THE ANTIRRHINUM, OR SNAP DRAGON.

CALCEOLARIAS.

203

1. Mr. Gaines, for Cavalier, Gustavus, Prima Donna, Bianca, Don Juan, and Eclipse; 2. Messrs. Henderson and Co., Pine-apple-place, Miss Rattray, Duke of Rothsay, Black Agnes, Dr. Neill, Lucy Ashton, and Catherine Seaton.

RANUNCULUSES.

Beautiful exhibitions of these interesting flowers, though in some instances hardly sufficiently blown, were sent by Mr. Tyso, of Wallingford, and Mr. Costar, of Benson; Mr. Tyso showed two stands of fifty fine blooms each, among which were specimens of his superb seedling varieties named Flaminius, Enchantress, Emerald, Arbitrator, Pleaser, Delectus, Alexis, Exhibitor, Dædalion, Minios, Amasis, Victor, Festus, Brunel, and Edwin; Lightbody's Herald and Dr. Channing; Kilgour's Queen and Princess Royal; also Apollo, Eliza, Horatio, and Dido, raisers not stated. Mr. Costar showed forty-eight blooms, including some good flowers of Napier, Porsenna, Extasy, Moultan, Lancet, and Coronation.

THE ANTIRRHINUM, OR SNAP DRAGON. THIS singular and handsome flower is made the emblem of presumption, from its monopetalous (being formed of one petal) corolla forming a mask, which resembles the face of an animal, and it has from that circumstance received various names, as Dog's Mouth, Lion's Snap, Toad's Mouth, Cat's Eye, and Snap Dragon, from the resemblance of the flowers when expanded to an open mouth, which is seen by pressing the sides it opens like a mouth, the stigma appearing to represent the tongue; on removing the pressure the lips of the corolla snap together, and hence its name. It is also called Calf's Snout, from the form of its seed vessel, hence Antirrhinum from anti, similar, and rhin, snout.

It is a flower which we cannot examine without admiring how wonderfully it is formed and adapted for the bleak situations in which it grows naturally, as on the highest rocks, or out of the crevices of the most exposed cliffs, or the chinks of the loftiest towers. In all of these situations its parts of fructification are guarded against the tempest by the singularly shaped corolla, which defies either wind or rain to enter until impregnation has taken place, when the mask falls off to allow a free access of air to the seed vessel.

It is now generally considered to be a native of this country, growing wild on the coasts of Sussex and Kent, particularly on the cliffs and hills of Dover. In every situation it is an elegant flower, but by cultivation is so much improved that plants have been grown seven feet high, and four feet in diameter.

The attention of florists has been recently given to raising improved hybrids, and now we have a number of strikingly handsome varieties highly deserving a place in every flower garden.

They are very easy of cultivation, flourishing in a good rich loam, and supplying them liberally with water in dry weather.

In order to have a display of these pretty flowers from the beginning of May to November two plantings must be made.

204

THE ANTIRRHINUM, OR SNAP DRAGON.

Plants put out about the middle of March begin to bloom by the first week in May, and will do so in vigour till the end of July. Those planted out towards the end of June begin to bloom early in August, and will continue to the end of the season.

In order to have a proper supply of plants they should be provided in pots. Young plants should be planted out, they strike very freely from cuttings of the side shoots, three or four inches long, cutting them close under a joint, and inserting them in a compost of equal parts of sand and loam, in a shady border, covering them with a hand glass, or, if in pots, with bell-glasses. When potted off singly and begin to grow, the leading shoots should be stopped to make them bushy. Such plants, well rooted and bushy, should be provided for during the winter, and they should be kept in a dry cool frame or pit. The old blooming plants should never be depended upon for enduring winter and blooming a second year. Seed sown in pots, and the plants transplanted out, or sown thinly in the open ground, soon come into bloom, and scarcely will there be two alike; it is interesting to examine the variety and make selections.

The following are the best varieties we have seen :—

GARLAND: tube white, mouth yellow, lips white ground, striped and spotted with deep purple.

IBRAHIM PASHA: ground white, mouth yellow, lips and tube striped crimson-purple.

VICTORY: white ground, yellow mouth, and lips striped with purple. MADONNA: white ground, yellow mouth, flower striped and spotted with purple.

CALYPSO tube white, yellow mouth, and pretty lilac-blush lips. STRIPED PERFECTION: white ground, striped and spotted with purple.

ENTERPRIZE: white spotted, and striped with carmine.

PAWSEYANA: light ground, yellow mouth, with broad stripes of crimson-red.

PRIMA DONNA: white tube striped with purple, yellow mouth, and the lips dull sulphur, with stripes of purple and crimson.

FAIR MAID: tube and mouth pure white, lips a beautiful lilacpink.

LUTEA IMPROVED: pretty sulphur and yellow.

CRIMSON KING: splendid crimson, large.

HARLEQUIN blush ground, striped with carmine.

CHLOE: pure white.

CONSTELLATION: light ground, heavily striped and spotted with

rosy-pink.

MAIDEN'S BLUSH: rosy lilac, with a white mouth.

QUEEN OF THE WHITES: pure white, large.

SURPLUS: bright yellow, with white mouth, pencilled and veined with dark claret.

PRAIRIE BIRD: white tube, with sulphur mouth, lips blush-lilac, veined with rosy-red.

UNIQUE: purple ground colour, with broad stripes of white.

GRANDIS: light ground, striped with pink.

THE GREAT NORTHERN OPEN TULIP SHOW.

205

HOTSPUR: white, with yellow mouth, striped and spotted with purple-crimson.

VILLAGE MAID: white tube and mouth, with purple lips.

VIRGIN QUEEN: white tube, with a yellow mouth, lips white, marbled with lilac.

DELIGHT: tube white, with yellow mouth, lips white ground, veined with purple.

MODEL OF PERFECTION: tube white, streaked with rose, mouth yellow, lips finely veined with red.

SPECKLE MUNDA: tube and mouth white, lips prettily spotted with

rose.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF: tube lilac-purple, mouth yellow, lips bronze, streaked with brown.

QUEEN VICTORIA: light ground, yellow mouth, blotched with carmine.

COSSACK yellow ground, beautifully pencilled with red.

THE GREAT NORTHERN OPEN TULIP SHOW. THIS rich display of superb Tulips was exhibited in the Guildhall, at York, on May 29th. The Commitiee made every desirable arrange, ment for the show, and about seventy professional florists attended and 751. was distributed as prizes. The following is the list of the successful exhibitors and flowers:

List of Exhibitors.-Mr. Slater, Manchester; Mr. Summers, York; Mr. J. Battersby, Mansfield; Mr. Merryweather, York; Mr. Bell, York; Mr. William Turner, Haslingden; Mr. Burnett, York; Mr. Chippendale, Enfield; Mr. James Hardman, Worsley; Rev. S. Cresswell, Nottingham; Mr. R. Houseman, Oakenshaw; Mr. E. Hodgson, Great Harwood; Dr. Horner, Hull; Mr. Hinchcliffe, Halifax; Mr. Thornley, Heaton Norris; Mr. Parkinson, Derby; Mr. J. Hepworth, Huddersfield; Mr. Gibbons, Derby; Mr. J. Smith, Derby; Mr. S. Bromley, Macclesfield; Mr. Thomas Beighton, Sheffield; Mr. Spencer, Thurleston, near Derby; Mr. Thomas Amson, Congleton; Mr. John Cato, Wakefield; Messrs. William Chadwick, J. Bramma, J. Hopwood, J. Mallinson, Scholefield, and J. Smith, of Leeds; Mr. J. Gill, Wakefield; Mr. William Astle, Melbourne, Derbyshire; Mr. James Morris, Bolton-le-Moors; Mr. J. Peacock and Mr. J. Naylor, Denton; Messrs. Hart, Stockport; Messrs. Archer and Green, Sheffield; Mr. Dixon, Manchester; Messrs. Prescot and Wilcock, Lowton; Mr. W. Backhouse and Mr. W. Smith, Darlington; Mr. J. Weatherall, Darlington; Mr. J. Walker, Mansfield; Mr. Stephens, Leeds; Mr. Coundon, Sunderland.

Pans of six Rectified Tulips.-1. Mr. Thornley, for Heroine, Charles X., Gibbons' Seedling, Rose Elegans, Polyphemus, and Princess Royal; 2. Mr. Spencer, for Magnum Bonum, Baguet, Heroine, Catafalque, Queen Charlotte, and Triumph Royal; 3. Mr. Thomas Wilcock, for Charles X., Polyphemus, Bienfait, Alexander Magnus, Heroine, and Triumph Royal; 4. Mr.Hepworth, for Charles X.,

206

THE GREAT NORTHERN OPEN TULIP SHOW.

Donzelli, David No. 1, Baguet, Count de Vergennes, and Aglaia; 5. Mr. Prescot, for Polyphemus, Walworth, Waller's Violet, Lord Lilford, Mungo, Heroine; 6. Mr. Gibbons, for Magnum Bonum, Midland Beauty, Heroine, Triumph Royal, Purple Perfection, and Captain White.

Pans of three Breeder Tulips.—1. Mr. R. Dixon, for Lightbody's 20, Marmion, Mozambique; 2. Mr. J. Smith, for Duke of Devonshire, Amelia, Unknown; 3. Mr. Slater, for Demosthenes, Marcus Manlius, Agnes Beaumont; 4. Mr. Thornley, three Gibbons' Seedlings; 5. Mr. Gibbons, for Prince Albert, Seedling, Catherine; 6. Mr. Parkinson, Seedling, Britannia, Catherine.

Pans of three Chellaston Breeders.-1. Mr. Naylor (no name); 2. Mr. Hopwood, for Competitor, Maid of Orleans, and Anastasia. SINGLE SPECIMENS.

Feathered Bizarres.

1. Royal Sovereign, Mr. Sum

mers.

2. Magnum Bonum, Mr. Spencer. 3. Duc de Savoy, Mr. Spencer. 4. Surpass Catafalque, Mr.

Bramma.

*5. Lord Lilford, Mr. Naylor.
6. Prince Albert, Mr. Summers.
7. Sanzio, Mr. Back house.
*8. Nourri Effendi, Mr. Thornley.
9. Optimus, Mr. Spencer.
10. Crown Prince, Mr. Smith.

Flamed Bizarres.

1. Polyphemus, Mr. Spencer. 2. Captain White, Mr. Spencer. *3. Caliph, Mr. Mallinson.

4. Duke of Lancaster, Mr. Chippendale.

*5. Pilot, Mr. Gibbons.

6. Shakspeare, Mr. Hepworth. 7. Morning Star, Mr. Naylor. 8. Lord Stanley, Mr. Prescot. 9. Paganini, Mr. Houseman. 10. Rufus, Mr. Hopwood.

Feathered Byblæmens.

1. Gibbons' Seedling, Mr. Bat-
tersby.

*2. Edgar, Mr. Naylor.
3. Bienfait, Mr. Bromley.
4. Lewold, Mr. Slater.

*These were superb specimens.

Premier Rectified Tulip.-Mr. Thornley, for Gibbons' No. 45. Premier Breeder Tulip.-Mr. Naylor, for Gibbons' Bizarre Breeder.

TULIP SHOW HELD ON MAY 19TH, AT BEDFOrd, near Leigh, LANCASHIRE.

Factory Prize (kettle).-T. Belshaw, for Rose Unique, Walworth. Maiden Grower's Prize (kettle).-1. T. Belgrave, Crown Prince, Bienfait, Toot, Walworth, Unique, Ridey; 2. G. Mort, for George IV., Lustre, Surpass Lacantique, Bienfait, Count, Unique.

Steward's Prize.-1. A. Blackbury, for George IV., Lustre, Bienfait, Bienfait, Count, Rose Unique; 2. R. Ratcliffe, for George IV., Lustre, Winner, Bienfait, Count, Unique; 3. J. Eaton, for Gold Buers, Lustre, Bienfait, Bienfait, Rose Vesta, Rose Regina; 4. J. Postlethweate, for Pass Catafalque, Lustre, Lancashire Hero, Toot, Count, Newcastle; 5. R. Glegg, for George IV., Lustre, Bienfait, Wallers, Count, Unique; 6. W. Leather, for Crown Prince, San Joe, Winner, Bienfait, Count, Unique; 7. A. Belshaw, for Crown Prince, Lustre, Bienfait, Bienfait, Count, Regina; 8. R. Prescot, for Crown Prince, Lustre, Bienfait, Bienfait, Unknown, Unique; 9. W. Leather, for George IV., Surpass Lacantique, Grand Turk, Bienfait, Count, Unique; 10. J. Monks, for Trafalgar, Lustre, Mango, Roi de Siam, Dolittle, Unique; 11. P. Rosbotham, for Surpass Catafalque, Lacantique, Winner, LaBelle Narene, Count, Regina; 12. W. Battersby, for Lord Melbourn, Duke of Devonshire, Bienfait, Adelaide, Count, Vesta.

*This was a superb specimen.