1862. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



89 



female mortals that love flowers and like to work 

 among them, and try new ones as our means 

 permit; when the opportunity presents itself we 

 buy. Offer us the chance and perhaps we will 

 buy more frequently. 



[Perhaps some of our readers will think some 

 of the fuzz from the Fremontia capsules are wor- 

 rying our friend's back even as he writes. We 

 mufl": say a word for American horticulturists. 

 We do not believe any such a dislike for Ameri- 

 can plants exists as our correspondent supposes. 

 Nine-tenths of all the plants in cultivation in the 

 Atlantic States are of American origin. Japan 

 trees are only popular because they have gener- 

 ally been found to thrive well in the climate 

 California annuals are popular because they 

 mostly do well. California trees and shrubs are 

 not popular for no other reason than that they 

 have not been found to do well. The Fremontia 

 deserves all the commendation our correspon- 

 dent bestows on it, but we do not know that it 

 has ever been tried under culture in the East. 

 Though experience with so many other things is 

 against it, it would be well worth a trial. — Ed 

 G.M.I 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Coco Grass. — We have three answers to our 

 Arkansas correspondent's query, at page 59, in 

 our last. 



One says, ''The awful nuisance referred to is 

 Cenchrus tribuloides." But this is an annual 

 grass, while our corre.spondent describes his as a 

 perennial, and the "great nuisance " comes from 

 its perennial roots. 



Another correspondent, having evidently the 

 perennial root in mind, writes : '' He means Cy- 

 perus rotundus, var. hydra. It is a horrible 

 pest ; " but here again we are met with the 

 statement that it " grows from four to eight feet 

 high," which we are sure Cyperus hydra never 

 does. 



Two correspondents write that " Johnson 

 grass is Sorghum halapense," and this may be, 

 SIS that is a tall perennial grass, but yet hardly 

 likely to be a serious pest in a cotton field. It 

 seems as if" What is it? " is still a fair question. 



The P.\st Season in California. — A corres- 

 pondent from Nordhoff, Ventura Countj% writes 

 that there has been no rain there for nine 

 months, to January 17th. Sheep have been of 



fered at 75 cents each, and no buyers. Stream* 

 for irrigating are low, but still sufficient to keep' 

 the crops in fair heart. The climate is, however,, 

 admirable for those suffering from pleural trou- 

 bles. The mountains are covered with a luxu- 

 riant forest vegetation. He encloses some- 

 spirited lines from a local poet, representing 

 Diana complaining to Jupiter of the woodman's- 

 axe in other parts of the country, destroying 

 the arborescent retreats given to her and her 

 chaste maidens for the pleasure of the chase, 

 and Jupiter directing her to these woods of the 

 Ojai (pronounced 0-he) valley, where they will 

 probably never be disturbed. 



Section of the Mammoth Tree of Califor- 

 nia. — Can any of our readers tell what became- 

 of the large section exhibited at the Centennial f 

 A correspondent would be glad to know. 



North American Lichens.— A synopsis by 

 Edward Tuckerman is in preparation, and vol- 

 ume first will be issued from the press early in^ 

 the spring. 



The Winter in France.— Under date of De- 

 cember 25th, Mr. Jean Sisley, writing to a friend 

 in this country, describes the French winter a» 

 being open and peculiar, much the same as ours, 

 has been. 



Desmodium penduliflorum. — Under thi» 

 name, and also that of D. racemosum, one of the 

 most beautiful hardy herbaceous plants known 

 to our gardens has been rather widely circulated 

 since it was admired in the Japanese garden in 

 the Centennial grounds in Philadelphia. Dr. 

 Hooker has recently examined the history of" 

 the plant, and finds its proper name to be Les- 

 pedeza bicolor. 



Pritchardia grandis. — Palms have their 

 homes in tropical climes. Their remains are 

 found in arctic geological formations, but nothing 

 like palms grow there now, so tropical are they 

 that they barely enter the limits of the United 

 States. In the Atlantic region of our country, 

 the Palmetto and other allied species are found 

 from, say, Louisiana eastwardly down through 

 Florida, and a few years ago a species was found 

 coming up on the west into California. This wa* 

 at first supposed to be a Brahea, a genus allied 

 to Corypba, which is well known to those who 

 love to grow palms. With better knowledge it 

 was found distinct from Brahea, and it was placed 

 in Pritchardia, under which name our pretty 



