312 



JOURNAL OF HOETICXJLTXJEE AKD COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ October 20, ISGS. 



night and day at the back of the house at top, and if this 

 cooled the house too much, we would use foe to keep up the 

 temperature. We wo\ild xise as little watei-ing in the house 

 as possible, and by July we would remove aU except a few 

 favourite specimens out of doors. With a di-ier atmosphere 

 and more air, we think you mil see no more of your enemy ; 

 but if a berry or a shoot be affected, dust it with flowers of 

 sulphur at once before the disease has a chance to spread. 

 With a drier atmosphere and a greater cii'culation of air in 

 summer, we do not think you will be troubled after these 

 precautions.] 



CULTITEE OF THE GENUS IMPATIENS. 



The species of this genus ai-e as iisefid as they ai'e singidar. 

 Some flower fi'eely at most seasons of the year, and are good 

 ornaments for oui- stoves in ■\\inter, especially the two small 

 species — latifolia, bright pvu'plish-rose coloiu' ; and latifolia 

 alba, white. They are also verj' serviceable as cut flowers 

 in a bouquet or in a vase for in-door decoration. 



They are very readily grown by a simple stove treatment. 

 We have been very successful with them by placing cuttings 

 of the smaller varieties in the eai-ly spring, three into a large 

 60-pot, in a mixture of sandy peat, keeping them close 

 for a day or two. They readily root, and should receive mode- 

 rate shiifts into a mixtui'e of four parts good fibrous peat, 

 one of sand, and one of loam, with a good spiinkling of 

 well-broken potsherds. The cuttings should be kept con- 

 stantly stopped where a tendency is shown to become too 

 lankj', to which they ar-e rather liable, or when good roimd 

 plants are desired and not immediate flowering. These 

 small varieties will, if kej^t well in the light and not too 

 liberally and loosely shifted, flower at almost every joint. 



The larger varieties, such as Hookeri and the beauti- 

 ful Jerdoniae especially, wiU at aU times flower better when, 

 as young plants, they have been constantly kept jjinched 

 back, thus making them as short-jointed as possible. Take 

 pains, however, to give them all the sun and light com- 

 patible with a general stove routine. Do not stop them 

 after midsummer, and whilst yon encom-age a robust growth 

 take care not to supply them with too much water, and they 

 win in then- beautUid blossoms amply repay all pains taken. 



There are numerous sorts. Impatieus flaccida, Jerdoniae, 

 Hookeri, latifolia, latifolia alba, biflora, coccinea.andtrieornis; 

 and a once-acknowledged very pretty variety, Impatiens 

 scapiflora, having a rather large, light flower, tinted with 

 rose colour, and with leaves more ornamental than most of 

 the others. Besides these there is our own hai-dy Impatiens 

 NoU-me-tangere, the Touch-me-not of Britain. — William 

 Eaeley. 



HAEDY AQUATICS. 



{Continued frmn pa(]e 249.) 



ACTINOCAEPUS DAMASONiuii is a pretty little perennial, 

 growing in British ditches ; has white flowers from June to 

 August. 



EuMEX HTBEOLAPATHUM (Water Dock) is a noxious weed 

 in many places, but highly ornamental, nevertheless, in 

 others ; gi'ows 6 feet high, having- a long spathe of green 

 inflorescence in Jidy and Aug-ust. E. acutus (Sharp-leaved), 

 gi'owing 2 feet high, and E. aquations, attaining a height 

 of 5 feet, are native plants found in ditches and sluggish 

 streams. The flower-spike or spathe of these plants should 

 be cut before the seeds become rijje, or it is apt to be borne 

 along by the floods, and may cause serious mischief to the 

 meadow lands adjoining rivers. 



BuTOMUs (Flowering Eush). — B. umbeUatus to my think- 

 ing, and I may say by general consent, is the handsomest 

 of British plants. It grows 2 feet high, erect ; leaves long 

 and sharp-edged ; flowers pink, but assuming different shades 

 of red, produced in umbels upon a long stalk. A perennial, 

 flowering in June and July. Found in ditches. B. lati- 

 folius has broad leaves, and white flowei-s in June and July. 

 A perennial from Nepaul, growing a foot in height. 



AcoRus CALAMUS (Sweet Flag). — A native reedy plant 

 inhabiting pools, growing 2 feet high. The leaves are highly 

 aromatic, a quality which they lose in drying. The flowers 

 are apetalous, appeimng in June and July. 



SciKPUs (Club Eush). — S. lacustris (TaU) is a reedy-like 



plant, growing 6 feet high. England ; rivers. S. mfus is a 

 curious little grass-like perennial, growing 6 inches high ; 

 found in Scotch waters. There are several more, but of no 

 interest except to the botanist. 



IsoLEPis FLUiTANS is a curious perennial floating Grass, 

 flowering in July and August, but apetalous. Britain; 

 ditches. 



Ikis pseud-acorus. — Flowers yellow, produced abundantly 

 m June and July. Grows 3 to 4 feet high, having a stately 

 reed-Uko appearance. This is a perennial, gi'owing equally 

 well in the water as in moist places. Britain. I. fcetid- 

 issima, the leaves of this species rubbed between the fingers 

 emit a fetid odour ; the flowers are lead-coloured, produced 

 in June ; grows IS foot high. I. fcetidissima vai-iegata is a 

 highly-ornamental perennial. The last two require to be 

 planted at the margin of the water. There is a pale-yeUow 

 variety of the Bastard Acorus — viz., I. pseud-acorus pallida 

 flava, similar to the species. 



Eanunculus (Crowfoot). — E. hederaceus (Ivy-leaved), 

 E. obtusifoHus (Blunt-leaved), E. tripartitus, E. pautothrix, 

 E. pantothi-ix fluviatUis, E. pantothrix CEespitosus, E. aqua- 

 ticus (Water), E. aquaticus peltatus (Peltate-leaved), are all 

 Ijretty plants. Some have the leaves submerged, variously 

 divided, some multifid, others three-paited. All grow 

 about a foot high, haring white flowers, produced abun- 

 dantly in the early part of summer. Natives of Britain 

 and Eui'ope generally. E. lingua (Tongue-leaved), is a 

 curious yellow-flowering deciduous herbaceous plant, growing 

 2 feet high, inhabiting muddy ditches, and flowering from 

 June to Arigust. E. alpestris (Alpine), a Scotch species, is a 

 pretty little plant growing about (j inches high, having white 

 flowers fi-om June to August. E. polyjihyUus (Many-leaved), 

 is a curious yellow-flowering annual aquatic, growing 9 inches 

 liigh ; flowers in May and June. From Hungary. 



SwERTiA PEEENNis, an upriglit-growing perennial, grows 

 a foot high, and has purple flowers in July and August. Is a 

 native plant, found in marehes. 



Caltha (Marsh Marigold) C. palustris (Common Marsh), 

 and C. palustris flore pleno (Double-flowered), grow about 

 a foot high, and have yellow flowers in May and June. 

 C. radicans (Eooting), is an evergTcen creeping aquatic, 

 growing 6 inches high in Scotch marshes, and has yellow 

 flowers in May. C. ruinor, C. parnassifolia (Parnassia-leaved), 

 C. asarifolia, and C. biflora (Two-flowered), ai-e all of low 

 gi'owth, with yellow flowers in eai-ly summer, except C. biflora, 

 which has white flowers from May to Jidy ; the first is a 

 native plant, the second and last are North Americans. 

 C. flabeUifolia has yeUow flowers in May, gi-ows a foot Mgh, 

 and is fi-om North America. 0. leptosepala, from the same 

 continent, has white flowei-s in June, and grows a foot high. 

 C. natans (Floating), has white flowers in May and June, 

 and is a princely refugee from the Siberian waters. 



Teucbiuji scordium (Water Germander), is a pretty little 

 l^lant, growing 3 inches high, with rosy jjui-ple blooms in 

 Jidy and August, and is a native plant found in mai-shes. 



Hydropeltis PURPUREA is a floating-leaved perennial, 

 with reddish-pm-ple blooms in July and August ; has peltate 

 leaves, and is fi-om North America. 



Callitriche (Water Starwoi-t). — C. verna, C. vema af^ua- 

 tica, and C, autumnalis are annuals, growing in ditches, 

 about 3 inches high, mth wliite flowers, but Uttle less than 

 weeds, though pretty. 



Menyanthes (Buck Bean). — M. trifoliata (Thi-ee-leaved), 

 a highly ornamental native species, grows a foot high, and 

 has white flowers in July. M. americana, with trifoliate 

 leaves, grows a foot high, having white flowers in July, much 

 resembling oiu- native species. It is from North Aiierica. 



Ltsimachia (Loosestrife).- — L. thyi-siflora, gi-ows li foot 

 high, and in-oduces yellow flowers from May to July. Britain ; 

 lakes. L. nemoiiim vai-iegatum is a pretty trailing plant 

 growing in wet places, and has yellow flowers from May to 

 JiUy. L. \ndgaris, -with yellow flowei-s fi-om June to Septem- 

 ber, grows 3 feet high, and is found in wet places. 



Hottonia palustris (Water Violet), has finely-cut leaves 

 all produced imder water ; the upright floweiing-spikes ap- 

 pealing above the water, with their whorls of flesh-coloured- 

 flowers, have a very beautiful appearance. It is a perennial, 

 gi-owing in ditches, is about a foot high, and flowers in Jnly 

 and August. 



Thalia dealeata, a half-hardy- plant with mealy stems, 



