308 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



{October, 



a nioiistrosily sfcn in a gartlen in the little vil- 

 lage of Micanopy, East Florida. Travelers by 

 stage from Ocala to trainesville usually stop 

 at this odd-named village to dine. Seldom, 

 however, is a stop made over night, but the 

 place struck me as being so very picturesque 

 that I thought I would deviate from the usual 

 rule and remain until the stage came up again 

 froai Ocala. The next day, as I was sitting in 

 the hotel porch here, I noticed a flower conspicu- 

 ous, though distant, because white, on a shrub 

 in the corner of the front yard. The shrub 

 proved to be the ordinary mock-orange, Phila- 

 delphus inodorous, and the flower the only open 

 one upon it. On examining this flower closel}^ 

 I noticed that beneath each white petal there 

 was a perfectly formed bud, each bud having 

 sufficient stem to project it. a quarter of an inch 

 beyond the supporting flower. Had the flower 

 remained unplucked a few days longer, the buds 

 would doubtless have o])ened and would have 

 exhibited rather a striking example of a com- 

 pound flower. 



THE FLORA OF THE STATE OF TEXAS. 



TRANSLATED FOR THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



FROM THE "ANZIGER DES WESTENS." 



NO. II. 



In the fir forests, the dogwood, which is also 

 quite frequent in Arkansas, forms the principal 

 part of the under-brush. It is from eight to ten 

 feet high, and in the month of March bears a 

 great quantity of large snow-white blossoms. 

 Another small tree is the Ungnadia speciosa, 

 which in Spring is covered with thousands of 

 pale lilac butterfly blossoms, growing in great 

 clusters. There is also a beautiful evergreen 

 shrub with shining leaves, the Ilex cassine. 

 In Spring time these fir forests present a 

 beautiful sight mingled, as they are at that 

 time, with the fresh green of the under-brush, 

 which is covered with myriads of snow-white 

 and lilac tinted blossoms. 



The oak of the eastern part of the State Is 

 Quercus cinerea. Near Marshall and in the 

 limestone and freestone counties it forms small 

 woods that run into the -evergreen forests. In 

 the extreme north of the State the so-called 

 cross-timbers form woods by themselves. These 

 are the narrow belts, often not a quarter of a 

 mile wide, which run for fifty and more miles 

 right across the dreary prairie, and consist of 

 these oaks and osage orange ("bois d'arc"). 



In the east the Bermuda grass prevails ; on 

 the coast thrives the salt grass in bunches. 

 Around Galveston grows a low cedar, the Salt 

 Cedar, probably imported, as it is not found 

 anywhere else. It is proof against all storms, 

 and flourishes on the sand bars. On this account 

 it is planted on the seashore, and gradually 

 catches and retains the soil washed in by the 

 sea, thus forming an embankment on the shore. 



In floral splendor eastern Texas cannot com- 

 pare with the rest of the State. However, it is 

 blessed with many very pretty flowers, lilies of 

 various colors, verbenas, etc. Peculiar to the 

 east are Euellia tuberosa. Verbena aubletia 

 and bipinnatifida, Linaria Texana, Cynthia 

 dandelion, Lupinus subcarnosus. Oranges, lem- 

 ons. Oleander, and other representatives of 

 the vegetable kingdom have been introduced, 

 but now spring up self-sown. There is no trace of 

 cacti or palms in eastern Texas, and altogether 

 we feel here more as though we were rather in a 

 Northern than in a Southern State. 



The central zone of Texan vegetation may be 

 divided into two parts, the region of Oaks and 

 that of Mesquite trees. The first extends from 

 the Trinity to the Colorado river, the second 

 from the Colorado to the Medina. In both re- 

 gions a mixture of the two trees may lie found ; 

 in the first, however. Oaks prevail ; in the second, 

 Mesquite trees. Vast forests of either tree cover 

 hill and dale for miles and miles. Only along 

 the river bottoms a richer flora appears, where 

 w^e no longer meet with the all-prevailing cine- 

 rea oak and Mesquite tree, for here appears 

 Quercus obtusiloba, post oak, used principally 

 for posts and fences, thirty to forty feet high, 

 running up a very straight trunk, always grow- 

 ing in groups, never alone, and never amongst 

 other trees. It thrives best in sandy soil, and is 

 found all over, on the prairie, on the upland, and 

 also running up high into the mountains, as for 

 instance, near the German settlement of Frede- 

 ricksburg, where thousands of square miles are 

 covered by it. Next to this in the central zone 

 the live oak, Quercus virens. is of importance. 

 It would not be recognized as an oak by the 

 casual observer, so little does it look like one, 

 but the fruit indicates the tree. The live oak is 

 one of the finest trees of Texas, and in moist 

 places attains a truly majestic height. This im- 

 posing appearance is increased by long gray 

 moss drooping from every branch and twig. 

 Although this is called moss, it really is not, 

 but belongs to the same genus as the pineapple. 



