312 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHL Y 



[October, 



■Sometimes we find two or three stems growing 

 ■erect from the same root crown, and supporting 

 themselves by the united stems twisting around 

 •each other, like the strands of a rope, for mutual , 

 support, for ten to fifteen feet and forming a 

 most curious object. The flowers are produced 

 in June, are greenish white, ver}' small and in- 

 -conspicuous; indeed they would not usually be 

 noticed by a casual observer without atten- 

 tion being called to their presence, but they are 

 «oon followed by the large clusters of fruit, each 

 one (fruit) of which is round, or indefinitely 

 three-sided, about the size of peas, and enclosed 

 in a thin, horny shell, or capsule, of a bright, 

 orange-red color, which, when ripe (in Septem- 

 ber), burst from the apex into three parts, and 

 turning back, remain attached to the stem, and 

 reveal a bright, scarlet, soft, fleshy or waxypulp, 

 (aril), which hang to the vine during autumn 

 and winter, or at least would remain there if the 

 birds (some of which are very fond of them) 

 did not devour them with such avidity. 



Now let us imagine this native vine planted in 

 clusters so as to give it more of a dense appear- 

 ance than it usually presents in its uncultivated 

 condition, and trained over a trellis; or what is 

 still better, planted and trained to creep around 

 and through the branches of a low-growing tree, 

 particularly a native thorn or red haw, Crataegus, 

 — especially the evergreen variety, if it can be 

 procured — and 3'ou certainly have one of the 

 most ornamental, hardy vines to be procured 

 from the scant list, that will survive the occa- 

 sional severe winters of the temperate zone. Of 

 course further south the list of hardy vines for 

 that latitude would be more extended, but 

 probably few plants would be as ornamental 

 during winter even there as this one. Its 

 bright, orange and scarlet fruit, with its singular 

 flower shape pods turned back when ripe, would 

 be a very attractive feature on the lawn, and the 

 class of birds that usually eat the fruit would not 

 be liable to molest it when planted upon a lawn, 

 and would in a great measure neutralize the 

 apparent desolation during the seemingly life- 

 less (to vegetable forms) Avinter months of a 

 flowerless and leafless lawri of the temperate 

 zone. 



A fit companion for the bitter-sweet, to plant 

 on the lawn, and the only other representative 

 of this order of plants in the northern part of 

 the United States, is the Waa-hoo or strawberry 

 bush, Euonymus, which also shares the same 

 neglect at the hands of the landscape gardener. 



and is nearly equally as unknown to the 

 most of our people except by name. It is oc- 

 casionally seen in cultivation in America, and 

 when properly cared for makes a most favorable 

 impression, even when growing side by side with 

 more pretentious and costly shrubs. By refer- 

 ence to standard botanies we find scientific bota- 

 nists make three native species and three other 

 varieties of the Euonymus found in the United 

 States all very similar in their general character, 

 and all equally desirable for planting on the 

 lawn with other shrubs, differing as they do in 

 so many important features. If we go into the 

 fields and study them in their native habitat, we 

 shall find them growing in rich, loamy or peaty 

 soil, usually quite moist, and that they are a 

 slender, low-growing shrub, witli very peculiar 

 four sided or nearly square branches; that while 

 some varieties only grow from one to two feet 

 high, others often reach the height of fifteen or 

 eighteen feet, with more or less oblong, shining 

 (Nuttall says opaque) green leaves, which in 

 autumn assume a most brilliant, bronzy-crimson 

 color. The flowers are small and insignificant, 

 of a dull, bronzy-green or purplish color, and 

 borne in small clusters in June (usually three or 

 more together) from a Ion gstem at the axils of 

 the leaves. Like the bitter-sweet the fruit of the 

 Euonymus is the great object of interest, and 

 ripening in fall (October) also remains hanging 

 to the branches all winter. It is deeply three- 

 lobed in E. Aniericanus and its varieties, but four- 

 lobed in E. atropurpureus, and is covered with 

 a thin, hard, bony pod, or capsule, usually of a 

 bright crimson or orange-red color, while they 

 are often seen (especially under cultivation) of 

 all the shades of red to a creamy white. These 

 pods bursting open from the apex along the 

 three or four ridges of the lobes, when the 

 fruit is ripe, and turning back remain attached 

 to the stem, thus revealing a bright, scarlet, 

 pulpy meat (fruit), enclosing the seed. Unlike 

 the bitter-sweet, the fruit is not greedily de- 

 voured by birds ; indeed it is usually credited 

 with containing a poisonous acid very destruc- 

 tive to stock, which Prof. Gray tells us Tourne- 

 fort has aptly turned to good account by ironi- 

 cally giving the genus a name which, in the 

 original Greek, signifies "good food." 



Although the Euonymus makes a very pleasing 

 object with its highly ornamental, bell like fruit 

 hanging from the numerous branches during 

 winter, when planted on the lawn, it is still 

 more attractive when planted in thickets or 



