180 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



THE SHOOTING STARS 



■"P 1 1 R genus Dodecatheon helon.es to the Primula family, 

 and is confined to Western North America, although 

 one or two species are found in North-Eastern Asia by 

 the llehrin;,;; Straits. They are all hardy herbaceous ])er- 

 ennials, with tufts of oblong sixitulatc leaves of varying 

 shapes and sizes, and scapes bearing" umbels of drooping 

 flowers on long pedicels. The petals are long and narrow 

 and reflcNcd like those of the Cyclamen. They are usually 

 found in moist, shady ]:)ositions, and are well adapted for 

 the sheltered parts of the rock garden or shady border. 

 The soil they prefer is a loamy one, rich in hunnis, with 

 ]>lentv of moisture in the growing season. Nearly all the 

 dift'erent kinds are easily propagated by division of the 

 crowns after the leaves have rijjcned off, or the operation 

 mav be performed in early Spring. 



D. J'li.Lii'Ticr.M (.syn. D. J.vrKCRiKoi.iuM ). — This pretty 

 little plant is a native of the Rocky ^Mountains, where it is 

 found in moist, open woods. It has narrow spatulate 

 leaves, quite entire, from which, early in May, are pro- 

 duced scapes one foot or more high, Ijearing umbels of 

 eight to ten flowers. These vary from rosy purple to iiale 

 lilac, and have a white base with a yellow ring. 



D. Jkffkeyt (syn. 1). ;\1f..\dia l.\ngifouum). — .\ very 

 distinct plant, one of the largest and strongest growers in 

 the family. It has leaves nearly a foot in length, lanceolate 

 in shape, and tapering to the base, while the scapes often 

 reach a height of two feet in favorable situations. On 

 these the pink or rosy purple flowers are borne in umbels 

 of four to six in late Spring. It is usually found in wet 

 places on the mountains of East Oregon and California. 



D. Meadia. — The most popular member of this genus. 

 easily grown and very free-flowering, is a beautiful i)lant 

 for the shady border. It produces an abundance of long, 

 broad leaves and numerous scapes up to two feet high, 

 each bearing twenty or more large pendulous reflexed 

 flowers during the month of May. It was one of the 

 earlier kinds to be introduced, having been grown in the 

 year 1709 in the garden of the Bishop of London. It is 

 figured in one of the earlier volumes of the Botanical 

 ^lai^a:illc. t. 12, and is named after a Dr. Mead. In its 

 natural habitat it is confined to the country west of Penn- 

 sylvania, and usually grows on moist cliffs and drains. 

 There are numerous color forms of this species grown in 



gardens, varsing from rich rosy purple thruugli ;dl inter- 

 mediate shades to pure white. 



Many of these l)(.)decatheiins make excellent pot plants 

 for use in the alpine Imusc. The roots can be potted up in 

 the .\utumn, and the pots should be plunged in an ash-bed 

 in a sheltered ])osition where they can receive attention. 

 During the mouth of May they will produce their flowers 

 freeh- and jinixe a welcome addition to the nthcr plants in 

 bloom at that .season. — The Garden (I'.ritish). 



AMERICAN CRAB APPLES 



{Cuntiiiurd [rain /ii/.^r 179) 



Al.\LL".s AXGUSTiFoi.iA is the last C'ral) .Xjiple in the 

 .\iboretum to flower. This is a tree sometimes thirty 

 feet tall with a trunk eight or ten inches in diameter, 

 wide-spreading branches, bright pink exceedingly fra- 

 grant flowers an inch in diameter, and de])ressed-giobose 

 fruit. From the other species it differs in the only slightly 

 lobed or serrate leaves on the ends of vigorous shoots and 

 in the rounded aptx of the leaves on flower-bearing 

 branchlets. Malus angustifolia is a southern species 

 which naturally does not grow north of southeastern Vir- 

 ginia and southern Illinois, ranging to northern Florida 

 and western Louisiann. Plants raised here many years 

 ago from seed gathered in northern Florida are perfectly 

 hardv in the Arboretum where they blonm ever_\- year 

 late in May and have proved to be handsome and valuable. 



Malus Soi'i.ardii, wdiich is believed to be a natural 

 hybrid between M. ioensis and some form of the oiciiard 

 Apple (M. pumila) which, not rare and widely distributed 

 in the middle west, is a tree as it grows in the Arboretum, 

 nearly as broad as it is high with spreading, slightly 

 drooping branches. Last year it was thickly covered with 

 its pale pink fragrant flowers, which, for ten days at least, 

 made it one of the most attractive objects in the Crabapi>le 

 Collection at the eastern base of Peter's Llill. This year it 

 fas bloonied only sparingly. It is a curious fact that M. 

 Soulardii flowers in the Arboretum fully two weeks earlier 

 than either of its supposed parents. Several varieties of 

 Soulard's Crab are distinguished by western pomologists. 

 .Some of them are in the Arboretum collection, but the 

 "Fluke Apple'' is the only one which has flowered here 

 yet. This resembles Soulard's Crab in size and sha])e, 

 in the color of its abundant flowers, and as an ornamental 

 plant is of e."|ual \alnc. — .Iniold . Irlxiiu-liiin JhiUi-lin. 



i til una A'. 



ini; spols In be visited by the f^ardcncrs duriiiji the annual C'lnrrnlinn al Pillshursib. .lun.usl 14, 15, Id, 17. 



