May 4, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



585 



Bryophyllum calycinum (Salisb.) 



A relic of bygone years, when greenhouses on private 

 places were more occupied with collections of decorative 

 and flowering plants and curiosities from the vegetable 

 world, than in our day. Now the mercantile products of 

 cut flowers have increased and thrown out the old-fash- 

 ioned but always interesting plants, which gladdened not 

 only tlio amateur grower and lover of the children of 

 Flora, but also gave joy to the old gardener. Verysel- 

 ilom nowadays we see these old-timers, and I, therefore, 

 thought it- would give pleasure to some of the younger 

 people in the craft to be acquainted with one of them. 

 It is a plant cultivated more for curiosity's sake than 

 anything else. The student of botany finds here some- 

 thing that he very seldom will discover in any other 

 plant, namely, its mode of propagation, because every 

 notch of its loaf when taken from the plant and placed 

 in a Tunis: and w.Trm location will produce a new plant, 

 ludci'd. now plants will form on specimens placed in the 



botanical press without previous immersion in hot water. 

 It' receives its generic name from two Greek words mean- 

 ing branch and leaf, from this habit. 



Bryophyllum is a perennial, evergreen, succulent, fru- 

 tescent, stove-house plant, which belongs to the natural 

 order Crassulaceae and is native of Mexico, although 

 now widely distributed in the tropics. It was first in- 

 troduced into England from Calcutta by Dr. Roxburgh, 

 who in turn procured it from, the Moluccas. It grows in 

 the Philippines and is the Bryophyllum germinans of 

 the second edition of Bhmco's flora. 



It has also escaped in southern Florida, where it 

 flourishes luxuriantly when once established. The flow- 

 ers are pendulous, arranged on open, panicled cymes, 

 rather large, of yellowish green color tinged with pur- 

 ple; the calyx is bladdery and of oblong form from 

 which the tubular corolla projects as can be seen in the 

 illustration. It is successfully grown when given good 

 drainage, rich soil and moderate heat. 



-iJdyt^ 



• Plant Plenty of Annuals 



I understand fully that every reader of Horticul- 

 ture is 30 well versed regarding the cultivation of our 

 annual flowers that 'comment along this line is entirely 

 unnecessary, but as I am and always have been such an 

 admirer of this class of flowers, I cannot but feel that 

 you will forgive me for urging their very liberal plant- 

 ing in your gardens, as the outdoor season for sowing the 

 seed approaches. There are no flowers more useful all 

 through the summer and early autumn than annuals; 

 you need them in unlimited quantities for the vases and 

 other decorations that are daily made, especially for the 

 luncheon and dinner table. Again for exhibition pur- 

 poses at the fall flower shows what is there better? It 

 is very easy to have them by giving the matter a little 

 forethought now. 



AVhenever I think of annuals my mind always reverts 

 to those popular favorites that it seems to me should be 

 grown whenever circumstances will permit in large 

 quantities ; those elegant varieties whose cut blooms can 

 not onlv be used in decorative work, but also serve in 

 tlie first place for exhibition purposes. I refer to such 

 valuable subjects as asters, balsams, calendulas, coreop- 

 sis, cosmos, marigolds, mignonette, nasturtiums, pop- 

 ]iies. Phlox Drummondii, salpiglossis, scabiosa, stocks, 

 verbenas and zinnias. Space forbids a more lengthy 

 list. Most of these sorts are fine for cutting, in fact can 

 be used with very satisfactory results all through the 

 season. I have not forgotten sweet peas, but as they are 

 planted outdoors so much earlier than the other annuals, 

 and moreover liave by tacit consent been placed in a 

 class bv themselves. I will say no more about them at 

 this time. Having directed your attention to some of 



