December 31, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD , 
1067 
Crambe orientalis. 
(See Supplement.) 
Although a congener of the Seakale of the kitchen garden, 
those who have not given attention to the subject of botany 
would scarcely recognise the affinity of the above subject either 
by the leaves or the flowers. The most dominant features of 
the Seakale are its fleshy, glaucous leaves, resembling in colour 
the Cabbage, and the short, branching stems bearing white 
flowers. 
The subject under notice has very large pinnatisect or 
deeply cut green leaves whi'ch would be regarded as of soine- 
what ornamental value, provided they were' so grown as to pro¬ 
duce a sub-tropical effect. The flower-stem, however, develops 
in the early part of the summer, and by the middle of June' the 
plant is in full bloom. It lasts two or three weeks more or less 
according to the temperature, and is highly effective on 
account of the myriads of white flowers with which the stems 
are covered. There are species of Crambe having relatively 
large flowers, but in this instance they may be described as 
small, by comparison with those of its other relations, pure 
white, and produced on a tall branching panicle, 3 ft. to 6 ft. 
high. 
As will be seen by reference to our supplementary illustra¬ 
tion, the leaves are very much subdued by the extraordinary 
development of the inflorescence at the time of flowering. At 
a short distance off, the leaves are indeed concealed by the 
cloud-like mass of white flowers. Our photograph was taken 
on June 14th, and represents a mass of the plant filling a small 
round bed on the grass near the south-east corner of the Palm 
house at Kew. 
Those who have large rockeries might plant it on the higher 
grounds with fine effect, as both foliage and flowers would give 
a sub-tropical appearance when well developed by good cultiva¬ 
tion. All coarse-growing subjects require either good soil or 
careful preparation and manuring. As in the case of the Gun- 
neras, it would be well to specially prepare a spot for the recep¬ 
tion of this Oriental Seakale. Tins might be done by taking 
out a deep hole and preparing a rich compost by means of 
manure, rich soil and leaf-mould. After the plant has ripened 
its seeds and died down, the space around it might be occupied 
by something planted late, such as early flowering Chrysan¬ 
themums or other subjects from the reserve garden, which 
would advantageously fill the space for the remainder of the 
season. 
Lonicera thibetica. 
The above species of Honeysuckle presents the form of a 
compact bush about a yard in height and as wide. The much- 
branched stems are furnished with leaves generally, in threes 
instead of pairs! and are about f in. long by J in. in width. 
They are of deep shining green above and covered on the lower 
face with a white felted tomentum. The flowers are rosy-lilac 
and produce abundantly in the axils of the leaves of the 
branches of the current year. A sweet perfume emanates from 
them and can be compared to that of the Lilac, or better still, 
to that of Daphne Cneorum. They are produced twice in the 
year—namely, in the spring during April and June, when they 
are by far the most abundant, and a second time in the 
autumn. The plant is vigorous and does not appear to have 
any particular partiality for a particular kind of soil. It is 
considered most in place in the make-up of shrubbery, 
whether isolated upon the grass or alongside of the walks in 
gardens. Seeds of this shrub were first sent out in 1895 to 
M. Maurice L. de Yilmorin by Abb6 Farges, who sent them 
from Se-Tchuen, Thibet. Sown in the fruticetum at Barres 
on their arrival they germinated quickly, and by 1897 the 
receiver had the satisfaction of seeing some of the plants 
obtained in flower. 
Greenhouse Burnt at Radford. —On the 20th inst. a fire 
broke out in a greenhouse belonging to Mr. Thomas Kelshaw, at 
Mill-in-the Hole, Radford. The house was wholly destroyed, 
+ he damage being estimated at £30. The outbreak occurred in 
the morning, and the fire brigade turned out. 
Tulipa Didieri. 
For many years gardeners were impressed with the idea that 
Tulips in gardens all belonged to T. gesneriana. That might 
have been so while they continued to grow only such as early 
flowering bedding varieties, florists’ varieties, and Darwin 
Tulips. More recently, however, several species have been dis¬ 
covered and introduced to this country which greatly widened 
the scope of the Tulip family. T. Didieri is one of these, and 
since its introduction several others have been discovered and 
introduced which are now reckoned merely varieties of it; and 
as these come from various countries or districts the species is 
Tulipa Didieri. 
regarded as being a native of South Europe, from whence the 
type was introduced in 1882. Several of the forms were dis¬ 
covered and brought into cultivation from Savoy. 
The typical form has bell-shaped flowers, 2 in. to 2-|- in. long 
and bright vermilion, with a very large violet-black blotch, 
surrounded by a yellow line on the base of the segments. The 
lanceolate, wavy and glaucous leaves help to set off tlie beauty 
of the flowers. The latter, if not quite so large as many of 
the forms of T. gesneriana, seem capable of being developed 
by future cultivation, seed growing and selection. Good cul¬ 
tivation alone has had a most marked effect upon these intro¬ 
ductions from their wild habitats, and garden specimens com¬ 
pared with the original botanical ones seem scarcely to be the 
same thing. Our illustration shows a single plant from one 
of the beds at Kew. 
