1877.] 



AND HOETIGULTURIST. 



231 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



CORNUS MASCUL.\ AUREA ELEGANTISSIMA.— We 



have already noted a beautiful colored plate is 

 given in the Flond and Pomologist. The leaves 

 are scarlet, gold and green, and if it will always 

 come like this, will be one of the most beautiful 

 things grown. 



The Yellow Winter Aconite.— Those who 

 can get a few roots of this interesting little plant, 

 will find it a treasure if kept in a somewhat 

 Bheltered place. Long before the snow-drop 

 comes they are in flower. We have seen them 

 in gardens in bloom in February. 



Iris Iberica. — Most of the Iris are Summer 

 flowers, and very pretty Summer flowers they 

 are; but the Spanish Iris, Iris Iberica, comes in 

 with the Lilac. It is a dwarf kind, and though 

 not so bright in color as some others, will bear 

 inspection. 



Ajuga reptans.— It is not many plants that 

 will thrive well under the deep shade of trees. 

 The Vinca minor is one of the best. This is the 

 common " Myrtle Periwinkle." The Lysimachia 

 nummularia does very well if the ground is not 

 too dry. This is known as " Moneywort," a 

 name for which either the round leaves or 

 golden flowers well fit it. Another good thing 

 not so well known is the Ajuga reptans. It 

 thrives admirably in our American climate 

 under the shade of trees, and the pretty blue 

 flowers in May add to its interest. 



ExocHORDA grandiflora. — We have given an 

 occasional notice of this shrub, and as some 

 interest has been excited by recent inquiries, we 

 give the following account, which recently ap- 

 peared in the Garden, on the occasion of a pretty 

 colored plate. The flowers are white, and though 

 we have many white blooming hardy shrubs in 

 May, this has a character peculiarly its own. 

 It seems to thrive very well in our climate : 

 "Although this hadsome hardy deciduous shrub 

 has been in cultivation in this country for nearly 

 a quarter of a century, it has not received the 

 attention it deserves, and is still very rarely seen 

 in our gardens. It. is one of the numerous or- 

 namental shrubs introduced from China by 

 Mr. Fortune, who first found it in North China 

 in 1845, and in the following year he collected 

 fruiting specimens of it in the Che-Kiang hills 

 Mr. Fortune took it to be a species of Amelan- 



chier, and sent seeds of it to Messrs. Standish 

 and Noble, of the Bagshot Nurseries, under the 

 name of A. racemosa. It certainly bears a gen- 

 eral resemblance to the genus in question, espe- 

 cially in its flowers, but it differs widely in the 

 structure of the latter. The exact date of its 

 introduction I have not been able to ascertain, 

 but it appears to have been first exhibited in 

 1854, and the same year it was figured in the 

 Botanical Magazine, under the name of Spiraea 

 grandiflora. But the general aspect of this 

 shrub is so different from most of the Spiraeas, 

 and the flowers so much larger, that, indepen- 

 dently of less obvious characters, it possesses 

 some claims to generic rank. It was Dr. Lind- 

 ley [Gardener's Chronicle, 1858, p. 925), who gave 

 it the name which it now bears ; and writing at 

 that date, he speaks highly of its merits. One 

 character, which specially recommends this 

 shrub, is its early and long-flowering season, 

 from early in April, onwards. It is a very dis- 

 tinct shrub, and perfectly hardy in the neighbor- 

 hood of London, flowering profusely on warm 

 soils with gravelly bottoms. Like some of the 

 shrubby Spiraeas it requires a little pruning and 

 trimming to keep it neat. It is of bushy habit, 

 and grows to a height of 8 or 9 feet, and proba- 

 bly higher under favorable conditions. There is 

 a plant of it in the collection of shrubby Rosa- 

 ce£e in the pleasure grounds at Kew, the main 

 branches of which are from 2 in. to 3 in. in 

 diameter at the base. Its botanical affinities are 

 with the genera Stephanandra, Kerria, and Rho- 

 dotypus, all natives of the same region." 



Triteleia uniflora.— Our Californian bulbs 

 seem to be entering gaily into the pleasures of 

 English gardening. This is what the Journal of 

 Horticulture says of one of them : "Some of the 

 most striking beds of Spring flowers in Mr. Barr'a 

 gardens at Tooting are those planted with Trite- 

 leia uniflora. This bulbous plant is perfectly 

 hardy, and for several weeks during the Spring 

 produces a mass of flowers which cannot fail 

 to be admired. Where the bulbs are planted 

 closely together after the manner of Crocuses, a 

 perfectly level and dense mass of flowers is pro- 

 duced, which resists the effects of inclement 

 weather. When thus grown, and when the 

 beds are seen from a distance, their appearance 

 is white — almost like a covering of snow. A 

 distant variety of this plant is T. uniflora lila- 

 cina, which is highly attractive when cultivated 

 in pots." 



