630 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
-June 7 , 1890. 
A novelty in its way" consists in the planting out of 
Odontoglossum crispum, 0. Pescatorei and a few of 0. 
c. Andersonianum in peat. The whole of one side of a 
small house is occupied in this way, while the other is 
filled with Epidendrum vitellinum majus in pots. 
What success will attend this experiment remains to be 
seen, but Mr. Whillans will no doubt give it a 
thoroughly practical trial. In another cool house a 
quantity of Odontoglossum cirrhosum was flowering 
grandly. Amongst the Masdevallias we noted M. 
coccinea Harryana, M. c. Lindeni, M. ignea, M. 
Shuttleworthii, and M. rosea. 
The Lhlia House. 
This house is capable of containing an immense number 
of specimens, but is not solely occupied with Lselias, as 
the name would imply. At each end of the central 
stage is a piece of rockwork planted with Ferns, 
Orchids, and fme-foliaged plants, with a dripping well 
in the centre, behind which the spectator gazes down a 
rocky cavern. Amongst the Ltelias in flower were 
several varieties of L. purpurata, including L. p. 
Nelisii. A winter-made growth of L. elegans was also 
flowering unseasonably. The other shoots of the same 
plant bloomed last year, and the specimen was exhibited 
at the same time as L. elegans Duchess of Marlborough, 
which was certificated. Close by was a piece of Sobralia 
macrantha in bloom. 
At either end of the house, next the end doors, a 
small round table was occupied with flowering plants, 
and on either side of them was a chair as if for the 
reception of visitors or for the convenience of those 
studiously inclined. On one of these tables we noted 
Tetramiera bicolor, Dendrobium Dearei, Cattleya gigas, 
C. Mendelii, Odontoglossum Harryanum, 0. citrosmum, 
Miltonia vexillaria, Masdevallia coccinea Harryana, 
M. c. Lindeni, and the large-flowering Calanthe 
gigantea, with its yellow-eyed white flowers. The 
other table was similarly occupied with the beautiful 
Cattleya speciosissma, Dendrobium chrysotoxum, D. 
eburneum, D. Dearei, D. suavissimum, Odontoglossum 
Harryanum, 0. odoratum, 0. triumphans, 0. citrosmum, 
and others. These selections of flowering specimens 
seemed like votive offerings at the shrine of Flora 
brought by those come to do her homage. In another 
house was a large quantity of Lrelia anceps alba grown 
in baskets, and in fine condition. 
The Cattleya Houses. 
There is ’also some rockwork and a dripping well in 
what is termed the Cattleya Mendelii house. Many 
forms of that Cattleya were in flower, and some of them 
were beautifully margined with white. Amongst 
other kinds was a fine piece of Dendrobium thyrsi- 
florum in front of the dripping well, the rocks of which 
were rendered pleasing by flowering and foliage plants. 
A number of baskets of Utricularia montana were here 
suspended from the roof of the house, while Cym- 
bidium, &e., occupied the side stages. 
The large Cattleya house is a fine structure, and 
expensively as well as efficiently constructed. The 
handles and other fittings of the ventilating apparatus 
are electro-plated, and shine like a new pin. Here 
were located large quantities of various species of 
Cattleya, including beautiful forms’of C. Mossiae, which 
occupied about half the length of a side of the central 
stage; the other was occupied by C. Gaskelliana, not 
then in flower, We noted a curious form of C. Mossiae 
in which the lip was normal, but the lateral sepals had 
their contiguous sides coloured like those of the lip. 
Here also were C. Skinneri, flowering grandly, C. 
Aclandise, Lselia purpurata, Odontoglossum citrosmum, 
richly coloured, Warseewiezella discolor, and a grand 
specimen of Oncidium stelligerum. 
The Ctpripediuje Hol t se. 
As a class of plants Cypripediums are well worthy of 
house room, for they are always in bloom some or other 
of them. At one end of the house were some handsome 
specimens of C. bellatulum, dwarf and richly spotted. 
Close by were well-grown specimens of C. niveum, 
several of which had twin-flowered scapes. On the 
opposite side of the path C. grande might rightly be 
termed a giant of its kind. The richly-coloured C. 
selligerum majus is by far the better of the two forms 
of this hybrid-. Here also were C. superbiens, varieties 
of C. barbatum, C. Lawrenceanum with its huge- 
flowered variety C. L. expansum, C. Dominyanum, C. 
philippinense, otherwise known as C. laevigatum, the 
chaste C. candidulum, and three fine pieces of C. 
Morganite, which still maintains its value in the 
market. Under bell-glasses were some Anoectochili, 
with charmingly-marked leaves. 
Other Oechids. 
On the bench of one house was a large bed of "\ anda 
Hookeriana, planted in wood moss (a species of 
Hypnum.) The stems varied from 10 in3. to 20 ins. 
in height, were in perfect health, and many of them 
were pushing out their flower-spikes. On the opposite 
side of the doorway were some large pieces of Epiden¬ 
drum rhizophorum bearing short terminal racemes of 
scarlet flowers. The three-lobed fringed lip was mar¬ 
gined with orange and spotted with crimson on the 
disc. In the far end of the house were some beautifully- 
flowered pieces of Dendrobium Falconeri grown in 
baskets. D. cornigerum is something closely similar 
to D. Williamsoni, with an orange-bearded throat to 
the lip. In another house were several species of 
Aerides. Those in flower included A. crispum, A. 
expausum Leonise with five spikes, and another species 
with a yellow lip. The scarlet-flowered Saccolabium 
curvifolium although small was pretty. 
Miltonia vexillaria, M. Roezlii, and M. R. alba are 
grown in quantity, but were not in full bloom when we 
saw them. A pleasing sight met us in a small span- 
roofed house in the shape of Cypripedium caudatum, 
of which about a dozen and a half of specimens with 
long gracefully drooping tails were arranged with fine 
effect along one of the benches. The tails measured 
from 18 ins. to 24 ins. long. The lip of one of them 
exhibited a singular freak in being drawn out to the 
extraordinary length of 5 ins., flattened out, and 
spirally convolute. The pouch was represented only 
by a fold at the very tip. 
Stoves and Greenhouses. 
Although so much space is devoted to Orchids at 
Blenheim Palace, yet other things receive due attention. 
A large quantity of Anthuriums were located in one 
house, including a fine lot of A. Andreanum. ’Well- 
grown specimens of A. ferrierense also arrested the 
attention with its large, soft, but bright red spathes 
and pink spadices dotted over with the white stigmas. 
Large pieces of Tillandsia tessellata were located here 
also. 
A Rose house contained a large quantity of the white 
Niphetos. Azaleas were being forced into growth in a 
steaming hot atmosphere, which made it unpleasant to 
enter, as the house had been closed while the sun was 
still bright. Gardenias in pots occupied another house, 
and the cooler ones contained Ivy-leaved and decorative 
Pelargoniums, and the sweet-scented Lilium longi- 
floruin Harrisii, or L. 1. eximium. 
The whole of the gardening establishment reflects the 
highest credit upon Mr. Whillans, whose skilful 
management is evident in all departments. 
-- 
INFLUENCE OF MAN ON VEGE¬ 
TATION. 
(Concluded from p. 620 ). 
Many European species which have established them¬ 
selves on the North American Continent are mentioned 
by Macoun as already scattered over the length and 
breadth of the land wherever colonistshave settled, and not 
a few of them have shown themselves to be “ vile weeds ” 
in their new homes. Had^the whole list of immigrants 
from Europe been quoted, the numbers would, per¬ 
haps, have been more impressive ; yet the impression 
might have been misleading had mere casuals been 
included. There might, however, have been added to 
the list a considerable number of trees, shrubs, and 
herbaceous plants that were introduced from Europe as 
fodder for human food intentionally (as plants of culti¬ 
vation, using the word in the wide sense), but which 
have passed beyond the gardens, fields,’or plantations, 
and have become widely diffused throughout the 
country by various natural agencies independent of 
man’s assistance. But without seeking to extend the 
list in this way, and allowing a considerable number of 
species to pass unnoticed, several noteworthy lessons 
may be deduced from the list. 
In the first place, it contains hardly any plants of 
the more local types in our British flora. The high¬ 
land type of species in the adventitious flora of North 
America that might have immigrated from Britain, 
belong to Watson’ British type. By far the greater 
part of them are pre-eminently weeds of cultivated 
ground of waste places in the neighbourhood of houses, 
or by the wayside ; and the remainder are almost all 
dwellers in open meadows and pastures. Afew(e.p., 
Nasturtium officinale and Juncus bufonius) are marsh 
plants, but scarcely one can be selected from among 
the wild plants of our heaths or woods. This is the 
more striking, inasmuch as these plants, and also the 
great majority of our plants of the highland type, are 
found scattered in various localities in the States and 
in Canada, but always in circumstances that preclude 
the supposition that they have been introduced from 
Europe, while the weeds, of which so large a part of 
the prevalent herbaceous vegetation in the vicinity of 
houses in America is now composed, belong to a type 
of vegetation not originally prevalent there, and which 
might therefore have been expected to take less kindly 
to the soil than the native species. 
Another particular that is worthy of attention is the 
fact that almost all the immigrants that are not known 
to have been intentionally introduced by man are 
herbs, woody immigrants of this class being conspicuous 
by their absence; yet such shrubs and trees as have 
been intentionally introduced by man have shown 
themselves, in many cases, very capable of spreading 
and establishing themselves securely in the wild state. 
There is little difficulty in explaining the chief methods 
by which the intruders have been broughc into the 
country. Many of them must have been imported 
with the seeds of cereals, Turnips, and other agricul¬ 
tural plants introduced by various generations of immi¬ 
grants. Probably some are almost contemporary with 
the first European settlers—it may be even with the 
adventurousoXorsemen, who colonised part of the coast 
of the northern states 900 years since. A considerable 
number are most often found on ballast heaps, or in the 
neighbourhood of sea ports, from which they spread. 
We may assume that they were brought in the ballast 
with which vessels were formerly so often laden when 
sent to bring home colonial produce, or they may have 
been introduced in fodder, wool, or other agricultural 
produce, or in the straw and other materials used as 
packing for articles sent from the old country-. 
Some of the intruders have special adaptations for the 
ready distribution of their seeds -(e.g., the species of 
Sonchas and other Composite, and several of the 
Boraginacete), and these plants are usually amongst 
the most widely diffused of the immigrants. In others 
the same advantage is secured by man’s agency, inas¬ 
much as they grow among field crops ; and in harvesting 
the crops, the weeds are also harvested, and their seeds 
are conveyed far and wide. It is less easy- to perceive 
how such plants as the Chenopodiums and Nettles are 
carried about; but experience proves that man is the 
chief agent in their dispersion, if we may Judge from 
the fact that they are seldom seen far from buildings 
or rubbish heaps. 
Let us now turn for a little to South Africa, also a 
European colony of some antiquity. Discovered by the 
Portuguese in 1486, the Cape of Good Hope was a place 
of call for water and provisions until 1652, in which 
year the Dutch established a colony in Table Bay. The 
flora has been carefully studied, and is exceedingly 
varied and peculiar. In a masterly sketch by H. Bolus, 
F.L.S., its leading characteristics are summed up as :— 
“ High differentiation of forms, want of luxuriance of 
growth, narrow specific distribution, deficiency of trees 
paucity of sociable plants, and power of resistance to 
the aggression of immigrants from other lands.” 
Despite the time that has elapsed since Europeans 
began to frequent the Cape, the whole number of 
intruders is small compared with the number in 
America, probably not exceeding 200 from all sources. 
In the effect that they produce upon the native flora, 
they are of far less consequence than their numbers 
would at first sight appear to indicate ; for though 
about 130 species of immigrants may be found within 
ten miles of Cape Town, yet the only British species 
that can be said to occur in such numbers as to attract 
attention even there are Fumaria officinalis, Sisym¬ 
brium officinale, Brassica nigra, Raphanus Riphanus- 
trum, Sonchus oleraceus, and Rumex acetosella. Few 
of the introduced plants are found far from roadsides 
or human habitations ; and it is remarkable how small, 
upon the whole, is the influence they exert upon the 
aspect of the vegetation, and how weak is their 
aggressive power against the indigenous flora. 
The only seriously aggressive intruders are a Prickly 
Pear (Opuntia Cactus) which grows socially, and extir¬ 
pates the native vegetation, and the dry Karoo, 
(Xanthium spinosum), which has become widely spread 
and troublesome, as its hooked, seed-like carpels are 
scattered by being entangled in the wool of sheep, of 
which flocks are pastured in that region. The failure 
of immigrants to establish themselves in South Africa 
is thus in striking contrast to the success of the same 
species in North America, and supports the belief that 
on the latter continent the changed conditions that 
followed the destruction of the forests were the efficient 
cause of the failure of the native species to hold their 
ground against intruders already adapted by heredity 
to thrive under the new conditions. In South Africa 
the intruders had to struggle against species equally 
