June 1, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
629 
approval. The double sorts are most esteemed at 
present amongst cultivators and admirers generally. 
The reasons for this are, no doubt, due to their 
decorative value for pot work indoors, and the fact 
that they are undergoing more rapid evolution than 
the single kinds ; in other words they annually give 
rise to a greater amount of novelty. 
Double Begonias. 
Large flowered varieties still find great favour with 
cultivators and the community at large; but we are 
not a little suprised that it should be so ; nor do we 
want to quarrel with public taste in the matter, yet 
cannot help thinking that blooms of moderately large 
size are the best, provided they are of distinct and 
beautiful colours and of good shape. A new one 
named Invincible is large enough in all conscience 
to please the most fastidious in this respect. The 
bloom is bright crimson-scarlet and perfectly upright 
on a short stout stalk. A free-flowering variety 
is Duchess of Northumberland with bright salmon 
flowers. The blooms of Alfred de Rothschild are 
glowing crimson with a maroon shade in the centre, 
and moderate in size, yet we consider it an 
exquisite variety of its colour. In this same class 
we would place Prince Adolphus de Teck, which is 
glowing scarlet and of neat Camellia shape. Laing’s 
Triumph is deep salmon, large, free flowering, and 
effective. The flowers of Lady Dorington are blush 
with a name without interfering with those of bygone 
times. 
A handsome variety is Countess of Warwick with 
bright salmon-scarlet flowers which become darker 
later in the season, for several Begonias vary with 
the season, like Violas and Chrysanthemums. 
Several are cherished for their beautiful and regular 
shape, though only of medium size. Amongst these 
we would name the Duke of Fife with salmon-rose 
flowers and slightly wavy petals, but regularly 
disposed like those of a Camellia. Rosebud is well 
named, both on account of its form and colour, the 
latter being of a soft rose, and so neatly disposed 
round a single centre that few can fail to admire it. 
The Premier is of neat rose-bud shape, medium size, 
but of a glowing scarlet colour. The blooms of 
Duchess of York are orange shaded with peach, and 
have large guard petals, which render them con¬ 
spicuous. The Cactus Begonia is rather an innova¬ 
tion in this class of flowers, but a fair imitation of a 
Cactus Dahlia does not seem to be an impossibility. 
The flowers of Cactus have long but bluntly pointed 
petals of a beautiful rose with a darker edge. They 
are large, pendulous, and suitable for basket work, 
because their beauty can only be seen to advantage 
when above the level of the eye. The moderate 
sized flowers of W. Cliffard are of regular Camellia 
form and dark rose with broad overlapping petals. 
Begonia Rosebud. 
pink or delicate peach blossom, but vary according 
to the season, becoming much darker in the autumn. 
The soft yellow flowers of Lady Koill are of good 
size and shape, and are seen to great advantage 
against the dark green foliage. The Marchioness 
of Salisbury is a primrose variety of dwarf and 
bushy habit; but the best yellow in the collection 
is a seedling as yet unnamed. It is of very dwarf 
habit with dark green leaves and the large flowers 
are bright clear yellow. Mrs. Regnart used to be the 
best yellow, but is now superseded. 
Several of the seedlings are yet unnamed, but the 
greater portion of them are bound to receive that 
distinction for they are quite realising the promise 
they gave last year. In one case the blooms are 
rosy salmon, very attractive and pleasing. Another 
dating from 1893 has wavy petals of a bright scarlet 
and is very full in the centre. One with Camellia¬ 
shaped scarlet flowers is notable for the great depth 
of the bloom and this increases with further develop¬ 
ment. A seedling of bushy and densely branching 
habit has glowing scarlet flowers of medium size; it 
is one of last year’s raising. Another of equally 
dwarf and bushy habit has rose flowers well set off 
against the dark green leaves. The scarlet gives 
place to cerise in some of them, and we noted one of 
this colour with rosy guard petals. Still another 
noteworthy seedling had orange-scarlet flowers and 
broad, not crowded petals. Gocd seedlings increase 
at a rate which makes it difficult to supply them 
The dark green foliage of Mrs. Hudson sets off the 
rosy-cerise flowers to the fullest advantage ; though 
moderate in size their fullness and neat form are 
great recommendations. The soft creamy-white 
flowers of the Countess of Dudley have crimped 
petals and are very neat and pretty. 
Single Varieties. 
The chief advancement that has been made in this 
class is the enlarging of the flowers and their de¬ 
velopment into regular circular form. Sir Charles 
Pigott is bright orange-scarlet, the best of its class, 
and no complaint can be made as to its shape. The 
same may be said of Mr. Benson, which has soft, 
scarlet-red flowers. Countess Cowper is circular, of 
great size, and pure white. The Duke of Richmond 
and Gordon is a very telling sort in a collection by 
reason of its large glowing, maroon-crimson flowers. 
Even larger perhaps are those of Countess of 
Brownlow, which are buff-orange, and highly 
esteemed for decorative purposes. 
The unnamed seedlings are more numerous 
amongst the single than the double sorts as far as 
the new varieties are concerned. The fact is, the 
standard is now so high that fine things may be ex¬ 
pected from a packet of seed. The want of names 
makes them more difficult to refer to, but a short 
description will serve to indicate their leading 
characters. A seedling of last year is notable for 
having two distinct shades of colour, at least 
occasionally. The two outer petals are orange-scarlet, 
but the two inner are several shades darker. A pretty 
soft shade is represented by a salmon-pink variety, 
the outer petals of which are more or less fimbriated. 
Another has bright orange-scarlet flowers. As in 
the doubles, so in the singles we have bright cerise 
flowers. The outer petals in another case are rose, 
while the inner ones are more decidedly scarlet, 
with crenate edges ; the pale margin reminds one of 
a Shirley Poppy. One variety with very large and 
bright crimson flowers is notable for the great 
cluster or tassel of yellow anthers in the centre. 
Again, we noted one with the outer petals pink, and 
the two inner ones rosy pink. Close by was another 
with similar, though not quite the same, shades of 
colour. Both varieties may be compared to the 
Abutilons or Hibiscus with rose or rosy-purple 
flowers. A bicolor variety is notable for the extent 
and intensity of colour on the large outer petals, 
and which is deep rose; the inner petals are not so 
highly coloured, while the centre is white. Farther 
on was a magenta-pink sort with huge flowers. We 
were particularly taken with a seedling in a 32-size 
pot, and which had huge leaves and large rosy- 
scarlet flowers. The plant itself was 2 ft. high, 
perfectly pyramidal in shape, and evidently pos¬ 
sessed of great vigour. Different in its way was a 
scarlet variety with paler inner petals, with an 
arrangement of colour that might be described as 
crushed strawberry. 
The above will indicate the more recent develop¬ 
ments in the matter of colour amongst the single 
sorts, but the infinity of shades must be seen to have 
any exact idea of their distinctions, and one can 
better judge of their value by seeing them. Since 
the Messrs. Laing gave up the idea of showing at 
the Temple Gardens, a great quantity of the bloom 
was removed to ease the plants, so we suppose they 
intend to blossom out somewhere else. In any case 
the vigour of the plants and the healthy dark green 
colour of the foliage, and the ample size of the 
individual leaves shows that something must have 
been placed at the roots of the plants, and that the 
plants will flower again later on in greater abundance 
and with flowers of great size. 
--5*- 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
The undermentioned Orchids received awards ac¬ 
cording to merit from the Royal Horticultural Society 
at the Temple Show held on the 21st, 22nd, and 
23rd ult. 
Cypripedium Stonei platytaenium.—The bold 
and handsome character of this Cypripedium as well 
as its great rarity, and the high estimation in which it 
is held, are all well known to Orchid growers as well 
as those interested in the same, but the plant seldom 
appears in public. Only one plant was introduced 
amongst an importation of the type from Sarawak, 
Borneo, in 1863. It differs from C Stonei chiefly in the 
very much broader petals, which are nearly an inch 
wide at the broadest part, and in being blotched with 
reddish crimson from an inch above the base to near 
the apex where the blotches become confluent in a 
more solid mass. It was the object of great interest 
at the show. First-class Certificate and Silver Flora 
Medal. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. 
White), Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Cattleya Mendelii dellensis, Nov. vav .—The 
flowers of this new variety are of huge size and 
pleasing light colours. The petals are wavy and 
crisped upwards, and of a soft rosy pink, 
closely netted with a shade or two darker. The 
lip is also very large with a roundly oblong 
lamina, much waved, crisped and rich purple ; the 
side lobes are white, and the tube internally is 
striped with purple. A large plant of this would 
have an imposing effect on account of the size and 
attractiveness of the flowers. First-class Certificate. 
Baron Schroder (gardener, Mr. H. Ballantine), The 
Dell, Egham. 
Miltoniopsis Bleuiana virginalis, Nov. var .— 
The flowers of this variety are of great size measur¬ 
ing 4J in. in length, and 3 in. across the lip. The 
sepals are white, but the petals have a small purple 
blotch at the base derived from Miltonia Roezli, one 
of the parents of the original hybrid. The other 
parent was M. vexillaria. The lip is also white with 
a large drab-coloured blotch at the base having three 
purple lines in its centre. The varietal name refers to 
