ij6 THE PLANT WORLD. 



An expedition under the direction of Mr. Borchgrevink is shortly 

 to leave London for Australia and South Victoria Land, to explore 

 the Antarctic regions. The party will sail in the ship Southern Cross, 

 designed by the builder of Nansen's famous Fram, which has ten feet 

 of solid oak at the bows. The sheathing is of American greenheart 

 wood,"^ three inches in thickness and selected on account of its hard' 

 and slippery qualities. The expedition will sail from London in July, 

 and its prime object is to explore South Victoria Land and the seas 

 and islands between there and Australia. 



One of my most interesting finds in the scrubby woods of the 

 Long Island barrens was the curious little Pogonia vcrticillata. It is 

 usually rare in any locality, but in one place, neighbored by the 

 Kalmia, Gaultheria and Pyrola, it grew in great abundance, being in 

 full bloom on the first of June. One must see this orchid growing 

 before he has much chance of finding it for himself. The flowers 

 are so inconspicuous and resemble so much the greens and browns of 

 unfolding leaves, that the collector may be pardoned for overlooking 

 it. — Willard N. Clntt\ New York City. 



The common Asparagus, which is cultivated as an early spring 

 vegetable, produces later in the season a tall, graceful nodding plume 

 of dark green slender branches and leaves, with small yellowish-green 

 flowers, that form the red berries later in the season, clinging after 

 the leaves have fallen. Many an old-fashioned country parlor is 

 decorated with them, but recently there has been introduced into 

 cultivation a near relative, Asparagus plinnosus, which is a vine, bear- 

 ing slender compoimd branches at intervals on the stem. This 

 species is very ornamental, and is being largely grown for decorative 

 purposes, replacing the " smilax " (more correctly called Myrsiphyl- 

 lum) of the florists, on account of being so much more delicate and 

 graceful. It also has the great merit of keeping well, and will dry 

 without losing its leaves or much of its color or shape, so that I have 

 known sprays of it twined over the mantel-piece to last all winter and 

 still be pretty in the spring. The species was introduced from South 

 Africa in 1876. Many florists devote large greenhouses to its culture, 

 and sell it by the yard for decorative purposes. A smaller-growing 

 variety, known as Asparagus tcnuissimus, is also used, while still an- 

 other. Asparagus Sprengelii, recently introduced, makes a very pretty 

 basket plant ; the leaves are finely cut, and the plant does not climb 

 like the preceding. There are about a dozen other varieties, but none 

 of them are as desirable for florists' use as those mentioned.— ^/z>«- 

 betJi G. Br it ton, Neiv York City. 



i=Do an J- of our readers know what American greenheart wood is ?— [Ed.1 



