250 THE GARDENER. [June 



E. al pi n a in, Alpine E. — This is one of the most elegant and interest- 

 ing, though not the showiest, of the group. It grows in graceful 

 rounded masses, a foot or more high, with elegant compound leaves on 

 slender hard smooth stalks, with lively green heart-shaped leaflets, 

 bronzed and rigidly ciliated on the margin. The flowers in long loose 

 racemes spring from the leafstalks an inch or two below the primary 

 divisions of the leaves, are small, reddish brown, with curious spurred 

 yellow and rather conspicuous corollas. 



E. macranthum, large-flowered E. — This is the finest of Epimedi- 

 ums, and a very handsome and interesting plant. It is less vigorous 

 in growth than the last species, growing from 6 inches to 1 foot high, 

 with leaves of the same structure and general form> but smaller, and 

 usually bronzed and shining in the early stages of growth ; the margins 

 ciliated and the stalks slightly hairy. The flowers are white, tinted 

 with purple, and the petals, about an inch long and four in number, 

 are pure white, transparent, and are the most conspicuous feature in 

 the flower. The flower- stalks carry the flowers slightly above the 

 bronzy foliage, and the effect produced is charming. Flowers April 

 and May. Native of Japan, but quite hardy. 



E. pinned iri, I, Pinnate E. — This species grows about the same 

 height as the large-flowered E., with smaller leaflets supported on 

 more slender stalks. The flowers, borne in rather dense racemes, are 

 yellowish, and appear in April and May. The variety named elegans 

 is the best, and is a very desirable plant for partialty-shaded borders. 

 Native of Persia. 



E. violaceum, Purplish E. — The leaflets in this species are narrower 

 in proportion to the breadth than in the last two species. The flowers 

 are white, tinted with pale purple, and appear in April and May. By 

 some this is regarded, and not without reason, as a variety of the 

 large-flowered E. ; the stature and habit in both forms are nearly the 

 same, and in other respects they are not markedly distinct for the 

 purposes of decoration. Native of Japan. 



Jcffersonia diphylla, Twin-leaved Jefferson i a. — This, so far as I am 

 aware, is the only species, and it is perhaps more remarkable as a 

 curiosity than as an ornamental plant. It is not, however, deficient in 

 beauty, the flowers being large, abundantly produced when well 

 cultivated, though individually somewhat fugaceous. The flowers, as 

 has been said, are large, about an inch across, white, with conspicuous 

 yellow stamens, and the leaves are curiously produced in single pairs 

 at the extremity of the stalks. It is a native of moist shady woods in 

 N. America, and in cultivation is best adapted for culture in semi- 

 shady places in deep rich peat and loam freely mixed with sand ; 

 under such circumstances it attains its greatest perfection, but I have 



