746 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 20, 1895. 
Rochford, Sutton’s Progress, and others. The 
kitchen garden is very extensive. 
The accompanying illustration represents a view 
of Windsor Castle itself, taken from the Home Park 
in which the Windsor and Eton Rose and Flower 
Show was recently held by kind permission of Her 
Majesty e Queen. Seldom is so romantic a spot 
obtainable for the holding of a flower show. The 
flagstaff indicates the ancient tower, the rest of the 
building in view being more recent. Between the 
trees and this front is the terrace, high above the 
level of the Home Park. Looking at this view of 
the Castle from the latter standpoint the Winchester 
Tower is seen on the right, and the Cornwall Tower 
corresponds to it on the left. The various portions 
are of different ages, one between these towers being 
inscribed, E. R., 1583, and another is of the date of 
George IV. The buildings surrounding the court¬ 
yard are of much earlier date. From the terrace a 
magnificent view is obtained, stretching away over at 
least four counties. 
REV. GEO. HENSLOWON INTERESTING 
PLANTS. 
At the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 
on Tuesday, J une 2 5th, the members of the Association 
were disappointed of the lecture on “The Uses of 
BotanicGardens,” which was to have been dealt with on 
the afternoon in question. The gap was, however, ably 
filled by the Rev. G. Henslow, who proceeded to un¬ 
fold to his hearers some of the wonders of nature as 
exemplified in the curiosities and freaks of plant life. 
The reverend gentleman used as illustrations some 
of the plants which had found a place in the day's 
show. As an authority on plant life Mr. Henslow’s 
reputation is well known, but his delightfully simple 
manner of imparting of his store of knowledge to his 
hearers is not less remarkable and noteworthy. In 
speaking of the Primula the lecturer, after comment¬ 
ing on the peculiarity usually to be seen of the vary¬ 
ing lengths of stamens and pistil, said that Darwin 
had discovered that very many more seeds were pro¬ 
duced as the result of a union between pistils and 
stamens that were at the same height in their various 
flowers than when pistil and stamens were at different 
heights. 
This led up to the question of crossing and inter¬ 
crossing and the marvellous results that had sprung 
from its practice. In some cases we did not even 
know exactly from what parentage some of our races 
of garden plants had sprung, so much had they been 
modified from their ancestral forms by the pains¬ 
taking labours of the florist. As a case in point of 
the confusion that existed with regard to the 
parentage of some of our favourite flowers, the 
lecturer touched upon the controversy that was at 
present being carried on in the horticultural papers 
as to what was the real origin of the showy strains of 
garden Cinerarias, which were now everywhere 
looked upon with such special favour for their showy 
decorative qualities, some authorities asserting that 
they were all sprung from the various modifications 
which -the descendants ©! Cineraria cruenta had put 
on under cultivation, others being of opinion that at 
least two, and perhaps more, species were concerned 
—most likely C. cruenta and C. Heritieri, or, as it 
used to be called, C. lanata, With regard to the 
history of the tuberous Begonia, however, this 
mystery did not exist, for the scarlet-flowered one 
was introduced in 1864, the yellow one in 1865, and 
the pink one in 1867. Since then the repeated 
crossing and intercrossing which had been zealously 
prosecuted on all hands has produced the gorgeous 
race of plants which we prize so highly and cultivate 
to such a large extent. The brightly hued Violas 
which were now such general favourites in our 
gardens had also been brought into existence by the 
exertions of the florist. Burbidge states that Lady 
Mary Bennett in the year 1725 was the first to pay 
attention to the Viola as a garden plant. Subse¬ 
quent to that date the work of crossing had been 
vigorously carried on, V. altaica, V. lutea. and 
possibly many others being largely utilised as parents 
of the present race. 
The lecturer then went on to remark upon the 
wonderful ability that plants possessed of adapting 
themselves to varied circumstances and different 
environments, their structure and appearance being 
often greatly modified to suit the changed order of 
things. Examples of this would, he said, be found 
n many of the members of Euphotbiaceae and in the 
Cactae, for although these two orders were very 
widely severed from each other, their members 
actually in very many cases assumed a certain like¬ 
ness to one another, from the fact of their growing 
together in the same dry, hot, arid regions. The 
thick fleshy leaves and stems, covered with a thick 
hard cuticle or with an abundance of hair, was a 
wise provision of nature to hinder the excessive 
evaporation of water from the plant systems. 
Brodiaea volubilis was next cited as another instance 
of plant adaptation. The flower stems, which are 
long and ungainly, exhibited a desire to reduce their 
apparent length by coiling themselves around any 
rigid substance that came within reach by virtue of 
the force of circumnutation, coupled perhaps with a 
slight degree of sensitiveness. 
Very curious examples of how plants adapt them¬ 
selves to changed conditions might, Mr. Henslow 
continued, be observed in the way in which some of 
them will actually alter their habit of growth. Thus 
a plant which may be originally a climber affects a 
dwarf and shrubby habit for some reason or other, 
the climbing propensity being held in abeyance for 
very lengthy periods, although now and again there 
would be an attempt at a reversion to the original 
order of things. As a familiar instance of this he 
might mention our common dwarf French Bean, 
which, originally of climbing habit, had been induced 
under cultivation to take up a dwarf and bushy style 
of growth, but which would occasionally evince a 
tendency to elongate its stems and to take to climb¬ 
ing again. The Convolvuluses again, although, with 
us, essentially climbing subjects, in Southern Africa 
were not so. Speaking of the existence of dwarfs, 
the lecturer said that it was very difficult to discover 
just exactly the true reasons for plants exhibiting a 
tendency to dwarf. True it was that the florist was 
able by carefully selecting as seed bearers and parents 
of a future generation the shortest of the parents at 
his disposal, and by consistently continuing this was 
able to give us comparatively dwarf plants, but still 
up to the present no one had hit upon the plan of 
creating dwarfs. Mr. McNab, of Edinburgh, had, 
however, in the course of his investigations dis¬ 
covered that a dwarf race of Rhododendrons may be 
obtained by fertilising with pollen from the short 
stamens. 
The peculiarities manifested by many plants at 
some period or other of their lives of reverting back 
to an ancestral form was next dealt with. The 
Gloxinia was mentioned as a case in point. The 
reverend gentleman said that G. speciosa when 
introduced in 1815 was a drooping irregular flower 
with but four stamens. This crossed with one or 
two other species, probably G. caulescens, produced 
a race of hybrids which were soon extensively culti¬ 
vated. In 1846 a seedling, G. Fifeana, was raised by 
Mr. Fife, of Rothesay, which had erect flowers, a 
peculiarity which is usually considered to have been 
characteristic of the normal and original form. 
Since that time the flower has become regular and 
has five instead of four stamens, as was the case 
with G. speciosa. A most interesting conversation 
then ensued upon regular and irregular flowers, and 
upon the several positions they occupied in the 
economy of nature. Here the lecturer stated that 
the regular flower was the true ancestral form, but 
that owing to various causes numbers of them had 
become irregular during a lapse of a considerable 
number of years. Thus, as doubtless many of the 
audience had observed, some of the Linarias, or 
Toadflaxes were irregular because the corolla was 
spurred. But here nature, attempting to throw back 
to an earlier form, now and again strove to do away 
with this irregularity. As an instance of this Linaria 
peloria was mentioned, in which the flower had been 
made regular by the production of four extra spurs, 
making five in all. It often happened, moreover, that 
the terminal bloom in an inflorescence of what are 
usually irregular flowers was nearly or quite regular. 
This again was a clear attempt on the part of nature 
to produce something more nearly in accordance 
with what was doubtless an original form. Irregular 
flowers, such as those of the Pea, were without 
doubt brought about in great part through the 
infiuence which various insects exercised upon them. 
The various methods by which some plants 
increased the showiness of their flowers with a view 
to attracting the various insects to themselves 
necessary for pollenising purposes was next discussed. 
Some, as in many of the Campanulas, have a highly 
coloured petaloid calyx, whilst the Hydrangea in a 
natural state has the outer flowers aborted and 
sterile, the greatly enlarged calyx materially contri¬ 
buting to the showiness of the plant and serving to 
attract insects to the centre blooms, which are com¬ 
paratively inconspicuous and fertile. 
ENGLISH AND SPANISH IRISES. 
After the beauty of the dwarf and tall bearded 
Irises (Iris barbata var.), commonly known as Flag 
or German Irises, one gets what are principally 
known and represented in cultivation as the English 
and Spanish Iris (I. xiphioides and I. Xiphium). 
With this class one has a grand succession of bloom 
from the Iris family. These latter Irises are fast 
growing into repute, both as a garden plant and as 
a florist's flow-er, by the large quantities that are 
used for table decoration, lasting so well in water, 
and for the beauty of their blossoms, as well as the 
endless colours as there are in a collection of them. 
From the old blue it has been converted by the able 
connivance, so to speak, of the hand of man, into 
almost all shades and colours ; there are pale blues, 
deep blues, lemon and deep golden, white, blush, 
lilac, purple, claret, bronze, crimson, and violet, seifs 
and shaded, mottled and striped, and so marvellously 
blended that no description can do them full justice, 
and many are delightfully fragrant. 
They are both of Spanish origin, and were intro¬ 
duced into England some centuries ago. The 
English Iris has by many been claimed as a British 
plant, and justly so, yet this is erroneous. The Iris 
xiphioides, or English Iris, is a vigorous growing 
species, with very large flowers, measuring from four 
to six inches across, and have together with its 
congeners been deservedly termed the “ Orchids ” of 
the flower garden. Their culture is very simple, as 
they will grow in almost any ordinary garden soil, 
but succeed best in a compost of sandy loam and 
leaf mould well drained. It is advisable that the 
bulbs should not remain in the ground longer than 
two or three years, as the young bulbs are formed 
directly under the old bulbs, and thus in the course 
of a few years the bulbs descend so low as to be out 
of reach of the necessary air to be capable of vege¬ 
tation. Such varieties as those mentioned are some 
of the most attractive in the garden, and most effec¬ 
tive when grown in pots for conservatory decoration. 
The bulbs should be planted any time during Sep¬ 
tember and October in clumps from three to twelve, 
and about four inches deep, and five inches apart. 
Varieties of English Iris. 
Mountain of Snow : a beautiful white. 
Abigail: s., crimson-purple, splashed lavender 
f., lavender and violet. 
Blanche Fleur: s., white with a rose tinge; f., 
white. 
Gertrude : s., mauve, splashed purple; f., lavender 
and violet. 
Amusant : s., purple; f., deep blue, splashed 
purple. 
Graaf Bentinck: s., crimson, flaked white j f., 
white, spotted crimson. 
Cleo : s., violet-purple ; f., rich violet-blue. 
Armida: s., purple, mottled black: f., crimson- 
purple and black. 
Mont Blanc : the best pure white. 
King of the Blues : the largest and best blue. 
La Charmante : s., lavender-blue ; f., white, laced 
lavender. 
L’Unique; a rich claret, very handsome. 
Vaniqueur : a pretty lavender, mottled violet. 
La Vierge : s., azure blue ; f., violet and black. 
Palatinus; s., mauve, flaked purple; f., rosy- 
purple. 
Victoria : s., magenta, flaked white; f., splashed 
rosy-purple. 
Ruby : a very beautiful crimson-purple. 
Grande Blanche ; white, feathered and blotched 
purple. 
The above represent the finest and most distinct, 
and would be found to be most strikingly beautiful 
and varied if planted in groups as recommended. 
They are nearly a fortnight later to bloom than the 
Spanish Iris, and differ from them considerably, the 
latter being smaller, and the combination of colours 
more varied. The peculiar blending of shades in 
these render them one of the most curious yet inter¬ 
esting bulbous garden plants we have, and can be 
compared if not quite equal to the rarest Cattleya, 
the choicest Laelia, or the finest Sobralia, as they 
possess all the delicate tints and Varied shadds. 
