December 23, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
265 
Cypripedium bellatulum.— E. G. Sheppard : You 
bloom is a good variety of the above. The method 
of culture proves to be correct. The spotting of the 
petals and lip was very distinct and fine, though the 
dorsal or upper sepal was more a suffused colouring. 
It was introduced in 1888 by Messrs. Low & Co. A 
short note upon your procedure would be of interest 
to other amateur orchidists. 
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES, &c. 
Notwithstanding the great wealth of flowers at 
covering them with bell glasses, to insure their last¬ 
ing for a number of years in pristine condition. The 
low prices at which they are obtainable renders such 
protection quite unnecessary, so that they may be 
kept uncovered by such cumbrous protection, greatly 
to their ornamental value and decorative effect. 
Apart from those annual grasses which are grown in 
almost every garden to a greater or less extent, and 
for different purposes, a few may be mentioned here 
that are less common in this country, though many 
of them are hardy in the southern counties at least. 
Erianthus Ravennae. —The plumes (see illustra- 
Pampas 
g asses obtainable at Christmas, and for the matter 
of that at any time of the year, from those who 
make it their business to procure and keep them in 
stock, render it unnecessary for those who have 
neither time nor space to grow them. 
The graceful character of many of the grasses is 
sufficient plea for the use of them, quite independ¬ 
ently of their practically everlasting nature when 
properly dried at the proper season. The only 
necessity is to keep them dry and dust proof by 
Paradise Plume. 
panicles are woolly, as the generic name would im¬ 
ply, and plumy in character, so that they are very 
handsome in the dried state. 
Pampas Grass (Gynerium argenteum). — The 
Pampas is a native of the vast plains of Brazil, and 
is so named from its habitat on these plains or pam¬ 
pas. It thrives so well in the southern and all the 
warmer parts of Britain and Ireland, that most gar¬ 
deners are familiar with it. The male and female 
flowers are produced on different plants, and the dis- 
the band of the gardener and house decorator at 
Christmastide, and that, too, in a live condition, 
there is yet room and a more or less desire for dried 
grasses and other things of a kindred nature to mix 
with the live flowers, berries, and greenery generally. 
Many collect and dry their own grasses, which may 
have flowered with them in summer, and were not 
actually required for the manifold decorations, ex¬ 
hibitions, &c., in summer. The quantities of dried 
tion) of this grass are only produced in very 
warm summers in this country, but as the plant is of 
robust and strong growth, attaining a height of 5 ft. 
to 6J ft. under favourable conditions, it is highly 
suitable for culture in the sub-tropical garden, where 
it produces dense tufts of very graceful leaves. It is 
a native of South Europe, the Orient, and the East 
Indies, which would account for the necessity of a 
warm summer to flower it here. The flower 
Erianthus. 
Uniola. 
tinction is quite evident to the mere casual observer. 
The female inflorescence (see illustration) is 
upright, silky, plumy, and white. The male panicle 
of flowers, on the contrary, having longer branches, 
assume more of a drooping character at the tips 
Melica 
They are also of a more brownish or pale reddish 
tint in the natural state, though it is possible to 
bleach them. 
Spike Grass (Uniola latifdlia). —There are 
something like four species of Uniola, sometimes 
termed Oat Grass, natives of North America, one of 
them extending to Central and South America. U. 
latifolia is hardy here, flowers freely, and is, perhaps 
the best of its kind. It is a strong growing peren- 
Uva-Grass. 
nial, forming dense tufts of leaves, from amongst 
which it sends up its panicles of flowers to a height 
of 2 ft. to 4 ft. These inflorescences (see illustration) 
may be compared to those of the stronger 
growing species of Briza and Bromus, but are quite 
distinct from either, owing to the flattened and 
sharp edged character of its spikelets. They are 
bold and suitable for decorative work in the dried 
state. 
Paradise Plume (see illustration) is a 
