372 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



I December, 



not over fifty feet of the creek banks, but I, who 

 am so proud of the native flowers of this South 

 land, was astonished myselt at the richness of that 

 small area, and will here name what I know, as- 

 suring you that I am confident that much of merit 

 was passed over from my lack of knowing them. 

 First though came my sought-for Decumaria- 

 and on a steep bank jutting over a gurgling stream- 

 let I found enough to stock almost a nursery. In 

 close proximity and entwined with this is a plant 

 which in ignorance I have always called Bitter- 

 sweet, Celastrus scandens, until I recently saw an 

 illustration of the real variety. This is a shrub 

 with long, narrow, lance- shaped leaves, not over 

 one-half inch wide by three inches long, almost 

 like a vine, slender, delicate growth, flowers small 

 and inconspicuous ; but its beauty is in its rough 

 four-celled capsules, which are, when mature, a 

 pale flesh. In September this capsule burst open 

 like a chestnut burr and from it hung four orange 

 colored seeds by a white hair-like thread which 

 makes them jingle against the waxy sides of the 

 capsules hke a bell clapper. These are generally 

 solitary and not over abundant, but in fall after 

 leaves fall it is quite an attractive plant. In culti- 

 vation with careful pinching in it grows into a 

 thick shrub and well deserves more extended cul- 

 tivation. I would like well to know its name. 

 [Euonymus Americanus. — Ed.] Not three paces 

 from this was the red twigged Cornus, which I in- 

 sisted was Sanguinea, but Dr. Gray and Prof. 

 Meehan set me straight again and to-day I am re- 

 conciled to its being a different variety ; I claimed 

 it had three good points, viz. : hardiness, fragrant 

 white delicate laurestina-like flowers, and its blood- 

 red branches ; after denuded of its foliage would 

 make a bright spot on any lawn ; added to this I 

 have found that its fruit cymes are very attractive, 

 a peculiar blueish purple size of Holly berries- 

 pendulous. One specimen before me has twenty- 

 five berries perfect in form and color ; how long 

 they remain on I am unable to say. But here is 

 a shrub every way worthy a wider culture, beauti- 

 ful in flower and fruit and without foliage. Glanc- 

 ing around 1 espied three plants of Clematis 

 Viorna which has solitary pendulous purplish 

 red flowers, same shape and size of C. crispa and 

 coccinea ; here it is called " Leather flower " from 

 the great substance of flower ; near by the never- 

 to-be-forgotten Gelsemium sempervirens or Caro- 

 lina Yellow Jasmine, which in spring clothes the 

 banks of our streams with a yellow fragrant glory. 

 These are shaped and size exactly like the flowers 

 of Weigelia rosea, only on a delicate tendril 



swayed by every passing breeze wafting to our 

 grateful senses a delicious jasmine fragrance. 

 This vine covers acres of low lands, entwines it- 

 self on every branch and shrub, and from thence 

 aloft to tops of highest trees. In a boat on the 

 water you can pass under large clusters of it and 

 can cull a boat load of branches from one tree. 

 The water dotted for yards with its shed flowers 

 like golden boats floating around. 



My article is now too long, but I long to write 

 of what I saw in my short ramble — Trumpet vine, 

 Menisperum, Columbine or coral honeysuckle, 

 Cocculus Carolinianus, clustered Solomon's seal, 

 another variety with berries in pairs. Clematis Vir- 

 giniana, a tuberous rooted Columbine, Kalmia, 

 Azaleas two varieties, golden rod, three of Eupa- 

 torium purpureum full six feet high, with magnifi- 

 cent plumy branches ; Apios tuberosa, wood 

 violets, and ferns, grasses, etc., too numerous to 

 mention. Ah ! the sunny South is the place for 

 me. Here God has with bountiful hand spread 

 abroad his beautiful floral treasures. Azaleas that 

 are equal in beauty with the exotic ones, of white, 

 buff, deep rose and pale pink, sometimes a mile 

 in one stretch of them, as far as the eye can reach 

 you see them in boundless profusion intermingled 

 with Rhododendron and Kalmia. Now, how com- 

 pares our land with the far-famed California ? We, 

 too, have lilies ; one seldom offered for sale on ac- 

 count of its rareness, that is L. Catesbasi, the 

 smallest bulb of the whole tribe, a deep glowing red 

 purple, spotted with foliage close to the ground like 

 that of the tuberose. These I have in abundance 

 and am trying to collect the largest amateur col- 

 lection South. I am nothing it not ambitious, and 

 my ambition tends flower-ways — to have some- 

 thing of nearly every species that can be kept in 

 a pit or greenhouse with no fire heat. 



Spartanburg, S. C, Sept. gtk, 1SS5. 



VARIATION IN NATURE, 



BY R. C. FAY. 



Last spring I sent a few notes of observation, 

 on my experiments with corn, to the Philadelphia 

 Record, for the purpose of ascertaining the pre- 

 sent views regarding that plant; the Agricultural 

 Editor wrote an article, and it was printed in 

 that paper of March 7th. He positively stated that 

 the colors were produced from pollen irom corn 

 plants of the various colors. The idea of any- 

 thing like the possibility of the florets having the 

 power of changing their color, was not to be 

 thought of for a moment. From the remarks 



