940 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Notes on . . . 
Our Illustrations. 
ON CENTRE 
Francoas. 
This beautiful family of perennial plants 
was named after F. Franco, M.D., a botanist 
of the sixteenth century. It contains three 
handsome species, viz., F. ramosa, F. appen- 
diculata, and F. sonchifolia ; the two latter 
are not often seen outside botanic gardens. 
All are nearly or quite hardy in the more 
southern counties, and S. appendieulata is a 
border plant in the North. Their stems are 
short, thickly set with leaves resembling 
those of a turnip in shape, but with a shorter 
stalk ; the leaf, too, is covered with white 
hairs, giving the plants a downy appearance. 
They may be planted out in warm, sheltered 
corners in the rockery, or grown in cold 
frames or a cool greenhouse for the conser¬ 
vatory. For this purpose their long spicate 
racemes are most useful. 
Tlie white flowers of Francoa ramosa have 
gained for it the appropriate name of Bridal 
Wreath (see illustration). This species was 
introduced in 1831. Plants may be raised 
either from seed or cuttings of the caulescent 
stems. The smaller side stems root the most 
readily ; insert them after removing the 
lower leaves in well-drained pots filled with a 
mixture of loam, leaf mould, and sand in 
equal parts. Place in pots on a slight hot¬ 
bed, giving water sparingly, and only suffi¬ 
cient ventilation to keep the leaves from 
“ damping ” or rotting. As soon as the plants 
are rooted they should be potted, giving air 
sparingly until they are again growing freely.. 
!\ hether wintered in greenhouse or frame 
they should be kept close to the glass, and 
away from the pipes. Early in March they 
may be repotted, and, as they increase rapidly 
in size, they may be allowed ample pot room, 
giving the final shift into 7in. pots in April. 
As soon as the ne-w roots reach the outside 
a slight top-dressing of artificial manure may 
be given, continuing this fortnightly up to the 
time the first flowers open, which will be 
about the end cf July. When the flowering 
season is over the dead stems and leaves may 
be removed, and the best of the plants re¬ 
potted into still larger' pots ; these, if care¬ 
fully attended to, will make fine specimens 
the following seasons. 
See ls of all three species may be sown in 
February in light, sandy soil, placing the 
boxes or pans in a gentle heat. Like most 
other seedlings, they succeed best if pricked 
out into other boxes as soon as large enoueh 
to handle. When the young plants have 
niade four or five leaves they may be potted 
into 4m. pots and treated in the same way as 
plants from cuttings. 
Francoa appendieulata has flowers cf a pale 
red colour, slightly deeper towards the base 
of the petals ; the flower stalk is also less 
branched and more compact. 
Francoa sonchifolia produces its flowers in 
a loose raceme ; their colour is paler than the 
above. Both this and the above species were 
introduced in 1830. j q 
Chrysanthemum Merstham White. 
Merstham White is a November flowerino- 
singh, variety of Chrysanthemum with blooms 
about 3m. or 4m. across when disbudded, 
SHEET (pages 938 and 939b 
and without disbudding they would, of course, 
be mere numerous but smaller. The rays 
are in two or three rows, pure white, and 
stand out horizontally when in full blocni, 
surrounding a prominent golden-yellow T disc. 
The flowers represented by our illustration 
were drooping a little in some cases when, 
photographed ; otherwise the picture shows the 
variety in its characteristic form. The plant 
grows about 3ft. high, and is of beautiful, 
branching, bushy habit, with rich, dark- 
green foliage. The flowers from which our 
picture Was, prepared were given us by Messrs-. 
W. Wells and Co., Merstham, Surrey. 
T here are now many white varieties of 
Chrysanthemum sinense in cultivation, all 
different in some respect or other. Some of 
them have larger blooms, or in other words 
longer rays, that are either broader or nar¬ 
rower than those of the variety shown, but 
they differ in time of blooming, height of the 
plant, and whether it branches freely or not. 
I liat under notice has a very desirable habit, 
if the plants are grown in pots for conserva¬ 
tory decoration. Some varieties may be 
made bushy by pinching, but Merstham 
White is naturally of bushy habit, and of the 
easiest cultivation. Those who would prefer 
a greater number of flowers can easily ensure 
that by not disbudding the shoots. A greater 
number of blossoms will be crowded towards 
the top of each shoot or branch. 
Ceanothus aznreus. 
The ordinary form of this choice hardy 
shrub has pale blue flowers produced in dense 
panicles along the branches of the current 
year s growth. The leaves are broadly oblong 
and are much larger than those of many of 
the species in cultivation, but, although it 
comes from Mexico-, this one has the merit 
of being hardy, whether grown as a climber 
trained to a wall or as a bush in the open. 
Since it was introduced several flue varieties 
have been raised from it, each possessing its 
own peculiar value, but none of them lias- 
attained such popularity as Gloire de Ver¬ 
sailles, which has larger trusses and darker 
blue flowers, produced over a much longer 
period even till quite late in the summer. 
Blue is by no means too plentiful a c-olour in 
gal lons, especially late- in the season, and 
Least of all amongst shrubs, s-o that C. 
azurens-, with its varieties, supplies a very 
handsome object for the pleasure grounds or 
shrubbery at a- time when flowering shrubs 
are getting decidedly scarce. 
Lithospermum multiflorum. 
Ine species of Lithospermum supply us 
with a wonderful variety of colour rangin (r 
from the gentian-blue of L. prostratum tS 
the bright yellow of L. multiflorum repre¬ 
sented on our centre sheet. It, is not the only 
yellow species that lias been introduced, 
while, if we’ include our own field and common 
Gromwell, we have flowers of a pale straw- 
yellow. L. p u rpu reo-caeru leu m (another 
Biitish plant) lias; blue flowers, as indicated 
by the name. 
The subject of this note is a native of North¬ 
west America, and should therefore prove 
hardy m many parts of this country, but at 
December 9, 1905. 
present it is rather a scarce plant, and evi¬ 
dently it will take some years to get suffi¬ 
cient increase to be dispersed in gardens over 
the country. The specimen illustrated was 
grown in a pot in the alpine house at Kew, 
where it bloomed in the latter half of May. 
The stems shown were -only 3in. high, but 
another plant in the house was 6in high, 
quite erect, and therefore distinct from the 
trailing or prostrate habit of other species 
already in gardens. At the same time the 
plant is not only dwarf, but appears to be of 
slow growth, and therefore well adapted for 
pl-anting on ledges of the rockery behind 
some dwarfer plants, which it would not be 
likely to overrun. The leaves are narrow 
an 1 thickly crowded on the stems, while the 
flowers, on the other hand, are crowded in 
dense clusters on the top- of the stems and 
keep up a succession for some time. They 
are, therefore-, quite -effective, and will find 
many cultivators and admirers if the plant 
prove-s as hardy as its native country would 
indicate. 
Iris nnguicularis speciosa. 
The above might well be described as a 
variety of the well-known winter flowering 
I. u.nguicularis, better known in gardens 
under the name of I. stylos-a. In some or 
other part of the country it may be seen in 
bloom at various periods from October to 
March, thusi keeping up a succession accord¬ 
ing to the district and the earliness or late¬ 
ness of the season for that locality. In the 
neighbourhood of London I. u. speciosa 
usually flowers in February. It is the largest 
and finest form of the species which has come 
under our notice. The foliage is rather 
dwarfer than that of the ordinary form of the 
species-, while the flowers are carried well 
above, and are of a deep purple-blue with a 
yellow blotch on the disc of the falls, and 
beautifully netted on the lower portion as 
well as on the claw with white and purple 
lines. The standards are of sufficient size to 
be quite effective, and, while they are similar 
in colour to the falls on the upper portion, 
the claw is strikingly tinted or netted and 
shaded with red. The illustration shows 
three blooms and their relative height by 
comparison with the narrow, grass-like leaves. 
Rhododendron cinnabarinmn. 
I he cinnabar-red Rhododendron was intro¬ 
duced from the Himalyas in 1851, and seems 
to have been considered only half-hardy. A 
large- bush or two in Kew Gardens, however, 
show that it has stood a number of winters 
iii the open air, and flowers splendidly in 
May and June. The subject of our illustra¬ 
tion was grown in Ireland, and shows the 
characteristic form of a truss of bloom which 
may not inaptly be compared to Blandfordia 
liobilis, the individual blooms being shaped 
like a hand-bell and drooping as in the last- 
named plant. 
Owing to the peculiar shade of colour by 
comparison with the leaves, it was very diffi¬ 
cult to get a photograph of a whole bush, so 
that a spray merely shows the individual form, 
of the, flowers-, but can give no idea of the 
handsome character of the bush or the pro¬ 
fusion of flowers produced. The oblong 
leaves are of a dull green above, but of a 
russety-recl colour beneath, like many other 
of the remarkable types of Himalayan Rho¬ 
dodendrons. The striking difference between 
the flowers of this species and those com¬ 
monly grown in this country is well shown 
by the truss of Sappho figured at the bottom 
ot the same page. 
In the- matter of cultivation R. cinnabari- 
