ISIG.l 



AND HORTIGULTURIST. 



133 



gisi for March. We may give some idea of it by 

 Baying that it looks like a highly colored L. lan- 

 cifolium rubrum, only double the size of any ordi- 

 narily seen. 



There seems to be a fiitality about the spelling 

 of the name. The Gardener's Chronicle in fint 

 describing it accidentally made it Packmani,— 

 and now the F. and P. has it Parkmanni. It 

 ehould be Parkmani. 



LiGUSTRUM CORIACEUM. — Is a new species of 

 Japan privet, introduced into English gardens, 

 and which Avill probably prove a desirable thing 

 for out door culture in this country. 



Zinnia Darwini. — Under this name a new rac« 

 of Double Zinnias has come into existence 

 through the skill of the hybridizer, and is illus- 

 trated in the February number of the London 

 Florist and Pomolor/ist. The habit is much better 

 than the old race of Double Zinnias, and they 

 will be no doubt great favorites. We believe our 

 Beedsmen will soon be able to offer them to 

 American cultivators. 



The Purple-leaved Maple. — This, known in 

 catalogues as Acer polymorphum atropurpu- 

 reum, is one of the loveliest ornamental maples 

 imaginable. The winy purple tint is peculiar 

 among all the purple-leaved plants, — and it has 

 the property rare among purple-leaved things of 

 keeping a dark tint far away into tlie fixll. It is 

 as yet rather scarce in our collections, through a 

 difficulty in propagation. In England some trees 

 have reached a height of ten feet, and must be 

 very grand. 



Pajjcratium rotatum. — This native bulb is 

 quite as handsome as many of the imported 

 Lilies and other grand plants from abroad. Our 

 enterprising friend who has taken in hand to 

 push the Agave Virginica, might do a similar 

 good work by working up this, which also grows 

 wild in his region. It is not at all abundant in 

 cultivation, and, practically, it has j^et to be in- 

 troduced. Still not to excite the ire of those of 

 us who love to have things correctly expressed, 

 he had better not, in his Pancratium circular, 

 claim the honor of a " first discovery." 



QUERIES. 



Insect injury to the Elm. — The elm, and es- 

 pecially the English elm, is "skeletonized" every 

 year by an insect which it has been taken for 



granted is the larva of a Scolytus, which is re- 

 ported to be destructive to the elm in France. 

 A correspondent called Prof. Packard's attention 

 to the prevalent opinion, and this is his response. 

 It seems the matter has not yet been made clear. 

 It is certainly no Campsidean that injures our 



elms. 



Peabody Academy op Scifnce, \ 

 Salem, Mass., Jan. 29, 187G. J 



My Dear Sir: — I wish I could give a satisfac- 

 tory answer to your inquiries. I have not 

 noticed whether the European elm suffers more 

 than the native species or not. We have as you 

 know but few European elms about here. I 

 would like to see some specimens of the Scolytus. 

 Is it not possibly a true longicorn borer, Camp- 

 sidea? I know of no Scolytus or .allied beetle 

 particularly injurious to the elm in New Eng- 

 land, and know the Campsidea is very injurious 

 at times in New York and New Jersey. The 

 Canker worm is not found in the Middle States 

 so far as I know, though common in Illinois and 

 Missouri. Yours, very truly, 



A. S. Packard, Jr. 



Failure op Camelijas in Florida. — A Jackson- 

 ville correspondent calls attention to her Camel- 

 lias in the open ground, the buds of which never 

 fully expand but dry up while opening. While 

 in New Orleans, recently, we saw the same in 

 Camellias there growing in the open air. We 

 might say in brief that the Camellia never did 

 like heat, and therefore these climates are too 

 hot for it. We might put the fact in other 

 words, and say the evaporation from the petals 

 is too great for their permanence. Even in 

 glass culture it is found the Camellia does best 

 in a rather low temperature with a regularly 

 moist atmosphere. Those who would grow 

 Camellias in Florida or Louisiana, must plant 

 them in the coolest spots possible, and where 

 there is a regularly humid atmosphere. 



Failure of PiEONiAS. — A Eochester corres- 

 pondent says : " Do you know why it is that in 

 the South, California, and South-west, Pfeonias so 

 generally fail to bloom — the buds blasting? We 

 h.ave constant complaint. Is it the heat and 

 drouth? I have been asked scores of times to 

 write an article on the subject, but know too 

 little, although I have paid some attention to the 

 matter in my travels." 



[The answer to Florida Camellias, doubtless 

 applies here also. — Ed, G. M.} 



