice differs from 
the type in its more vigorous growth. It does well 
when hung up to the roof of the house, so that the 
fronds droop regularly on all sides. This they are 
inclined to do on account of their slender petioles and 
the comparative size of the frond. By being suspended 
in this way the fronds will also escape being wetted 
accidentally, if the plant should happen to be grown 
in a house of mixed plants, which may at times require 
syringing. The mealy-leaved Gymnogrammes should 
on no account be syringed, otherwise they will soon 
get blackened. 
Primula erosa. 
In habit and general appearance this species bears con¬ 
siderable resemblance to P. denticulata, but while it is 
equally tall, or even taller, it is more slender in all its 
parts. The light green leaves are oblaneeolate, sharply 
and irregularly toothed. The slender scapes are 
covered with white powdery farina, which is denser on 
the calyx, and pure white. The flowers are of moderate 
size, produced in dense, capitate umbels, and vary 
from a pale lilac to lavender-blue and lilac. When 
brought on in a warm pit the flowers are pale in hue, 
but are darker when allowed to come on naturally. It 
is, however, an early spring-flowering kind, and is all 
the better for a little protection. It is a native of the 
Himalayas, and has been flowering in the Hale Farm 
Nurseries, Tottenham, for some time past. 
- ~>X<~ - 
THE CHINESE PRIMULA AT 
SWANLBY. 
So common and so ordinary a plant has the subject 
under notice become, yet withal it is so useful and 
so indispensable as a winter-blooming plant for the 
conservatory, greenhouse, or room decoration, that it is 
hardly possible to say anything regarding it and its 
cultivation as to be worthy of notice. It is, however, 
as usually seen in most private gardens, a very 
ordinary plant indeed, with thin, flimsy-looking 
flowers, upon which you hardly dare breathe for fear 
of blowing the flowers off, so easily and so readily do 
they fall at the least touch or moving of the plants. 
There is no doubt that this weakness of the plants to 
drop their blooms so freely and prematurely is in some 
degree attributed to careless and, may be, wrong 
cultivation in most cases. 
The single-flowered kinds are the worst in this 
respect, and these, I must confess, are not much of 
favourites with me, and I give them but scant consi¬ 
deration. Now and again, however, one sees collections 
of both double and single-flowered varieties exhibited 
at the Aquarium and other metropolitan flower shows, 
by some of the trade growers, that arouse within us a 
more than ordinary interest in and consideration for 
these plants, and notably so those collections exhibited 
by the Messrs. Cannell & Sons, of Swanley. This well- 
known firm makes a specialty of the Chinese Primrose, 
and by them it is grown and shown to perfection, and 
is quite a different plant to what is mostly seen of the 
same kind in most private gardens. 
I have more than once, when looking at the collec¬ 
tions of Primulas as exhibited at the Aquarium by the 
“ Home of Flowers ” firm, been astonished at the robust 
yet short and sturdy habit of the plants, accompanied 
by such an amount of robust fleshy-looking flowers, 
and have marvelled at the possibility of so much sub¬ 
stance being got into them, without at the same time 
unduly encouraging grossness in the leaves. No doubt 
it is a trade trick in their cultivation, I have thought, 
specially grown and shown for the benefit and delecta¬ 
tion of the public gaze only, and not fair representations 
of the general stock at home. 
