198 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 26, 1892. 
ridor, and some of them are pretty and worthy of 
more extended cultivation. The Pompon Anemones 
are of good size, and one has a yellow disc and buff 
rays, while another has bright yellow rays and a 
paler disc faintly shaded with buff. There are several 
seedlings, and one of the choicest has blooms 2 in. 
or 3 in. in diameter, with yellow rays faintly tinted 
with buff. It may be compared to a yellow Mar¬ 
guerite. A pink variety, with heads about the same 
size, is also pretty. A smaller flowered variety has 
rosy-purple rays and a golden disc. The collection 
is only being formed, and by this time next year the 
number of varieties will be doubled or trebled. 
Chrysanthemum Mary Anderson. 
Beautiful as are most of the Japanese and incurved 
varieties, if we eliminate the mere question of size, 
the above loses nothing by comparison with them" 
Few single flowers at this season exceed in beauty 
or usefulness the white Mary Anderson. Every one 
who sees it or grows it think most highly of it, the 
white blossoms and bright yellow discs being so 
light and elegant. For cutting the variety is to be 
strongly recommended, and we find it most useful 
for house furnishing if struck late in the season 
(May) and grown on in 48-sized pots. Although 
there are a number of single varieties grown now, I 
have only seen one other that I would care to grow. 
The singles have not yet become popular to any 
extent, nor do I think they will until we get more 
decided colours among them. Mary Anderson was 
shown in fine style at the late Bournemouth show.— 
Con. 
-- 5 -- 
GREENHOUSE RHODO¬ 
DENDRONS. 
Within relatively a few years past a race of Rhodo¬ 
dendrons has been brought into existence, which 
has proved a most serviceable class of plants for 
cultivation under glass. They are generally known 
as hybrid greenhouse Rhododendrons, and have 
been raised on the one hand by crossing R. javanicum 
and R. jasminiflorum, and on the other hand by 
using R. multicolor as one of the parents. They 
may be, and are, grown by many cultivators in a 
greenhouse temperature throughout the year, but 
those who grow a large number of them will find it 
most convenient and economical to grow a goodly 
proportion of them in an intermediate house so as 
to obtain a supply of flowers for cutting or other 
purposes all the year round. We have frequently 
seen the collections of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
and Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son, at all 
times of the year, and we do not recollect 
a single instance of an entire absence of 
flowers. The temperature of the houses in which 
they are grown keeps the plants moving all the year 
round ; and as they go out of bloom the leafy buds 
commence to push, and gradually develop and ripen 
their wood. Then the flower buds form, plump up 
and gradually expand. At the present time there is 
a good sprinkling of bloom in the two principal 
houses devoted to them at Chelsea, as well as in some 
of the others, where a display of flowering plants is 
being kept up. 
New Varieties. 
There are always some of the hybrid or cross-bred 
seedlings coming into bloom for the first time, 
and the best of them that are sufficiently distinct 
from those already named and in commerce are 
given names which take their places in the lists. 
Some of the older kinds gradually get superseded 
and in like manner drop out of the lists, and by this 
means every shade of colour comes to be represented 
by the very best types that are to be had. Ruby is 
one of the multicolor section with uniformly brilliant 
red flowers, larger than most that have hitherto been 
obtained of this type. All of them are characterised 
by dwarf habit, slender, twiggy, much branched 
stems and relatively small flowers ; but the latter are 
destined to be enlarged. Incarnata Floribunda 
belongs to the Javan type and recalls R. jasmini¬ 
florum in its long tube, but in this case the tube is 
considerably thicker and like the lamina it is flesh 
coloured. Much larger and shorter are the red, 
flowers of Neptune, with a five-lobed purple band in 
the throat. The best white is Purity, which is pure 
white with a pale lemon throat and yellow anthers. 
The flowers are also of good average size. Balsamae- 
florum roseum originated in the same batch as the 
other doubles, but it was later in attaining the flower¬ 
ing stage. The flowers are a beautiful rose, and 
double, resembling an Oleander. The petals are not 
at all crowded, nor are the flowers large. The 
variety, like all of the above, is now to be sent out, or 
put into commerce for the first time. 
Older Standard Sorts. 
One of the finest of the doubles is Balsamaeflorum 
album, with flowers for all the world resembling double 
Tuberoses, but without the fragrance unfortunately. 
They may be wired separately for buttonholes. A 
beautifully distinct variety is Souvenir de J. H. 
Mangles, with deep salmon-red flowers, and a soft 
rosy-purple throat. Luteo-roseum has rosy flowers, 
slightly shaded with yellow. A handsome salmon- 
yellow variety is that named Monarch, contrasting 
with purple anthers. The flowers of Triumphant 
are moderate in size, but crimson-scarlet, and very 
freely produced. Bold and striking is Lord Wolseley, 
with Indian yellow flowers, and a wavy red line in 
the throat. 
We noted an unnamed seedling of the type of 
Princess Beatrice, but having flowers of a brighter 
pink, with a line across the throat. The large and 
long tubed flowers of Princess Alexandra are blush- 
white. The shades of yellow are now pretty 
numerous, and many of them are very distinct, but 
it is difficult to describe them. For instance 
Princess Frederica may be described as buff 
yellow, with a pale purple transverse line, but the 
line is different from what we meet with amongst 
Chrysanthemums. Maiden’s Blush is notable for 
the large size of its blush coloured flowers ; the 
segments of the corolla are so broad that they over¬ 
lap one another. A very pleasing colour is that of 
Princess Royal, with flowers of a uniform shade of 
rosy-pink, and of large size. All of the above named 
sorts will doubtless hold their own for many years to 
come, and those who grow only a few varieties will 
select those colours which most please their fancy. 
-- 
Gardening Miscellany. 
CjU 
AMASONIA PUNICEA. 
The value of this plant for stove decoration seems to 
be but comparatively little known, otherwise it would 
be more extensively used. We examined a batch of 
plants recently in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & 
Sons, Chelsea, and which has been flowering for the 
last two months. The flowers are not all over yet, 
but, as those who are acquainted with this plant 
know, the flowers do not by any means constitute the 
most ornamental part of the plant, nor the longest 
lasting. The bracts subtending the two ranks of 
flowers are of a bright crimson-red, a hue which 
they maintain for many weeks together. The lower¬ 
most ones are largest, in fact resembling small 
leaves ; they get larger with age, and ultimately, after 
the lapse of many weeks, theyhssume a bronzy-green 
hue closely similar to the leaves, or they may even 
drop while still highly coloured. The flowers are 
tubular with a more spreading five-lobed lamina, 
and are of a light yellow colour, contrasting well 
with the highly-coloured bracts. They are de¬ 
veloped in succession and fall in the same ratio 
after they have been expanded for some time. The 
leaves proper are oblong-lanceolate, serrate, dark 
green, and leathery, and on well-grown plants attain 
a length of 12 in. or 13 in. After the plants have 
finished flowering the tops are cut off so as to furnish 
cuttings from the side shoots, which should be taken 
off in the spring and rooted, after which they may be 
shifted on into larger-sized pots, as they require it for 
autumn and winter flowering. The old plants may 
be grown on a second time instead of taking cuttings 
from them, if so desired, but young plants make the 
most vigorous growth. 
NIDULARIUM AM AZ ON ICU M. 
The fine form and neat arrangement of the leaves of 
this species make it one of the most useful for decor¬ 
ative purposes. The leaves are ligulate or strap¬ 
shaped, finely serrated on the margins, and more or 
less tinted with red on the upper surface, especially 
in the young state when they are mostly red all over 
the surface. The under surface is of a beautiful shin¬ 
ing red at all stages of the growth of the leaves. The 
plant is always of dwarf and neat habit, and a few 
plants may therefore easily be accommodated in the 
stove. Propagation is effected, as in the case of most 
other Bromeliads.by suckers which are produced from 
the base of the old plants. Few of the Bromeliads 
are grown to any extent by gardeners generally, but 
this one is worthy of more attention than it at present 
receives. We noted it in the house recently done up 
with tufa rockwork in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch 
& Sons, Chelsea. 
DIEFFENBACHIA PICTURATA. 
New species of Dieffenbachia continue to be intro¬ 
duced. As in the case of Dieffenbachia Meleagris, 
this one also comes from the warm regions of 
tropical America, and both were introduced by 
Messrs. Linden, of Brussels, last j r ear. The stems 
are erect, and attain a height of 2% ft. or thereby. 
The leaves are ovate, elongated at the point, and of 
a rich dark green, irregularly blotched, and marbled 
in a broken or picturate manner with silvery white. 
A peculiarity of them is that the lower ones are 
more or less lobed at the base, with the lobes 
separated by a rounded sinus. The silvery white 
marbling is sometimes broken and intermixed with 
green in such a manner that the leaves appear dusted 
with a white powder. The specific name has been 
given in reference to this character. A beautiful 
coloured plate of it appears in L'Illustration Horticoie, 
pi. 162. 
WHITE FLOWERS AT CHRISTMAS. 
An amateur enquires—What in the way of hardy 
flowers can I have at Christmas in a cold frame ? I 
think there is nothing better than the Christmas 
Rose, and that form of it known as Helleborus 
niger angustifolius. This is very early, and the 
flowers are whiter than those of the ordinary type. 
If the enquirer has a few strong plants, they will be 
showing flower, and if they are lifted at once, potted, 
and placed in the cold house, and the weather keep 
mild for the next five or six weeks, he may expect to 
have flowers by Christmas. But to ensure success, 
he should plant out under a west wall, at once if he 
can, some young plants of this Christmas Rose, 
placing them in rich deep soil, and allow them to 
remain for two years. By that time they will have 
grown into good stuff for treating as above recom¬ 
mended.—!?. D. 
SELAGINELLA CAULESCENS EMILIANA. 
In its various forms this Selaginella enjoys a wide 
distribution over the eastern part of Asia and the 
islands in that part of the world extending from 
Ceylon to New Guinea. Several distinct and beau¬ 
tiful varieties of it occurring in a wild state, have 
been introduced to cultivation, including S. c. 
japonica, S. c. amoena, S. c. argentea, and that under 
notice. When S. c. Emiliana is grown to full size, 
it forms tufts 6 in. to 8 in. high, of a feathery or fern¬ 
like appearance and of a pleasing light green. The 
stems are branched three or four times, with all 
parts densely covered by the small leaves, and the 
whole resembles a finely divided fern frond of 
triangular outline. These stems are upright, but the 
unbranched portion is so short that the surface of 
the pot in which the plant is grown is entirely 
covered. Propagation is easily effected by means of 
cuttings, but, curiously enough, the plant may be said 
to propagate itself. Small pieces break off, and, 
falling on the surface of the pot take root and grow. 
There are some fine plants of this variety in the 
gardens at Falkland Park, South Norwood Hill. 
IPOMCEA LEARII. 
Stove climbers that flower in winter are relatively 
few, and therefore very welcome in the waning days 
of November when rain and fog are all too plentiful. 
The species under notice is one of the largest 
flowered species we have, whether for indoor or out¬ 
door culture. The regularly funnel-shaped flowers 
measure about 3 in. in diameter, and are of a warm 
bright blue with a white throat and tube. Individual 
flowers are not very long lived, but as they are pro¬ 
duced in axillary, somewhat branching clusters from 
the axils of the leaves, there are always fresh flowers 
coming on, so that a succession is kept up over a 
long period of time. The twining stems grow to a 
great length, and are therefore most suitable for 
training up wires on the undersides of the rafters of 
the stove. The leaves are heart-shaped, as in the 
case of many other species. The short side shoots, 
when allowed to hang down loosely, show off the 
flowers to the best advantage. Plants are easily 
obtained in the first place from seeds, and can be 
propagated afterwards by cuttings of the short side 
shoots. As the species is perennial and evergreen, 
frequent renewal is unnecessary. It usually flowers 
