354  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  October  16,  1902. 
Graham  in  Edinburgh,  and  Henslow  in  Cambridge,  and  which  is 
that  now  geriti  My^acceptecl  and  taught  in  every  institution  cf 
the  country. 
In  1845  appeared  “The  Vegetable  Kingdom,”  with  a  wholly 
new  arrangement,  differing  entirely  from  all  the  others  he  had 
previously  been  labouring  to  introduce.  In  this  he  restored  the 
great  hypogynous,  perigynous,  epigynous,  and  declinous  divisions 
of  Jussieu,  and  suppresses  the  apetalous,  which  he  distributes 
among  the  other  divisions.  This  is,  undoubtedly,  by  far  the  best 
scheme  he  has  ever  proposed,  and  had  he  introduced  such  a 
system  in  1833,  instead  of  that  set  forth  in  the  “  Nixus,”  he  might 
have  lived  to  see  it  adopted  in  botanical  education  as  a  formidable 
rival  to  that  of  De  Candolle.  But  this  last  and  certainly  his  best 
effort,  was  the  result  of  a  gradual  building  up  of  material  prepared 
by  others.  It  was  first  of  all  a  recurrence  to  the  Jussieuan  and 
Candollean  systems,  with  the  adoption  of  such  views  as  had  pre¬ 
viously  been  enunciated  by  Bart  ling,  Endlicher,  Martins,  Brong- 
niart,  and  others,  aided  by  the  labours  of  our  own  countrymen, 
the  Hookers,  Bentham,  Griffith,  Gardner,  Miers,  Wright,  and 
more,  but  it  came  too  late  for  adoption. 
It  is  not,  however,  with  the  view  of  drawing  attention  to  what 
may  be  supposed  Dr.  Lindley’s  uncertain  ideas  with  regard  to 
classification  that  we  have  directed  attention  to  these  matters, 
but  rather  to  show  that  an  opinion  we  have  often  heard  expressed, 
to  the  effect  that  it  is  to  him  we  are  indebted  in  this  country  for 
the  adoption  of  the  natural  system  as  it  is  now  taught,  is  not  a 
correct  one;  and  that  if  students  in  botany  had  relied  for  guid¬ 
ance  on  the  works  of  Dr.  Lindley  alone,  they  must  have  experi¬ 
enced  that  feeling  of  insecurity  that  one  has  when  in  a  strange 
country  he  places  himself  under  a  guide  who  hesitates  at  every 
deviation  of  the  beaten  track. 
In  1832,  Mr.  Lindley  received  from  the  University  of  Munich 
the  honorary  degree  of  “  Doctor  of  Philosophy,”  and  henceforth 
was  known  as  Dr.  Lindley.  In  1834  he  published  “  Ladies’ 
Botany,”  a  work  in  two  volumes,  and  written  in  a  familiar  and 
popular  style  in  the  form  cf  letters;  but  whether  the  style  of  the 
letters  did  not  suit  their  taste,  or  the  subject  their  capacity,  or 
whether  it  was  that  what  is  suitable  for  gentlemen  is  not  equally 
so  for  ladies,  the  work  proved  a  failure,  and  has  long  since  fallen 
into  obscurity. 
He  was  a.  voluminous  writer,  and  besides  those  of  his  works  to 
which  we  have  already  referred,  and  numerous  others  of  smaller 
character,  he  was  the  author  of  an  “  Introduction  to  Botany,” 
which  passed  through  four  editions;  “  The  Genera  and  Species  of 
Orchidaceous  Plants;”  “  Sertum  Orchidaceum ;”  “School 
Botany ;”  “  Elements  of  Botany,”  Ac. ;  and,  in  conjunction  with 
Mr.  Hutton,  “  The  Fossil  Flora  of  Great  Britain.”  His  greatest 
and  best  works  are  “The  Vegetable  Kingdom,”  already  referred 
to,  and  “  The  Theory  of  Horticulture,”  the  first  edition  of  which 
appeared  in  1840,  and  the  second  under  the  title  of  “  The  Theory 
and  Practice  of  Horticulture,”  in  1855.  In  1841  he  united  in 
establishing  the  “  Gardeners’  Chronicle,”  of  which  he  remained 
the  editor  till  the  summer  of  1865,  when  he  was  succeeded  in  that 
office  by  Dr.  M.  T.  Masters. 
Dr.  Lindley  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  and  Linn  scan  Societies, 
and  a  member  of  most  of  the  learned  societies  of  Europe.  He 
was  awarded  the  gold  medal  cf  the  Royal  Society,  and  in  1863  his 
friends  presented  him  with  a  piece  of  plate  in  the  form  of  a 
candelabrum  as  a  testimony  of  their  regard. 
Dr.  Lindley  was  not  what  might  be  termed  a  great  botanist. 
He  raised  himself  to  a  degree  of  eminence,  not  so  much  as  a 
botanist  as  a  journalist,  and  by  his  connection  with  the  (Royal) 
Horticultural  Society.  With  the  exemption  of  his  works  on  the 
Orchidacese,  and  the  “  Vegetable  Kingdom,”  he  did  not  contribute 
much  to  the  store  of  botanical  knowledge;  and  when  we  compare 
what  he  did  for  the  extension  and  encouragement  of  the  science 
with  the  labours  of  Sir  William  Hooker,  or  his  contributions  to 
it  with  those  of  Dr.  Bentham  and  Dr.  Hooker,  we  are  not  inclined 
to  concede  to  him  so  high  a  position  in  the  rank  of  botanists. 
What  he  might  have  attained  if  he  had  devoted  that  time  to 
botany  which  he  gave  to  journalism,  can,  of  course,  only  be  left 
to  conjecture. 
He  was  a  man  of  an  extraordinary  energy  and  activity  of  mind 
frequently  amounting  to  impetuosity;  yet  he  had  not  the  philo¬ 
sophic  mind  of  Darwin,  or  Mold,  or  De  Candolle,  and  many  others. 
His  name  does  not  rank  with  those  of  Ray  or  Robert  Brown.  But 
although  lie  came  short  of  all  those  qualities  he  had  great  powers 
of  generalisation  and  adaptation,  and  he  could  so  combine  and 
apply  the  views  of  others  as  to  render  them  practical  and  popular, 
aw  has  been  so-  well  exemplified  in  “  The  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Horticulture  ”  and  “  The  Vegetable  Kingdom.’3 
It  was,  therefore,  rather  as  a  teacher  that  he  achieved  his 
greatest  success.  His  classes  at  one  time  were  well  attended  ;  and  it 
.■'poke  much  in  his  favour  that  his  students  frequently  numbered 
as  many  as  two  hundred,  the  greater  number  of  whom  were 
purely  voluntary,  and  not  compelled  by  any  college  curriculum 
to  attend  on  the  course.  Still,  as  a  teacher  he  never  attained  the 
position  of  Sir  William  Hooker,  Professor  Henslow,  or  Edward 
Forbes,  and  he  will  be  remembered  more  as  a  man  of  action  than 
of  deep  scientific  thought. 
Crocus  speciosus,  M.  Bieb. 
It  is  surprising  that  the  worth  of  the  autumn-flowering  Crocus 
is  as  yet  hardly  recognised,  and  that  so  few  gardens  possess  even 
one  species  of  this  lovely  and  valuable  flower.  The  Colchicum, 
a  less  attractive  flo:ver,  is  better  represented,  and,  unfortunately, 
the  name  of  “  autumn  Crocus  ”  has  been  so  commonly  applied  to 
it  that  when  one  mentions  the  “autumn  Crocus”  most  people 
assume  that  it  is  the  Meadow  Saffron  to  which  one  refers.  I 
should  be  one  of  the  last  to  depreciate  the  value  of  the  Colchicum, 
which  has  a  place  of  its  own  in  the  garden  and  ought  to  be  indis¬ 
pensable,  but  the  true  Crocus  is  so  delightful  in  autumn  that  it 
ought  to  be  cultivated  as  well.  To  tell  of  the  numerous  species 
which  bloom  in  autumn  or  early  winter  would  take  up  a  con¬ 
siderable  space,  so  that  I  purpose*  only  mentioning  now  one  of 
the  best,  if  not  the  best,  of  these  autumnal  Croci,  C.  speciosus, 
the  “  showy  ”  or  “  blue  ”  autumn  Crocus.  It  is  one  of  the  finest 
of  all  Crocuses,  and  one  only  longs  for  its  greater  appreciation, 
an  appreciation  which  might  even  lead  to  its  improvement.  C. 
speciosus  is  pretty  widely  distributed  in  its  range  of  habitat, 
occurring,  as  Mr.  George  Maw  tells  us,  from  North  Persia, 
through  the  eastern  parts  of  Asia,  Minor,  the  Caucasus,  and  the 
Crimea,  to  the  province  of  Podolia,  in  southern  Russia.  Maw 
doubts  th©  record  of  its  occurrence  in  Transylvania,  but  since  his 
monograph  appeared  its  known  habitats:  have  been  extended  by 
the  discovery  in  Afghanistan  of  the  fine  variety,  C.  s.  Aitehisoni, 
which  has  rapidly  become:  popular.  He  classes  it  with  the  nudi- 
flori,  or  species  without  a  basal  spathe,  and  with  the  annulati,  i.e., 
the  species  with  a,  basal  corm  tunic  composed  of  coriaceous  annuli. 
.4  noteworthy  point  about  this  species  is  that  it  is  one 
of  the  few  Crocuses  which  produce®  its  bud  growths  as  bulblets 
or  cormlets  round  the  base  of  the  old  conn,  where  they  remain 
without  producing  foliage  for  the  first  year.  Another  is  that  it. 
has  the  longest  petals  or  segments  of  any  of  the  species  known  to 
Mr.  Maw,  who.  gives  the  comparison  with  C.  parviflorus,  as 
between  half  an  inch  in  the  latter  and  an  inch  and,  a,  half  for 
C.  speciosus..  There  can  be  no  question  regarding  the  beauty  of 
this  fine  Crocus,  which  flowers  in  September  and  October  in 
ordinary  seasons  (this  year  I  had  no  blooms  until  the  beginning 
of  October),  and  no  one.  can  fail  to  appreciate  its  large  blossoms 
of  pale  lilac  or  blue,  so  beautifully  marked  with  deeper  blue  or, 
rather,  purple  feathering  all  over  the  flower.  A  mass  of  this 
Crocus  presents  a,  charming  spectacle  when  the  autumnal  sun 
causes  the  blooms  to  open  widely  to  its.  rays.  When  quickly 
grown,  they  are  most  pleasing,  as  they  then  present  an  unbroken 
mass  of  colouring,  the  leaves  not  appearing  until  after  the  flowers 
have  vanished.  The  leaves  are  at  times  as  much  as  15in  in  length 
at  maturity,  so  that  those,  who  plant  this  fine  Crocus  will  require 
to  take  their  habit,  into  consideration. 
The  variety  Aitehisoni,  from  Afghanistan  is  a  fine  one,  though 
I  think  that  it®  lighter  colour  is  rather  a,  defect.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  a  little  later,  a  recommendation  to  some,  and  it  is  also 
larger,  and  it  seems  to  me  to  open  out  more  flatly  to  the  sun.  It 
is  as-prolific  as  the  type,  and  soon  increases  rapidly.  Any  one 
who  admires  the  noble  Crocus  speciosus  would  like  to.  have  a 
little  further  variety.  This  is  not  easily  secured,  a,s  it  appears 
to.  be  a  specie®  which  varies  little  in  its  native  habitats,  there 
being  no  well-marked  varieties  except  C.  s.  Aitehisoni,  so  far  as  I 
am  aware.  In  consequence,  our  best  chance  of  obtaining  some 
variety  would  appear  to.  be  by  means  of  raising  seedlings. 
Unfortunately,  it  is  a  species  which  seeds  badly  with  me,  the 
frequency  with  which  we  have  wet  autumns  preventing  its  fer¬ 
tilisation,  and  formation  of  its  seeds.  I  have  only  saved  seeds 
some  twice  out  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  but  from  some  pur¬ 
chased  seeds  I  have  one  variety  with  much  larger  blooms  than 
ordinary.  I  hope  that  this  will  thrive  with  me.  May  I  ask 
these  who  cultivate  this  fine  Crocus  to  endeavour  to  raise  seed¬ 
lings?  With  regard  to  the  cultivation  of  C.  speciosus  one  need 
say  little.  It  can  be  grown  as  easily  as  any  common  spring 
Crocus,  and  is  a  charming  occupant,  of  the  border,  rock-garden, 
or  of  the  lawn  or  wilder  grass  plot  or  meadow.  It  is  an  exquisite 
species,  well  worth  growing  by  all  who  are  admirers  of  the  hardy 
bulbous  or  cormous  flowers. — S.  Arnott. 
- - 
Another  Yellow  Calla. 
This  interesting  new  plant  was  recently  awarded  a  medal  by 
the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society,  U.S.A.,  the.  raiser 
being  Jos.  Tailby,  Wellesley,  Mass.  The  plant  is  the  result  of 
a  cross  between  Richardia  (Calla)  Elliotiana  and  R.  albo- 
maculata.  Out  of  the  batch  of  resultant  seedlings  one  plant 
showed  special  merit,  and  was  increased  both  by  offsets  and  by 
scad  lings,  and  it  has  been  proved  that  the  type  is  well  fixed, 
for  the  variety  comes  true  from  seed.  The  colour  is  of  a  beau¬ 
tiful  primrose  yellow,  with  flowers  equal  in  size  to  those  of 
R.  Elliotiana  borne  on  stout  stems,  the  leaves  being  beautifully 
spotted  with  white. 
