PANSIES.

1. NOVELTY. 2. INIMITABLE.

"The pretty PANSY then I'll tye,
Like gems some chain enchasing;
The next to them, their near ally,
The purple violet placing."

IOLA TRICOLOR, is commonly called the Pansy, or Heartsease. The Greek name for VIOLET is ION, and some authors inform us that it was given because Io fed on its blossoms. Others tell us that it was so named after some nymphs of IONIA, who first presented these flowers in their special religious ceremonies.

Hundreds of years prior to the commencement of the Christian æra, the ancients held these flowers in high esteem, so much so, that one of the prizes contested for at the floral games was a golden Violet; " and its estimation has been continued from that period to the present day, and now it ranks high among the garden's richest perfumes. One of our modern poets sings,

"Where fragrant field flowers, gaily spread,
Drink deep the morning dew;

Close by a murmuring riv'let's side

An humble vi'let grew.

"To her the cultur'd spot unknown,
She bloom'd in her retreat;

And there in native fragrance bless'd,
Dispers'd a world of sweet.

D

"At length a curious florist saw
The sweetly blooming flower;
Call'd her the field's and garden's pride,
And plac'd her in his bow'r.

"And since, in humble station near
That fair Viola grew,

Which now the name of Heartsease bear,
Whose power can care subdue.”

Another poet celebrates the delightful perfume of their flowers as follows:

"The Pansy and the Violet here,

As seeming to descend

Both from one root, a very pair,
For sweetness do contend.

"And pointing to a Pink to tell
Which bears it, it is loth

To judge it; but replies, for smell
That I excel you both."

The French call the Viola tricolor Pensée, which means a thought, and from this is derived our name Pansy.

The origin of its name HEARTSEASE is thus described by an ancient poet,

"Ah, cruel love, must I endure

Thy many scorns, and find no cure?
Say, are thy med'cines made to be
Helps to all others but to me?

"I'll leave thee, and to Pansies come;
Comforts you'll afford me some:

You can ease my heart, and do

What love could ne'er be brought unto."

This charming flowering plant is a native of Siberia, Japan, and many parts of Europe.

We once saw a field in Yorkshire many acres in extent, closely covered with it, and when in full bloom the appearance was very beautiful. There were numerous varieties in colours, but of the original narrow-petalled form. The fragrance which the mass diffused was delightful, and perfumed the air to some distance around, especially where the breeze prevailed. Since the plant has been introduced and cultivated in the flower-garden, vast has been the improvement in size, form, and variegation. The beautiful specimens shown at our floral exhibitions are ample proofs, and each successive season our florists are producing additional improvements towards perfection in form, &c.; such as suitable size, thick-stout petals, smooth edged, face even, outline a circle, at an equal distance on all sides from the eye, and decided colours, each colour being well defined. To the section which have graced our floral exhibitions hitherto, another has now commenced,

and no doubt we shall have in addition to singular markings and stripes, an improvement in form each future season.

The two we now figure belong to this section, and which are distinguished as FANCY PANSIES, similar to what has been done with the DAHLIAS.

The figures which our artist has given are a trifle larger than what we saw in bloom during the last season, and the outline appears somewhat better with the lower petals; this may arise from the circumstance of the two flowers becoming more flat when laid down on the paper a day or two for our artist's purposes. They are however beautiful varieties, and deserving a place in every flower-garden. There are, in addition, a number of others which are of very different grounds, stripes and markings, the best being offered for sale, and well merit cultivation, either grown as single specimens or in masses.

Previous volumes contain valuable instructions by our most celebrated growers of Pansies, and our general index, given last month, points out the respective pages.

NOVELTY was raised by Mr. Salter, of Versailles Nursery. INIMITABLE was raised in France.

NOTES ON NEW OR RARE PLANTS.

AMARYLLIS BLANDA.-A very beautiful flowering plant, which has recently bloomed in the collection belonging to Mrs. Bellenden Ker, of Cheshunt. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and succeeds well in an airy part of the greenhouse during winter, drought and dry heat in summer, and will then flower magnificently in September. Whilst kept dry it must not be in a cold situation, or it will not bloom. It is very like the well-known Belladonna Lily. The flowers are of a delicate French white, changing to pink. Each scape has an umbel of twelve or thirteen large flowers. Each of which is five or six inches across, and are most deliciously fragrant. It is a magnificent species. and well merits a place in every greenhouse. (Figured in Paxton's Flower Garden, 68.)

CENTRANTHUS MACROSIPHON (Natural Order, Valerianworts). It is a charming hardy annual from the South of Spain and it is a dwarfish plant, bearing large branching panicles (forming a corymbose head), of rich ruby-rose coloured, Valerian-like, flowers. They are produced numerously and have a very showy appearance. It blooms during the latter part of summer and autumn, which renders it additionally valuable. It is in the Horticultural Society's Garden at Chiswick.

CHRYSANTHEMUMS.-Рompone, or minima varieties. Modele, pure white, one inch and a half across. Sacramento, bright yellow, tinged with buff at the tips, one inch and a half across. Perfectum, rosylilac, centre of a few quilled florets, one inch and three-quarters across. Asmodie, copper-coloured, with a yellow centre, and as they age become tinged with red; one inch and three-quarters across. La Pygmei, a deep yellow, an inch across, borne in clustered heads, and is very suitable for bouquets. (Figured in Mag. Bot.)

DESFONTAINEA SPINOSA. N. O. Gentianacæ. Mr. Lobb discovered this very handsome evergreen Shrub on the hills of Patagonia, and sent it to Messrs. Veitch. It has the appearance of a common holly, and is likely to prove quite hardy in our own country. It grows about five feet high. The flowers are tube-shaped, the tube being two inches long, and the terminal border is yellow. Mr. Lobb states that the Shrub blooms in profusion. It is a charming addition to this class of shrubs.

EPIDENDRUM REPLICATUM.-The racemes of flowers are about half a yard long, bearing numerous flowers. Sepals and petals a dull yellow, stained with brown, and a bright yellow edging. The lip is white, streaked with pink. Mr. Rucker obtained it from New Grenada.

ERICA THOMSONII.-A handsome hybrid raised by Mr. Turnbull, gardener at Bothwell Castle, in Scotland, it is a seedling from E. aristata, impregnated by E. cerinthoides. The plant bears a great resemblance in growth to E. aristata, but more vigorous. The tube of each blossom is an inch long, and wide, similar in form to those of E. cerinthoides, and produced in heads of ten or twelve together like that species; of a rich crimson, with darker coloured ribs. It is a free bloomer, and a valuable acquisition.

ERICA MOOREANA, also raised by Mr. Turnbull, from E. retortamajor, crossed by E. Linnæoides. Its habit is much like a dwarfer plant of the last named, but more branching, and a free bloomer. Each tube is near an inch long, of a bright rosy-purple, with a white tip. They are borne in heads of four or five together, and in profusion during autumn and winter. It is a valuable acquisition. (Figured in Mag. Bot.

The

EUGENIA UGNI. N. O. Myrtacea. A charming hardy shrub from South Chili, having the habit and appearance of our European broad-leaved Myrtle, and grows from three to four feet high, much branched, and blooming freely. The flowers are globeshaped, each half an inch in diameter, white, tinged with rose. leaves are produced in pairs, and a blossom, with a footstalk an inch long from the axil of each leaf, and the young shoots being thus beautifully ornamented renders it a most charming shrub. Messrs. Veitch's introduced it, in whose nursery it flourishes out of doors. (Figured in Bot. Mag., 4626.)

FAGUS OBLIQUA. N. O. Mastworts (Beech-tree like). It inhabits the mountains of Southern Chili. It is a fine evergreen tree, growing forty to fifty feet high in its native country. The leaves are more like those of the Hornbeam in form than the Beech, of a beautiful pale green. Messrs. Veitch imported it, and it grows very freely in the open air in their nursery. It is a fine graceful evergreen tree, and a valuable acquisition for the pleasure ground, or margin of a plantation.

GAULTHERIA NUMMULARIÆ. HEATHWORTS.-A very pretty trailing evergreen plant, raised from seed by Mr. Ingram, gardener to Her Majesty at Frogmore. It is a native of the Himalaya Mountains, and requires to be kept in a greenhouse. The stems are slender, leaves