COPYRIGHT, 1898, BV 



FbORISTS' PUBUISnil^G CO.. 320-533 Caxton Building. CMICAGO. 



Vol. I. 



CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, MARCH JO, 1898. 



No. 15. 



ADIANTUM MUNDULUM. 



The subject of our illustration is one 

 of the many interesting and useful 

 forms of Adiantum cuneatum, and is 

 correctly termed Adiantum cuneatum 

 mundulum. The varietal name, which 



green and closely furnished with nar- 

 row, wedge-shaped pinnae. In general 

 outline the fronds are deltoid, and when 

 well matured they possess sufficient 

 substance to be useful in cut flower 

 work, where a small frond is required. 

 A. c. mundulum comes true from 



proves too tall, and if the plants are 

 not soft when used will possibly last a 

 little longer than the last named fern, 

 under the same conditions. 



A. c. mundulum is of garden origin, 

 and although in cultivation since 1S73 

 is not frequently met with in the trade, 

 in fact, seems scarcer now than it was 

 ten years ago, no doubt owing to the 

 greater demand for ferns of more en- 

 durance than is found among the maid- 

 enhairs in general. W. II. TAPLIN. 



Adiantum Mundulum. 



signifies neat, is well applied in this 

 case, the plant being of dwarf and com- 

 pact habit, and is better adapted for 

 small ferneries than as an exhibition 

 plant. 



The fronds of A. c. mundulum are 

 shorter and rather stiffer than those of 

 the parent form, not often more than 

 nine or ten inches long, very dark 



spores, and also germinates freely, the 

 spores being produced abundantly on 

 old plants, and it flourishes under the 

 same treatment as A. cuneatum, thus 

 being by no means difficult vo man- 

 age. 



Nicely grown plants in 3-inch pots 

 are very short and bushy, and may be 

 used to advantage where A. cuneatum 



ACACIAS FOR FLORISTS. 



Strolling along Broadway recently I 

 reached the store of J. H. Small and 

 before the window stood an individual 

 looking intently at something there 

 displayed. It was your New York cor- 

 respondent and the object of interest 

 to him was a bunch of the beautiful 

 Acacia pubescens. His thoughts were 

 reminiscent, toying with past visions 

 of acacias in Kew Gardens in the love- 

 ly temperate house there which was 

 not too hot for the ladies, but that is 

 another story. 



Having spoiled the reverie I was 

 quietly made the victim of a request 

 to say something about this and other 

 acacias likely to be useful to fiorists 

 here. It is strange they have not come 

 into prominence before, as acacias, 

 both as pot plants and in a cut state, 

 are commonly seen throughout the 

 winter and early spring months ia 

 London, Paris and other European 

 cities. Anyone on this side in search 

 of a charming novelty will find one 

 of great attraction and I think of cer- 

 tain profitableness in the acacias. 



The acacia family is an extensive 

 one and widely distributed through 

 South America, Asia, Africa and Aus- 

 tralia, numbering several hundred 

 species, but those most useful to the 

 fiorist are Australian kinds, of which 

 eight or nine species are commonly 

 grown in gardens on the other sds 



