January 6, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
POPULUS ALBA BOLLEANA. 
Notwithstanding the fact that this Poplar has 
been introduced for fifteen years, it is as yet a com¬ 
paratively little-known tree in this country, seldom 
appearing outside of botanic gardens. It was first 
introduced from Taschkend in Turkestan to 
Germany, but has already been sufficiently long in 
this country to attain a height of 20 ft. to 30 ft. 
Like the type and several other species it grows 
rapidly. The chief characteristic of the tree is its 
upright pyramidal habit, resembling that of the 
Lombardy Poplar; in all other respects it conforms 
to the Abele or White Poplar, so conspicuous a 
feature in the landscape in many parts of the 
country. The young leaves are reddish when 
expanding, but they soon acquire the mature form, 
and are then silver3--white beneath and of a rich 
green above. The tree bears the same relation to 
the White Poplar as the Lombardy bears to its 
parent, the Black Poplar (Populus nigra). Those 
who like the pyramidal habit of the one will be 
delighted with that of the other; and the contrast 
of the two will create a new feature in the 
landscape. 
PLANTS GROWN BY SCHOOL CHILDREN. 
Towards the middle of the month of May last, the 
Horticultural Society of Steglitz caused to be 
distributed to 170 children of the public school, boys 
and girls, two young plants from cuttings of the Ivy¬ 
leaved Pelargonium (P. peltatum), and a tree Carna¬ 
tion. The plants were accompanied with a small 
printed sheet indicating the mode of culture. At 
the end of the month of October the scholars brought 
their plants, and a special jury attributed to the 
little cultivators premiums rising to a total of fifty 
marks. Forty-seven children received a premium 
varying between three and half a mark. M. H. 
Schreiber, who gives an account of this curious 
exhibition in the No. 22 of Gartenjlora, insists upon 
the excellent state in which certain of the leading 
examples appeared when exhibited ; he adds that 
the children who succeeded best belonged to the 
class in less easy circumstances. Besides, the 
remittance of the awards was made, as formerly, 
with a certain solemnity. The example given by the 
Horticultural Society of Steglitz deserves to find 
imitators.— Em. R., in Bulletin d'Arboriculture. 
PLATYCERIUM GRANDE. 
Here we have undoubtedly one of the noblest forms 
of the genus in cultivation. The barren fronds are 
as much an ornament, or more so, than the fertile 
ones, although it must be acknowledged that the one 
sets off the other. The barren fronds are reflexed 
at the sides in the basal portion and entire, while the 
upper portion is more upright, arching, and more or 
less deeply cut into segments. The fertile fronds 
are cut into long, narrow, drooping segments, but in 
hot-houses seldom or never attain so noble propor¬ 
tions as in their native habitats in North Australia, 
from whence the species was introduced in 1828. 
There the barren fronds attain a length of 4 ft. to 
6 ft. and must be truly grand. The climate of North 
Australia is very warm, in fact of a tropical nature, so 
that P. grande enjoys and must haveahigher tempera¬ 
ture than P. alcicorne, the better known species, and 
which comes from temperate Australia. It requires 
to be grown on a block, raft, or some similar contri¬ 
vance, by which it may be suspended near the glass 
to get a maximum of light and enjoy thorough 
drainage. There is nothing more fatal to it than 
stagnant moisture, which causes the barren fronds to 
decay by contact with the soil in which the plant is 
grown. A well grown plant is a noble object hung 
up in some conspicuous part of the warm Fernery, 
or even the stove. See that no drip from the roof is 
falling upon the leaves, otherwise the latter will 
suffer. We noted large and small plants in the 
nursery of Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son, Upper 
Holloway. 
CALCEOLARIA BURBIDGEI. 
Calceolari.as have always shown a readiness to 
respond to the hybridist's art, and have thus given 
rise to many garden forms. C. Burbidgei was 
raised from C. Pavonii crossed with C. fuchsiaefolia, 
by Mr. F. W. Burbidge, Trinity College Botanic 
Gardens, Dublin, about eleven years ago. C. Pavonii 
presumably was the seed parent for the progeny 
most resembles it. The leaves are ovate with a 
winged petiole, and the bright yellow flowers are of 
large size with the lower lip developed into a deep 
pouch. A fine specimen of it may be seen in the 
greenhouse at Kew ; it is grown in a pot and stands 
about 6 ft. high or more. Now C. Pavonii varies 
from 2 ft, to 4 ft. in height, while C. fuchsiaefolia is 
a dwarf compact bush, ranging between i ft. and 2 ft. 
high. The leaves of the latter are dark green, 
lanceolate, entire, and altogether different in appear¬ 
ance. In all respects then C. Burbidgei is closely 
similar to C. Pavonii, and whatever the effect of 
crossing may have been, it has not affected the 
vigour of the plant in question. When placed under 
favourable conditions it makes rampant growth and 
flowers at a season when anything of a showy nature 
and which affords variety is welcome—during the 
winter months. 
HAMAMELIS JAPONICA ARBOREA. 
There are only two species of Hamamelis, although 
several others have been named, some of which do 
not even belong to the genus. There are several 
forms or varieties of the Japanese species, namely, 
H. japonica arborea and H. j. Zuccariniana and the 
type. That under notice is the best, and blooms 
when outdoor flowering subjects are scarce. H. 
virginica flowers sometime between October and 
February, according to the state of the weather ; 
the past autumn was favourable to it and flowering 
was completed in October. The Japanese forms on 
the contrary are much later in coming into bloom, 
and H. j. arborea is now in full bloom at Kew, 
notwithstanding the somewhat trying frost and cold 
about the end of last week. The petals are clear 
yellow, and the inner face of the sepals is of a claret 
colour, a hue not found in any of the others. The 
tree itself is more vigorous than the type, and 
throws up an erect stem from which numerous 
laterals are given off in a somewhat straggling 
fashion. The flowers are produced all along the 
branches, but particularly the older ones ; and when 
the weather happens to be mild so that they can 
hang out their long petals the tree becomes very 
interesting. In districts where the climate is milder 
than in the neighbourhood of London, the long, 
curled, or crimped petals hang out like miniature 
ribbons, and the plant then becomes both curious 
and attractive—curious because uncommon and 
quite unlike any of the common plants in cultiva¬ 
tion. 
LILY OF THE VALLEY TREE. 
This name has been given to several members of 
the Heath family, having flowers more or less closely 
resembling those of the Lily of the Valley, but it is 
most properly applied to Clethra arborea, otherwise 
great confusion wilt be created. The plant or tree, 
if we may so term it, was introduced from Madeira 
a little over a century ago and used to form part of 
the regular furnishing of the orangeries, which were 
formerly much in vogue. Greenhouses or conserva¬ 
tories with a high roof are the proper places for it 
now, except in the more favoured parts of the south 
coast and in the Channel Islands, where it succeeds 
with more or less completeness, and even produces 
its handsome flowers. The latter are bell shaped, 
and pure white, with exception of the calyx, which is 
more or less tinted with red. They are produced in 
panicled racemes towards the ends of the shoots, 
and hang mouth downwards as in the case of the 
Lily of the Valley. There is a variegated form 
(C. a. variegata) which is finding its way into 
various establishments. A coloured figure of it is 
given in the Revue de VHorticulture Beige, showing all 
its qualities combined. The leaves have a red rib 
and margin, with a broad greenish-yellow border of 
irregular width, while the rest is green but of 
irregular outline. The young expanding leaves at 
the tips of the shoots are of a beautiful rosy-red. 
Altogether it is a choice and handsome plant in 
houses sufficiently large to allow of its attaining the 
natural development and flowering size. 
ORNITHOGALUM LACTEUM, 
Judging from the different specimens of this under 
cultivation there would seem to be variations in it 
pointing to an affinity with O. arabicum. The 
latter is a native of the south of Europe, from Spain 
to Greece, and also occurs in Egypt. It is charac¬ 
terised by having a short and dense raceme of six to 
twelve large white flowers with a black centre. O. 
lacteum on the other hand comes from the Cape of 
Good Hope, and bears a raceme of twenty to fifty or 
^95 
more large white flowers. We sometimes see the 
flowers pure white, but on other occasions they are 
more or less coloured at the base of the segments. 
Some specimens flowering in the Heath house at 
Kew have a brownish-green or tawny blotch at the 
base of each segment, and a black ovary in the 
centre. June is considered the natural flowering 
period of the species, but that it readily submits to 
forcing there is ample evidence, for it has been 
flowering in various places since the beginning of 
December last, if not earlier. It varies from 1 ft. to 
2 ft. in height, and the long raceme of flowers is 
both conspicuous and showy. When in bloom the 
flowers last a long time in perfection in the cool at¬ 
mosphere of the conservatory or greenhouse. 
LACHENALIA AUREA GIGANTEA. 
The above is a garden name for a variety of L. tri¬ 
color, and the full and correct name should be 
L. tricolor lutea gigantea. There are several very 
beautiful forms of L. tricolor in cultivation, and 
that under notice must be considered one of the 
finest. The flowers are numerous in each raceme 
and almost of a uniform deep golden, almost orange- 
yellow. The only exception to this uniformity is a 
small speck of green at the tip of each of the three 
outer segments. Some of the flowers show a 
shading of red at certain stages of the bads, or 
under certain unfavourable conditions ; but the fully 
developed flowers of healthy plants are handsome 
The name gigantea is given to the variety under 
notice from the length of its flower stems, which 
vary from 16 in. to 19 in, in length, whereas a foot is 
more nearly about the average height of the species 
and its varieties. A batch of plants in full bloom 
may be seen at Kew. The culture of these beauti¬ 
ful Cape plants ought to be considerably extended. 
They do not require much heat to grow them, and 
get drawn and weak if forced in too close an atmo¬ 
sphere ; but in a house with an intermediate tem¬ 
perature and judiciously ventilated they come away 
healthy and strong. They must, however, be close 
to the glass to prevent the leaves from getting drawn 
while making their growth. By keeping the main 
batch in a cool place and introducing a few at a 
time, a continuous display can be kept up till late in 
spring. 
ASARUM MAGRANTHUM. 
The species of Asarum are not particularly showy 
plants, although interesting. The European one 
takes rank as an economic plant. The subject of 
this note is a native of Formosa and has compara¬ 
tively large flowers,which would be more appreciated, 
although not particularly showy, if they had longer 
stalks. As it is the flowers are almost completely 
hidden amongst the foliage and require looking for. 
They are three-lobed and deep purple, with wavy 
segments, inclined to be creamy white at the 
margins. There is also a ring of white corrugations, 
or blister like elevations, half way between the base 
of the segments and the opening of the tube. The 
leaves themselves are more ornamental; they are 
heart-shaped, and deep green with an irregular, 
bright green band, changing to grey with age on the 
middle. They remind one of the grey blotched 
leaves of a Cyclamen. The plant used to be kept in 
the Heath house at Kew, but was transferred some 
time ago to the warmer atmosphere of the Begonia 
house, and the result has been a marvellous produc¬ 
tion of flowers. In fact so thick are they all over 
the crown of the plant that they are densely 
crowded. 
TUSSILAGO FRAGRANS. 
There are possibly many lovers of sweet-scented 
flowers to whom this hardy native plant is a stranger. 
The name of Winter Heliotrope given to it by some 
is quite appropriate, and in writing on sweet-scented 
winter flowers a few weeks ago it escaped any notice, 
till looking round a herbaceous border I found it in 
flower. Now that is hardly the proper place for it, 
because in many places it grows so luxuriantly 
that in spite of its merits as a sweet-scented flower, 
it becomes in such quarters a pest. Its proper place 
is the shrubbery or wild garden, and those who 
have a special liking for sweet-scented things will do 
well to pot up a few flowering crowns and flower 
them under glass. They will secure cleaner flowers 
from these than from those left at the mercy of the 
elements, as although hardy, I have frequently 
noticed it greatly damaged during inclement weather. 
—W.B.G. 
