The Scientific Notebooks of German Orchidologist Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kränzlin

20 THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE [January 6, 1883.

the circumstances that many of the appointments and fixtures for the new year are not made till some weeks or months have elapsed, we have not been able to insert many of the dates of the smaller provincial exhibitions. The dates of all the more important exhibitions, whether in London or the provinces, have been included, as well as the usual Calendar information. The table of mean temperatures is taken from Mr. GLAISHER'S reduction of the Chiswick observations, and, representing the average of forty years, may be taken as an indication of the probable temperature in the vicinity of London. In the Southern Counties, and by the sea, the winter temperature is usually a little higher, in the North a little lower, than that of London and its vicinity. In spring, especially on the eastern side of the island, the temperature rules lower than about London.

— PALM SEEDS.—We hear from Mr. JOSEPH STEVENSON, Honorary Secretary, Agri-Horticultural Society's Garden, Madras, that he experiences great difficulty in making exchanges of Palm seeds. At the present time the garden authorities possess qualities of seeds of the following Palms:—Corypha umbraculifera, Livistona mauritania, Elæis guineensis, Caryota urens, Areca catechu, and several varities of Phœnix, and would be glad to receive offers in exchange from some of our readers.

— THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW.—The total number of visitors to the Royal Gardens, Kew, for the year 1882 was 1,244,167. This is 407,491 in excess of the number for 1881, which in its turn was greater by 111,254 than the number of visitors in any previous year. As in 1881 the Sunday visitors (606,935) were about equal in number to those on all the other days of the week put together (637,232).

— INDIRECT EVIDENCE.—The fact that the American Vines resist or do not succumb to the Phylloxera is being acted on in a large scale in France, the American Vines being used as stocks whereon to graft the better Vines of France. At first there was some doubt as to the real efficacy of the process for practical purposes, but that doubt is now settled, and, as if to prove it, thefts of American Vines from nursuries have become frequent. Thus, near Montpellier one night 850 plants were stolen, and from another nursery a number of cuttings, valued at £200. The variety most affected by the marauders is one namked Othello.

— — JAPANESE VINES.—In view of the everincreasing losses caused by the Phylloxera it is said that the French Government have despatched a Commission to studty the Vines of Japan, and which are cultivated in that country up to the snow line. M. PLANCHON is about to publish a description of the species, of which several are known in herbaria, and some are in cultivation.

— — ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.— The following is a summary of the privileges of Fellows and members for the current year:— A Fellow paying four guineas a year is entitled:— I. To two tickets, both of which are transferable, and will admit the Fellow or the bearer without payment to the Gardens and to the Great International Fisheries Exhibition to be held therein, and to all shows in connection therewith. Each ticket will also entitle the bearer to a season ticket holder's place at the opening ceremony of the Fisheries Exhibition, to be held in the Royal Albert Hall, for the reduced payment of 5s. 2. To admit daily (Sundays excepted) eight friends by written order to the garden at Chiswick. 3. To visit the shows at 12 o'clock, being an hour earlier than the general public. 4. To receive forty orders giving free admission on all occasions until April 15, from which date till May 1 the Gardens will be closed, except to Fellows. These orders will be available on the payment of 6d, during the Fisheries Exhibition on all shilling days. 5. To a share of such seeds, plants, and cuttings of Vines and fruit trees as the Society may have in sufficient numbers for distribution by ballot or otherwise. 6. To purchase the flowers, fruit, and vegetables grown at Chiswick, which may not be required for scientific purposes by the Scientific, Fruit and Floral Committees. 7. To receive a copy of the publications of the Society. 8. To the right of voting at all meetings. 9. To be relieved (on giving previous notice in writing) from the payment of subscriptions while resident abroad. 10. To free admission to the reading room and Lindley

Library. A fellow paying two guineas a year is entitled to one ticket giving the same privileges of admission as in No. I; half the privileges mentioned in Nos. 2, 4, and 5; the same as Nos. 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Present guinea members are entitled to one ticket, not transferable, giving the owner admission on all ordinary occasions, and to all shows at Chiswick and South Kensington, but not to the annual or special general meetings or fêtes or conversazione of the Society, and which does not entitle the member to vote on any matters relating to the affairs of the Society. Entrance fees of new Fellows joing are suspended for the present.

— TITHE COMMUTATION: SEPTENNIAL AVERAGES. — Mr. MONTAGUE MARRIOTT, Editor of Willich's Tithe Commutation Tables, writes:—As the result of the corn averages for the seven years to Christmas, 1882, published in the London Gazette of this evening—viz., Wheat, 5s. 10 1/4d. per imperial bushel; Barley, 4s. 4 1/2 d. per imperial bushel; Oats, 2s. 11 1/4d. per imperial bushel—I beg to state that each £100 of the tithe-rent charge will, for the year 1883 amount to £100 4s. 9 3/4d., or about 2 1/2 per cent. less than last year. The following shows the worth of £100 tithe-rent charge for the last seven years:—For the year 1877, £109 16s. 11 1/2d.; 1878 £112 7s. 5 1/4d.; 1879, £111 15s. 1 1/2d.; 1880, £109 17s. 9 1/2d.; 1881, £107 2s. 10 1/2d.; 1882, £102 16s. 2d.; 1883, £100 4s. 9 3/4d. The average of £100 tithe-rent charge for the forty-seven years elapsed since the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act is £103 2s. 0 1/2d.

— ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF IRELAND. —The dates of this Society's exhibitions for 1883 are as follows:—Spring exhibitions, Thursday, April 19, and Thursday, May 17; Summer show, Thursday July 5; Autumn show, Thursday, Sept. 6; Winter show, Thursday, Nov. 22.

—THE FLORA OF BRITISH INDIA.—We are glad to welcome another instalment (the ninth) of this very serviceable work, published by Sir JOSEPH HOOKER, with the assistance of other botanists (REEVE & CO.) The present part contains, among other orders, the Ericaceæ, Sapotaceæ, Oleaceæ (Jasminum) and various other orders elaborated by Mr. CLARKE, while Sir JOSEPH enumerates the Primulaceæ and Apocynaceæ. Rhododendrum lovers will be interested to see the latest revision of the Indian species by Mr. CLARKE, who has had the advantage of Sir JOSEPH's materials and co-operation, in addition to his own extensive collections and personal experience. The Malayan species (from which originate the so-called greenhouse species of gardens) are grouped together under the sub-genus, Vireya, characterised by the thin walls of the capsule twisting after dehiscence, and with very long-tailed seeds. Here come R. malayanum, jasminiflorum, javanicum. The true Rhodendrons are distinguished by a woody capsule, the valves of which do not twist, and by wingless seeds; here are placed R. arboreum and all the Sikkim species. The R. argenteum of gardens is referred to R. grande of Wight. R. æruginosum is reduced to R. campanulatum, R. Aucklandi to R. Griffithianum. Of the Primroses we have already spoken, but we add that P. imperialis is referred to R. prolifera. We may add that this part concludes the third volume, and as it has brought the record as far as Apocynaceæ it may be presumed that the work is now about half finished. The work comprises an immense geographical area, including the whole of India and Malaya.

— LONICERA STANDISHI.—A fine specimen of this—probably the earliest flowering of all the Honeysuckles —trained to the front of Museum No. 1 at Kew is now bearing numbers of its creamy-white very fragrant flowers. Though perfectly hardy it delights in such positions as the one just noticed, and although not a climber produces longer growths and flowers more freely against a wall than in the open. This species (figured in Bot. Mag., tab. 5709, and in Gard. Chron. 1878, vol. ix., p. 106) is sometimes confounded with the similarly fragrant L. fragrantissima and L. brachypoda. The two former were sent from Shanghai to the Horticultural Society by FORTUNE.

—BILBERGIA NUTANS.—A considerable number of Bromeliads are highly ornamental and desirable stove plants; but, in this country at least, the whole order is comparatively neglected, except in a few establishments. On the Continent the case is to a considerable extent reversed, and private collections of these interesting plants are not uncommon. Heat and moisture are the principal requirements of most of the showy species—where these can be given the cultivation is remarkably easy. Bilbergia nutans is not by any means one of the handsomest species, but its narrow bright green leaves, the central peduncle clothed with the large bright red bracts, the drooping flowers with bright green ovaries, sepals flushed pink, and petals green with deep blue margin, form a peculiarly pleasing combination. It is now in flower at Kew, and a good figure from Kew specimens is given in the Botanical Magazine, vol. 105, tab. 6423.

— TREATMENT OF FROZEN PLANTS.—In a climate like that of Britain, where in winter one week may be summer-like in its mildness, and the next almost arctic in character, bundles of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants sent by goods train must sometimes fare rather badly. As some of our readers might be puzzled how best to treat a frozen mass of vegetation, the following extract from vol. xvi. of the Iowa Horticultural Society may prove of interest:— "Two or three years ago I received, about the 1st of April, a bale of choice plants from Painesville, Ohio. The last of March had been summer-like, and all promised so fair, my order was packed and sent. By some mishap, I did not find the goods until they had been in the express office three or four days. The day they came the express man set the bale in an open coal-shed. That night a new winter came on. I received the package and brought it home as solid as a boulder. These were the choicest of plants: Strawberries, Raspberries, Roses, Peaches, flowering shrubs, &c. They had been nicely packed in wet moss. When I opened the bundle it was with difficulty I could break the packages apart. The ground was frozen 4 inches thick, so that nothing could be set out. I dug a pit and buried the plants in the earth. When the ground was fit for setting-out, I found the plants in the pit in good order; and setting them out I never lost a plant. A. D. Field, Indianola, Iowa."

— VEGETABLE PESTS.—As an instance of the rapidity and thoroughness in which several of the Cactaceæ naturalise themselves in many countries, the following clipping from a leading daily affords striking evidence:—"A Bill has been introduced into the New South Wales Legislative Assem- bly for the purpose of empowering the Government to devote a certain sum to the eradication of the wild Cactus plant, popularly known as the 'Prickly Pear.' So rapid has been the spread of this vegetable pest that whereas, according to the statement of one member, £50 would have sufficed thirty years ago to rid the colony of it, a million sterling will, before many years, be required for such a purpose. It was stated that one proprietor of land in the colony had spent £1000 on his property in trying to destroy this mischievously prolific plant, but had not yet succeeded."

— THE PHYLOXERA IN SOUTH-WEST FRANCE.—The Vigne Américaine gives the following statistics for the Department of Hérault, which may suffice to give our readers some notion of the extent of the disaster in one Department only. The number of hectares destroyed annually (a hectare = rather less than 2 1/2 acres) was as follows:—In 1880, 19,000; in 1881, 20,427; in 1882, 26,267. The number of hectares treated by submersion during the same years was respectively, 1588, 1626, and 2283. The number of hectares treated by carbon sulphide for the same period was 1875, 4632 and 3541 respectively. The number of hectares treated by sulfo-carbonate of potash was 868, 1578, and 751 for the years before mentioned. The number of American Vines used as stocks whereon to engraft the finer Vines has increased from 2624 in 1880 to 10,918 in 1882 in the Department in question.

— SENECIO MACROGLOSSUS.—Of the enormous genus to which it belongs this is, probably, with the single exception of the handsome New World species, S. pulcher, the largest flowered one. It is a striking plant with evergreen Ivy-like glossy leaves borne on long slender twining stems. Its large pale yellow flower-heads are produced in midwinter, and afford a fine contrast to the dark shining foliage. The plant is admirably adapted for trellis-work and well fitted for dwelling-room culture. At Kew a fine specimen trained to one of the rafters is, at present,

MARCH 11, 1882.] THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 341

winter, and the plants are now producing their flowers in great abundance. The Anemone represents a group of most useful spring flowering plants, commencing with the scarlet A. fulgens, and follwoing on the Apennina, the varieties of Hepatica, stellata, cornonaria, sylvestris, and the varieties of A. nemorosa. All of them do well in the open ground, and when they become firmly established flourish with freedom and do a rare service in the garden.

— CLASSIFICATION OF POTATOS.—In the Revue Horticole is given an abstract of M. HENRY VILMORIN'S classification of Potatos. The main groups are five—yellow, rose, red, violet, and variegated. Each of these five main groups is subdivided according as the tubers are round, elongated, flattened, smooth, or notched. Further points of distinction are to be sought in the eyes, which are violet, yellow, rose, or white, and in the colour of the flowers—grey, lilac, white.

— CAMELLIAS AND HYACINTHS.—On Wednesday Messrs. WILLIAM PAUL & SON, of Waltham Cross, opened an extensive and very interesting exhibition of Camellias and Hyacinths, &c., in the Royal Botanic Society's Garden, Regent's Park. Intending visitors should make a point of going early in the ensuing week.

— SEEDLING POTATOS.—The judging of seedling Potatos by the International Committee at the Exhibition of September 20 and 21 is intended to be as thorough and comprehensive as possible. Raisers of seedlings will find the terms stated in the schedule under classes P, Q, R, S, but it may prevent mistakes and disappointments if we at once endeavour to state the case clearly. An intending exhibitor must at once forward "a sufficient number of tubers of each variety" to Mr. BARRON, Royal Horticultural Gardens, Chiswick, and a memorandum on the subject to the Secretary of the International Potato Exhibition, 23, Upper Thames Street. The judges will require to have before them on September 20 a dish of nine samples of each competing seedling, and an extra parcel of six for cooking, and as a matter of course these should not be exposed to the light in any way, The judges will act on the report as to cropping, on the report as to tasting, and on the appearance of the exhibition samples. The object of all this trouble is, of course, to render the final decisions as much as possible beyond question, and of real public importance.

— THE WEATHER.—General remarks on the temperature, rainfall, and duration of bright sunshine, for agricultural and sanitary purposes, during the week ending March 6, issued by the Meteorological Office, London:—The weather has been very unsettled and dull, with rather heavy rain in the south, and rain, snow, or sleet in the north. The temperature, though lower than during last week, has still been above the mean in England and Ireland, but in Scotland it was slightly below. The thermometer was generally highest on the 5th or 6th, the maxima ranging from 51[degrees] in "Scotland, W." to 55[degrees] at some of our southwestern stations, and 57[degrees] at Hereford. The minima were lower than of late, and varied from 27[degrees] in the "Midland Counties" to 35[degrees] in "Ireland, S." The rainfall has been more than the mean in all districts, the excess in the west and north-west being rather large. Bright sunshine shows a decrease in the extreme north-east but an increase elsewhere. The percentage was greatest (38) in "England, S.," and least (11) in "England, N.W." Depressions observed:—At the commencement of the period the barometer was rising in all parts of our area, with moderate southerly or south-westerly winds; but by 8 A.M. on March 1 the mercury had fallen rapidly, and an irregularly-shaped area of low pressure, around which were steep gradients, was shown over England and Ireland. This disturbance caused at first strong easterly winds or gales in the north, and fresh or strong westerly gales in the south; but as it slowly filled up the force of the wind gradually abated, and by the evening of the 3d had become very light from the east on all our coasts. From the 4th until the close of the period the barometer was highest in the southern part of our area, while depressions travelled in an easterly direction across our northern coasts, giving us south-westerly to north-westerly winds, which occasionally increased to a strong breeze or fresh gale.

HOW TO DISTINGUISH ORCHIDS OUT OF FLOWER* IN the Gardeners' Chronicle, n.s., xiv. p. 750, there is a translation of an analytical key to the vegetative characters of various Orchids and groups of Orchids, originally published by Dr. Pfitzer in the Verhandlungen des Naturhist.-Med. Vereins zu Heidelberg; and in an introductory note thereto most of the technical terms there and here employed are explained. What is there set forth in a tabular form is elaborated and illustrated by additional examples in the book before us. Ignoring altogether the floral characters, Dr. Pfitzer attempts to construct a comparative classification or subordination of Orchids from the characters afforded by their vegetative

[black and white illustration]] W.G.S. FIG. 51.—AERIDES SCHRŒDERI. An example of a monopodial Orchid, in which the main stem continues to grow at the point, the inflorescence shoots being given off at the sides from the axil of the leaves.

organs—that is to say, their stems, leaves, and inflorescences; but partly in consequence of teh great value of living plants of many species, partly in consequence of many species and genera being only known from portions of plants preserved in herbaria, this classification, as the author acknowledges, though embracing all the tribes of the order, is fragmentary and incomplete. Nevertheless, it may serve as a basis for further researches in the same branch of knowledge, and the author has done well to publish the results of his labours at once, instead of delaying it until he could fill up the gaps. At the same time, it is disappointing to find that this massive quarto volume contains nothing nearer finality in the classifi- [classification]

*Grundsüge einer vergleichenden Morphologie der Orchideen (Outlines of a Comparative Morphology [of the Vegetative Organs] of the Orchideæ). Von Dr. Ernst Pfitzer, O. Professor der Botanik an der Universität Heidelberg. 4to, pp. 194. with one coloured and three uncoloured plates and thirty-five woodcuts. Carl Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1882.

[classification] cation of Orchids according to their vegetative characters than does the abstract referred above. It might have been expected that the author would exhaustively examine the results obtained, and have indicated how far they might be used in conjunction with the characters of the floral organs in a systematic classificatin of the order; but he has not done so. Neither has he attempted the classification of all the species of a single large genus. What he has done is to study a number of species of barious genera—as many, it may be presumed, as offered sufficient materials—and to construct a framework of a classification from their vegetative characters. It is not clear whe value the author himself attaches to his work, or how far he anticipates that characters of the vegetative organs can be utilised in a systematic classification. At p. 7

he mentions that Mr. Bentham, in his essay on the tribes of the Orchideæ,* makes no use of the abstract published in this journal and elsewhere, from which it might be inferred that he considers use might have been made of it. At p. 8 he distinctly states that he would not think of classifying Orchids by their habit alone; yet he does not say how far he would go. We are left to determine how far this is feasible as best we may from the body of work.

With regard to the genera Bletilla, Preptanthe, and the relationship of Phaius, Calanthe, and Limodorum, alluded to at p. 4 as instances of Orchids closely allied in vegetative characters, and even in their floral characters, except the pollinia, it may be mentioned that Blume and Bentham have stated that Bletilla and Preptanthe were separated from Bletia and Calanthe respectively, owing to a mistaken view as to the nature of their pollen. And Mr. Bentham would

*Journal of the Linnean Society, xviii, pp. 281—360.