378 



HORTIOULTUKR 



December 28, 1920 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



There have been nuiny conflicting 

 statements about the success with 

 which the Christmas rose can be made 

 to bloom at Christmas. There are 

 times, though, when this flower can 

 be found in full bloom at Christmas 

 time, even in states farthest north, 

 as Is shown by a report made by Mary 

 Earle Hardy in the American Botanist. 

 Miss Hardy, who lives in Michigan, 

 says that last Christmas day she dug 

 away the snow and gathered an ex- 

 quisite bunch of Christmas roses 

 ■which were nestled among the thick 

 evergreen leaves of the plants and the 

 drifted leaves of the deciduous trees 

 growing nearby. The temperature 

 was only a little above zero, and after 

 the flowers had been picked they were 

 dropped into a pan of cold water as 

 some of the stems were stiff from 

 frost. Kept in a cool room the blos- 

 BOms retained their loveliness for two 

 weeks. 



As Miss Hardy points out these flow- 

 ers are not roses at all, but instead, 

 belong to the widely related Butter- 

 cup family, and are scientifically 



named Helleborus niger. They come 

 to us from over the sea, being little 

 mountain climbers and loving best the 

 rugged and wooded defiles of the 

 southern Alps and Apennines. Their 

 blossoms are waxy white, lightly 

 touched here and there with the faint- 

 est flush of pink. Their petals are 

 scarcely observed, except by those 

 who carefully study the construction 

 of the flower, being exceedingly small 

 and strangely twerked into tiny two- 

 lipped alabastrons holding the faint- 

 est of perfumes. What we call the 

 petals, are the five waxen sepals 

 which give the flower a breadth of two 

 to five inches when spread. When 

 not expanded, these assume the sha|)c 

 of a most exquisite little cup. 



The name Helleborus niger has ref- 

 erence to the black root of the plant: 

 and with curious wonderment we wish 

 we knew the why and how that so 

 black a root bears so white a flower. 

 After the flowers have passed their 

 youthful grace and bridal beauty the 

 waxen petal-like sepals, take on a 

 shade of green, while their seeds slow- 

 ly mature. 



Apropos of what I wrote recently 

 about the Formosan Conifers, the fol- 

 lowing from the pen of a writer in 

 The (liirdciiri's Cliioxiclr is Interest- 

 in.!?: 



"1 was fortunate enough to see 

 tliese wonderful trees in 1912, and de- 

 scribed them in a short paper on the 

 'Forests of Formosa' in the October 

 issue of the Journal of Forestry. I 

 do not know whether Mr. Bean or Mr. 

 Wilson is responsible for the name 

 Formosan Redwood' which is given 

 for the remarkable tree, Taiwanla 

 cryptomerioides, but if it implies any 

 resemblance to the Californian Red- 

 wood it is not appropriate. 



The excellent photograph of a young 

 tree, taken, I presume, by Mr. Wilson, 

 gives no idea of its appearance when 

 mature, and the tree which I thought 

 it resembled most nearly, is the Chil- 

 ian Araucaria, which I have also seen 

 in its native forest. The largest speci- 

 men that I measured stood in 1912 

 close to the post office at Arisan, and 

 was beautifully photographed by Mr. 

 Price, who, I hope, will soon publish 

 the account of his botanical explora- 

 tions in Formosa, which were inter- 

 rupted by the war. This tree meas- 

 ured 190 ft. high by 24 ft. in girth, and 

 it may well be that taller ones exist. 

 But even if it attains 200 feet it would 

 not he the tallest of the Old World 

 Conifers, as I measured in Sikklm a 



The Christmas IU>«e (Helleborus niger) 



