June 25, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



945 



Notes From the Arnold Arboretum Eucharis grandiflora (Amazonica) 



The Ehododendrons and Kalmias are now in full 

 bloom and present a splendid picture, — their masses of 

 bright flowers set off effectively by the dark background 

 of the hemlocks. To the already large collection of Eho- 

 dodendrons new additions are made every year and 

 among those recently acquired Prometheus is one of the 

 finest on account of the rich color of its flowers hardly 

 equalled by any other hardy Rhododendron ; the flowers 

 are deep scarlet marked with nearly black spots and are 

 borne in large clusters. Also Baroness Schroeder with 

 large clusters of nearly white finely spotted flowers is 

 very beautiful. Among the Kalmias a very fine form 

 with deep red flowers attracts attention; this is Kalmia 

 latifolia var. rubra, in French nurseries also known as 

 var. Pavartii and in England as var. splendens. Even 

 without flowers it can be told from the common form by 

 the darker and more lustrous green of its foliage. Be- 

 tween this and var. alia, the form with white flowers, 

 almost all shades of pink are represented. Very dis- 

 tinct is var. polypetala (var. monstruosa) ; in this the 

 corolla is not cup-shaped as in the normal form, but is 

 divided into five narrow petals which gives the whole 

 flower-cluster a feathery appearance. For borders of 

 groups of Kalmias and other broad-leaved evergreens 

 var. myrtifolw, a low and slow growing form, may be 

 recommended ; it forms a dense mass of narrow and 

 small dark green leaves, but flowers only sparingly. An- 

 other low form is var. ohtusata; this has rather large 

 leaves rounded at both ends and resembling those of 

 Rhododendron cataivbiense, but they are smaller. These 

 forms are usually propagated by side grafting on seed- 

 lings of the common form. 



Among the Chinese Deutzias recently introduced by 

 Wilson one of the best seems to be Deutzia discolor, par- 

 ticularly as it has proved fairly hardy. It has pure 

 white flowers borne in large clusters along the slender 

 arching branches ; the individual flowers are star-shaped 

 and about three-quarters of an inch across. The leaves 

 are lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, two to three inches 

 long, serrate and bright green on the upper and whitish 

 on the under side. A variety of it which is better known is 

 D. dicolor var. purpurascens with purplish flowers ; this, 

 however, is not hardy in this latitude. 



In some instances plants raised from seed introduced 

 recently from the higher mountains of western China 

 are hardier than the plants of the same species now in 

 cultivation. This is the case with Idesia polycarpa of 

 which the plants raised from seed sent by Wilson have 

 stood the last two winters without injury, while the 

 plants introduced twenty or thirty years ago from south- 

 ern Japan can not be grown successfully north of Phil- 

 adelphia. It is a handsome round-headed tree attaining 

 forty to fifty feet in height with fine foliage, but incon- 

 spicuous flowers in large racemes followed by orange- 

 colored berries of about the size of small cherries. The 

 broadly ovate or ovate leaves are serrate on the margin, 

 dark green and lustrous above and whitish on the under 

 side and are borne on slender peduncles three to five inches 

 long. The tree is dioecious. It can be propagated be- 

 sides by seeds, by green-wood cuttings and by root cut- 

 tings. It is now sometimes planted in southern Europe 

 as an ornamental tree and may possibly make a good 

 street tree. In China there occurs a form with the 

 leaves pubescent on the under side ; this is /. polycarpa 

 -var. vestita and has also been introduced by Wilson. 



Eucharis grandiflora belongs to a small genus of warm 

 greenhouse bulbous plants, and for grace and refinement 

 when in flower, has few peers. The trade, however, has 

 been a little shy of attempting to grow these beautiful 

 white flowers thinking that they are hard to manage, but 

 if a few simple requirements are attended to, success will 

 be sure to follow. Lest this talk should sound rather 

 optimistic, I will tell of a plant that I saw in 

 an ordinary sitting room, in which it had grown 

 for years — a remarkably well flowered specimen in 

 a 10-inch pot, having 56 open flowers. My friend 

 told me that a friend of the family, who was a mission- 

 ary, had sent home three bulbs thirty-two years before 

 my visit. The bulbs had increased in number so that 

 two pots were filled with them, the plant in flower hav- 

 ing tlie stronger bulbs. Two years before the time I 

 speak of the plant had been repotted, with a compost ob- 

 tained from a nearby florist and at intervals watered 

 with cold tea, and soapy water such as one would wash 

 their hands in, the leaves also being washed occasionally. 

 The bulbs had flowered, more or less, every year. 



A steady temperature is essential for the successful 

 culture of Eucharis, and right here I will quote what an 

 expert grower says about the disease that afEects these 

 plants. 



"I had two fine pots of Eucharis grandiflora in flower. 

 My employers insisted on their being taken to the con- 

 servatory in which a temperature of as near 50 degrees 

 as possible was maintained. To this I strongly objected, 

 but in it they were placed until they had finished flow- 

 ering, when they were gradually brought back to the 

 temperature I had grown them in. But from that day 

 they got weaker and weaker, no matter what was done 

 for them. I turned them out of their pots and washed 

 them in the following mixture : Fir tree oil one-eighth 

 of a pint to a gallon of warm rain water, adding about a 

 pint of tobacco water and allowed them to lie on a bench 

 about an hour before potting them, after which I placed 

 them in the stove. They very soon after were growing 

 as vigorously as ever, and I attributed the mischief to 

 their being placed in the conservatory. I am convinced 

 that a temperature of 65 degrees should be maintained 

 where they are growing." 



I have seen Eucharis grandiflora grown on a bench, 

 but never with the same success as in pots, but I don't 

 say that it can't be done successfully. I would advise 

 placing seven good bulbs to a ten-inch pot, in a mixture 

 of two parts fibry loam, one of flaky leaves, and one of 

 dried cow manure, adding enough charcoal and sand to 

 keep the whole porous. If large specimens are wanted 

 for exhibition purposes the number of bulbs may be in- 

 creased. For successful culture as near sixty-five degrees 

 as possible should be maintained at night. Manure water 

 and Clay's fertilizer may be given (weak, and often) 

 when the plants are growing vigorously, especially when 

 the flower-scapes appear. After the plants have flowered 

 rest slightly by witliholding water but never to the point 

 of severe drying. I have known vigorous plants to 

 flower three times a year, but they should never be forced 

 to do so. Top-dress the plants annually, repotting only 

 when the bulbs get over-crowded. 



