iS; 



IRISH (iAHDENING. 



Mistletoe— Viscum album. 



Willi tlir .iiii.ic.i.h ..r Cliiislm.is l;ir-r <|ii;ml i( i.-s 

 ,,( inistl. tor liriil llicir \\;iv into our cilirs. iiiid 

 will !).• louii.l n.loinin- tlw \\iii(l..ws of hijih-dass 

 lloiists and tlir l.airows of th.- stn-fl liawk.r. an.l 

 coiiiipandimr a rcadv s-ilc in liotli cases. 



'Ph.' (list. .Ml of nsini; inistli-to.- in ( '1. list mas 

 dec. n-at ions is aitpan-ntly an old one. and dal.s 

 at Irast as far iiack as the scvcntfcntli ci-ntiirx. 

 In an old Look »-ntitl."d '• Thin-s not (Jcn.iaHy 

 Known. ■■ it is stated tliat ("hrislnias rands in 

 praise of hollv and ivv weie known even earlier 

 than tlu- lift.-eiith eeiituiy. l.ut tliat allusion t^) 

 mistletoe can s.areelv Ix' traced for two cenlui'ics 

 later, or I.efoiv the till!.' of H.^rrick. who wrote : 



•• Down with the h'oseniarv. and so 

 Down with the liaies and Mistleto.^, 

 Down with th.- llollv. Ivv and all 

 Wher.with you divst the Christnins Hall." 



Mistletoe seems to ])e parasitic on quite a 

 variety of trees, most of the old writer.s int ludinp: 

 the oak as a host (dnnt. >h)dern ohservers. liow - 

 ever, st'nerally oxdude the oak, or mention it as 

 hut rarely infested hy niistleto(>. 



In the Botanic Gardens <\{ (ilasnevin it may l)e 

 •Seen on various species of jiyrus. also on a\sculus. 

 accr. r(d)inia, and lime. 



In the Septeml)er issue of the Moiilhli/ Ihillrll,, 

 of AijrirxUural I iitclliucnre (Did I'liiiif Discd.srs 

 there is an extract from a Swiss journal iL,nvin,e a 

 list of deiiduons host ]ilants which iuchules 

 •• KoSiicea\ Poi)nlus. Salix. Alnus, Betula, Ulmus. 

 Fraximis and Tilia, and amoni; Conifers Silver 

 Fir and Scots Pine are mentioned as its chief 



hosts.-' 



The .general appearance of mistletoe is well 

 known to most peoi)le, hut it may not be so W'ell 

 known that the male and female flowers are 

 borne of separate plants. The flowers, of course, 

 are inconspicuoiis and usually escape observation 

 unless looked for during summer. The white 

 berries containing the seed are familiar and are 

 grc( dily eaten by thrushes and other birds, who 

 spread the ]dant by carrying the seeds to other 

 trees, where, if the host be a suitable one, they 

 germinate. The seed when deposited on a branch 

 inclines at once to fall off. but is prevented from 

 leaving the branch by the sticky flviid which 

 sxirrounds it ; thus it comes to rest on the side or 

 under surface of the branch The root or 

 " sinker," as it is often termed, growls into the 

 l)ranch until it reaches the wood, and finally 

 lipcomes deeply imbedded in it through the 

 formation of new layers of wood annually which 

 giadually grow up round the so-called " sinker." 

 Above the limit of the wood the " sinker " may 

 produce lateral "roots" which travel parallel 

 with the 1)ranch. The laterals also i)roduce 

 ■ sinkers " which iienetrate to the wood, and buds 

 may be formed which will burst through the bark 

 and form new mistletoe bushes. Tlius the parasite 

 may sjiread over a considerable ])art of a tree 

 without the introduction of more seeds. 



]Many mythological legends are extant respect- 

 ing mistletoe, V)iit they need not be recounted 

 here. 



'• The Treasury of Botany says :■ — " Tlie origin 

 of the modern custom connected with mistletoe 

 is not very clear. Like many other customs its 

 original significance is only guessed at. If known 



peiha|is the innocent merriment now assoi-i.it^-d 

 with the plant woidd !>.■ e\chanu.-d for a f.-eling 

 of st.'rn disapprov.-il. and the mistletoe w.uild he 

 lianislwd from our homes. In such a casi". how- 

 ever, ignorance is bliss. "" 



.\gain. fi'om the work (piol.d at the Iteginning 

 of these notes We leaiii that ••kissing a fair one 

 u IK lei- th.' mist I. I..,' an. I u isliiiiu li.'i' a haj.pv new 

 \.ar as \,,u |i|-.-s.'nt li.i- willi ,nu- ..f the berri.-s 

 f..r lu.k is th.- Chii.stmas .iistom of our times." 

 That, was wiitt.-n in 1 S.lit, and at least part <if the 

 1 ust.uii is still with us. l>ong may it cmtiime ! 



II..1.1.V HKKltV. 



Smaller Campanulas for the 

 Rock Garden. 



V.Wl'V 11. 



Bv :mi 



ll..i;\iK! 



)K. 



Cam PANT I 

 Mayii ar,- 

 winter the 

 festoons of l)loss( 



d.-li 



.phvll.i. lis whit.- form, and C. 



ghtiul plants f.ir thos.- who can 



1 have never seen those Wonderful 



ut of doors that one .sees to 



p(-rfection in cottage windows. Here they are not 

 truly hardy and I no longer i)ut them out. 

 C. mui-alis is everybody's ]ilant, a])solutely hardy ; 

 its l)right green leaves are an attraction in mid- 

 winter, and its ]irofusion of blue b(-lls makes a 

 fine ])atch of colour for a long period in sumiiu-r. 

 Var. Bavarica is larger and darker ; var. .Mur.-tti. 

 smaller and i)aler, tliough it ])refers a chink. 

 C. muralis is not particular, and seeds itself mor.- 

 fi'eely than any of the other chink-loving Cam- 

 panulas. 



C. alpina one must be careful about ; the true 

 ])lant makes small narrow-leaved rosettes, and at 

 the side throws up a spike bearing a few dee])-blue 

 bells ; it is not difficvilt in very stony .soil, but is 

 rarely seen in cultivation, and, though not a 

 biennial, has that imfortunate monocarjxius 

 tendency dis])layed by the " Spike " Canii)anulas. 

 There is a white form which I have never seen 

 and a false form (a hairy rotundifolia — indistin- 

 giiishable from C. Valdensis) which one sees too 

 often. 



C. barbata is held by some to be merely a 

 geographical form of C. alpinea, but it is a far 

 more robust ])lant, throwing up sjiikes of large, 

 pale lavender bells, with their characteristic 

 " beard." I see the plant described as " rarely 

 perennial," but have found it absolutely perennial 

 when ])lanted with its back to a stone, high up. 

 "What it dislikes is a heavy winter soil. There is a 

 beautiful white form and a very rare one-flowered 

 form — var. uniflora. I had a plant of somewhat 

 similar habit for one year — C. Moesiaca — raised 

 from seed collected by poor Ball when he was in 

 Bulgaria ; it was distinct and very pretty, but 

 died after flowering, and set no seed. Not very 

 far from these are the rare C. orbelicar and C. 

 bellidifolia, both of wdiich I find difficult to keep, 

 but C. tridentatix and C. Saxifraga — -which are of 

 the same kidney — ^1 find easy enough if tlieir new 

 growths are jirotected from slugs in very early 

 si)ring. They make rosettes of spoon-sha]>ed 

 leaves and bear deep i)urj)le bells. Var, Aucheri 

 seems an especially fine form, with enormous 

 bells, one on each stem, borne freely in early May. 



