Title: Florists' review (microform)
Identifier: 5205536_50_2 (find matches)
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors:
Subjects: Floriculture
Publisher: Chicago : Florists' Pub. Co
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Septbmbkb 28, 1022 The Florists^ Review 29 xirrv^iVf'f'^gvxiaaaa^^ PLANTSMAN'S WORLD TOUR WILSON TELLS OF TRAVELS. ' Trip Around the World. Ernest H. Wilson, for many years a collector of plants in India, China, Japan, Korea and Formosa for James Veitch & Sons, of London, England, and the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass., and for several years assistant director of the latter world-famed insti- tution, left July 4, 1920, for a tour of the world in the interests of the institu- tion with which he is identified. He arrived home August 24, 1922, after an absence of over two years, during which period he had traveled over 100,000 miles. In the course of an interesting ad- dress before the Horticultural Club of Boston, of which Mr. Wilson is presi- dent, he gave an account of his long and arduous journeys. He arrived in Eng- land July 10, 1920, and left his wife and daughter there during his journeyings. He spent some time visiting places of horticultural interest in Great Britain, including a considerable time at Kew Gardens, of which institution he is a graduate. He left England September 7, via Paris, Boulogne, Marseilles, Colombo and Fremantle to Perth, the capital of Western Australia. This terri- tory is over 2,000 miles long. The south- ern portion is extremely rich; in fact, it is one vast botanical garden. The old name for Western Australia was New Holland, and many present day cultivators will well remember that years ago New Holland plants were enthusi- astically cultivated in Britain. Many of the plants could not be successfully grown in Great Britain, owing to the lack of sunshine, and would have done much better in the United States and Canada. Australian Plants Strange. All the plants seen in Australia ap- pear strange. The broad-leaved ever- greens all have their foliage on edge and not flat, as here, and the prevailing color is a grey or yellowish green, in contradistinction to the dark, lustrous green of the temperate regions of Amer- ica and Europe. The eucalypti, of which there are many varieties, growing all the way from two to 300 feet high, arc the predominant trees in Western Australia and other parts of the nntip- odes. They are the loftiest trees in the world, although not the largest. Mr. Wilson saw one specimen cut down, 260 feet high. Many growing were much taller, running up 150 feet clear to the first branches. He said the eucalypti carried a great variety of flowers. One form attaining a height of but twelve feet carried flowers eight inches in din- meter. Eucalypti, oaks and pines show the greatest extremes of any of the trees. The Jarrah tree, which grows luxuriantly in one limestone section, cannot be acclima'ized elsewhere. AH attempts to do so have resulted in fail- ure. The splendid wood resembles ma- hogany and it seems a crime to note its use for railroad ties. The Australian forests are more open and parklike than ours, and the long, clean, smooth stems, white in color, look like the marble columns of a cathedral. In the arid regions no cacti are found, as in Arizona and New Mexico. In- stead, vast numbers of chorizemas, dwarf grevilleas and other similar plants are seen on every hand. Where swamps occur, Boronia elatior and B. megastigma occur in great numbers. Acacia acOminata, called the raspberry- jam tree, somewhat puzzled him. He said he saw nothing suggestive of rasp- berries, but on cutting the wood, got a pronounced odor of the delectable jam. No barren arid wastes are seen from the railways, nor is there any shifting sands, as there are here. Water is carried over 400 miles from Perth in pipes for the great gold diggings in Coolgardie and elsewhere. While only seven inches of rain falls in the drier portions of Western Australia, many good trees are to be seen and some day these will be extremely valuable. The next important city to be visited was Adelaide. He said the railroad makes a straight run of 600 miles to this city. Great numbers of Clianthus Dampieri, the glory pea of Australia, were seen growing in the sands. Harden- bergias seemed to be popular climbers here. The next city of importance visited was Sydney, which has one of the most magnificent harbors in the world. Hero also is a splendid botanical garden. From Sydney, a steamer was taken to New Zealand, which seems like a combi- nation of Vancouver, Washington and Oregon. Auckland, the leading city, is extremely beautiful and has a most de- lightful climate. While there are no rich people in New Zealand, poverty is practically unknown. Where the forests are cut down, bracken, ferns and lepto- sperniums spring up and soon form a dense jungle. Typical plants seen on every hand are Phormium tenax, the New Zealand flax; Cordyline australis and C. indivisa and great numbers of Areca sapida, practically the only palm seen. Tree Ferns in New Zealand. The giant tree ferns are dominant features in the New Zealand forests. The finest is Cyathea medullaris, of giant size. In drier land comes Cyathea dealbata, while in the thick forests occur vast numbers of Dicksonia ant- arctica, D. squarrosa and D. Smithii.
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