118 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[April, 



two and a half to three lines wide, with pointed 

 wings, and their tips terminating in a long, 

 pencil-shaped tuft of hair. 



Our tree is larger, of straighter growth, and 

 being a native of a more Northern latitude, is 

 hardier than the Southeastern species. The 

 wood of both is extremely durable, perhaps as 

 much so as that of our red cedar, and has the 

 advantage over it of a much more rapid growth 

 and of possessing only a very thin layer (two or 

 three annual rings) of destructible sap wood. 

 But of these qualities and of its adaptability to 

 many important uses, others, and especially Mr. 

 Barney in a recent pamphlet, have given a full 

 account. It is already extensively planted in 

 our Western prairie states, and especially along 

 railroads, for which it is expected to furnish the 

 much needed timber in a comparatively short 

 time. 



NICOTIANA SUAVEOLENS. 



BY MRS. E., MELROSE, MASS. 



Reading in the Februray Monthly, Mr. Hen- 

 derson's experience with Salvia splendens cceru- 

 lea, has tempted me to give my own with a plant 

 under the name which heads this note. I bought 

 my plant of a Boston florist, also. It professed to 

 be a rare novelty, and it was, though not in the 

 way I expected. The description in the cata- 

 loge represented it as a compact-growing plant, 

 of not over two feet in height. A most abund- 

 ant bloomer, with large pure white flowers, de- 

 lightfully fragrant, and specially suited for bou- 

 quets, as it bloomed all summer. I felt parti- 

 cularly happy in the possession of this plant. 

 Pure white, elegant, fragrant flowers, suitable 

 for bouquets, don't grow on every bush. I gave 

 it a rich soil, and a conspicuous position uear 

 the street, between my Lilies and Tea Roses. 

 Then I smiled complacently to myself as I 

 thought of the envy and admiration it would ex- 

 cite, and how passers-by would pause in wonder 

 and delight at this rare plant. I must confess 

 that they did pause ; but not exactly the way 

 my fancy had pictured. The way that plant 

 grew was frightful to contemplate. It was fully 

 seven feet high, with many strong lateral 

 branches of two or three feet. It so crowded 

 out and overtopped everything else, that I was 

 in despair, when one happy night, (Aug. 19, '79) 

 a fearful tornado of wind and rain came to my 

 aid, and Nicotiana suavolens (?) broke short off 

 about two inches from the ground to my great 

 relief. How large it would have been when it \ 



got its growth I shall never know. I am also 

 in utter ignorance to this day as to what the 

 plant really was, for though I wrote to the flor- 

 ist of whom I bought it, enclosing a stamp, he 

 did not deign to reply. Perhaps he did not know 

 himself. I have written this with the hope that 

 the good Editor of the Monthly, or some of 

 his wise correspondents will take pity on my ig- 

 norance and enlighten me, if they can do so by 

 a mere description. Both stock and leaves were 

 of a pale, pure pea-green. The leaves, which 

 were on long petioles, were broadly ovate, from 

 four to five inches long, glabrous, entire, and of 

 a leathery consistence. The flower was utterly 

 insignificant, without either beauty or fragrance. 

 In color they were a pale, dingy greenish yel- 

 low, and in form stifi", erect tubes, about the 

 size of an ordinary lead pencil, an inch to an 

 inch and a-half long, and about as broad at the 

 top as a silver half dime. They were scattered 

 along a straggling, leafy raceme, never more 

 that two or three open at a time, as they soon 

 faded. I am familiar with the Nicotiana culti- 

 vated for tobacco, but this was not at all like 

 that. Friends ! Countrymen ! Do you know this 

 novelty? 



[The plant appears by the description to be 

 the true Nicotiana suaveolens, which is a New 

 Holland plant, and a coarse weedy thing of no 

 particular interest to the cultivator, except that 

 it is reported to be very sweet at night. Those 

 who sent it out in such a flaming way, should be 

 ashamed. It may be said however that Ameri- 

 can seedsmen often get these seeds from Eu- 

 rope, and merely copy the descriptions sent with 

 them. But they ought to know the reputations 

 of those they deal with, if they wish to give 

 other people's cuts and praises as their own. — 

 Ed. G. M.] 



DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 



BY E. S. MILLER. 



I was very much interested in the " Distribu- 

 tion of Plants," by Rev. L. J. Templin, in the 

 January number of the Gardener's Monthly. 

 It has been a subject of interest to me. I think 

 birds are common carriers. A very familiar 

 instance is of the cedar bird distributing Juni- 

 perus Virginiana. I have in mind a good 

 hedge of cedar which has grown up along a 

 rail fence ; the seeds were voided by birds while 

 sitting on the fence. It may be that birds are 

 the cause of rare plants being found in new 

 localities. It is well known that Long Island, 



