24 The Ottawa Naturalist. [April 



herbaceous perennials tested at the Central Experimental Farm, 

 of which over 2,000 species and varieties have been grown. 

 These have been obtained from the wild, from nurservmen, and 

 from many persons who have collections of herbaceous perennials. 

 A large number of species have been grown from seeds which were 

 donated by botanical gardens and private individuals in many 

 parts of the world; among these being the botanic gardens at 

 Kew, Dublin, Copenhagen, Upsala, Lausanne, Nancv, Lyons, 

 Tabor, Jurjew, St. Petersburgh, Odessa, Tiflis, Siena, St. 

 Louis, Tokio. Miss Willmott, of Warley, England, has been 

 very generous in supplying seeds. Most of the plants are raised 

 from the seeds in beds outside, a lath screen being used to shade 

 the beds, making conditions better for the young plants. 



It has been noted that annuals are most abundant in 

 climates where there is a wet and a drv season, the reason ap- 

 parently, being that seeds are able to withstand extremes of 

 drought and heat better than roots. Seeds also appear to with- 

 stand extremes of cold better than roots. There are compara- 

 tively few annuals which are natives of Canada, and most of 

 these are found in the drv districts. Most biennials appear to 

 be natives of temperate climates where there are no very low 

 temperatures and where there is an abundance of moisture. 

 There are few biennials native to the colder parts of Canada. 

 There are few troublesome biennial weeds in Canada. The 

 sappy shallow roots do not seem to stand the sudden changes 

 of temperature. Herbaceous perennials are most abundant 

 where there is a good distribution of rainfall, and where the cool 

 weather of autumn favors the development of roots. The deep- 

 rooted perennials are, many of them, natives of the coldest and 

 also of the drier climates where their deep roots are able to 

 withstand extreme conditions. The shallow rooted perennials 

 spread much more rapidlv, as a rule, than the deeper rooted 

 ones. Most of the shallow fibrous rooted species do best in 

 moist ground; but those which bloom in the spring when the 

 ground is moist are, for the most part, natives of rocky or 

 mountain regions. The shallow rooted perennials with fleshy 

 roots, such as Aquilegia, are not long lived as, like biennials, 

 fleshy roots are exposed to sudden changes of temperature. 

 They do best in well drained grouryi. 



There was considerable discussion in regard to the observa- 

 tions which had been made as to the habitats of herbaceous 

 plants, the members present agreeing on the whole with the 

 conclusions drawn. It was thought that if gardeners studied 

 more the habitats of the plajjte-^liev^ cultivated better success 

 would be obtained. _ 



'4Vl'^/\ W. T. M. 



