Ootober 7, 1875. ] 



JOURNA.Ii OP HORTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



311 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



A FEW CHOICE BRITISH PLANTS.— No. 1. 



}i HE beauty and utility of barely berbaceo 

 c^ plants being now recognised, it requires or 



eons 



, ■ - . - . - - °°'y 



^\..,^ a very sligbt extension of tbe same principle 

 to include some of our Britisb plants in tbe 

 same category, for many of tbem wben 

 viewed impartially and pitted against some 

 tender exotics will be found to put to sbame 

 our patronage of tbe one and neglect of tbe 

 otber. It is true tbere are some of our 

 prettiest wild plants not tbe easiest to culti- 

 vate, but others, I should expect, may be made to grow 

 in most ordinary situations. I therefore make no apology 

 for calling attention to a few old favourites of mine. 

 Some of them I have been estranged from for nearly half 

 a century, but I expect they still continue to bloom in 

 the same unobtrusive manner they did in tbe times when 

 Briton, Roman, and Saxon claimed them as theirs. I 

 will point out a few gems in tbe wild-plant way which 

 deserve more general attention, and tbe search for which 

 would form a fitting subject for young gardeners when 

 out for a holiday. 



Mcmjantlies trifoliata (Marsh Trefoil or Buckbean) is a 

 sub-aquatic plant, with glaucous leaves ratlier fleshy, the 

 stem robust rather than slender, flowers mostly white, 

 but with a beautiful pink fringe, giving it a most band- 

 some appearance. It is not by any means common in 

 tbe south of England, but in Scotland our tourist friends 

 will most likely find it plentiful in wet mar.shy places and 

 on a peaty soil, very often diificult of access on account 

 of the wet nature of the ground, and not unfrequently in 

 a half -floating state. I believe the plant possesses a bitter 

 property common to others of its fellows, and has been 

 used extensively by the poor people, amongst whom it is 

 known as a cure for certain diseases. This plant is easily 

 discovered where it exists ; for, notwithstanding its pro- 

 strate habit, its pale green leaves look so different fi-om 

 other herbage around it. Its flowers appear in July, and 

 remain in beauty about a month. I have only met with 

 it on peaty marshes, and it may possibly be in company 

 with Sweet Gale and other plants of a like kind. 



I'arnassia j^alustris (Grass of Parnassus). — Tliis very 

 pretty plant and flower, somewhat resembling a Eauun- 

 culus, is, like the last, only found on wet mar.shy pastures 

 or bogs, but not exactly floating on water, as the last- 

 named \?, sometimes found, but it is very often hidden by 

 the coarser herbage by which it is surrounded. It is a 

 low compact-growing plant, in habit resembling some 

 of the Primulas with a different class of foliage ; the 

 flowers, however, are its maia points of beauty, and they 

 are very attractive, being white, neatly fringed, erect, and 

 on stalks that enable them to be conveniently gathered 

 for nosegay purposes. I do not know whether attempts 

 have been made to cultivate it, but it deserves to be 

 where a site suitable for it is obtainable, for, apart from 

 its poetic name, it is very pretty. 



Nartliecium osslfragum (Lancashire (or Bog) Asphodel). 

 — This is a neat little plant with upright spikes of yellow 



No. Tiy.— Vol. XXIX., New Series. 



flowers. It is both pretty and ornamental, and, like the 

 preceiling, is found growing on wet marshy ground, but 

 not always confined to soil of a peaty character, for I have 

 met with it on a hungry wot clay where but few things 

 would grow. It is seldom more than inches high, but 

 might possibly attain greater proportions if cultivated; 

 but it is likely to be driven out of cultivation as drainage 

 progresses, unless it fixes its abode on some of those 

 inaccessible wastes where it is safe from invasion. 



Erijihrcea ccntaiirium.— This beautiful annual yields 

 to very few in point of habit and appearance, and it is 

 surprising it is not more grown. It is frequently met 

 with in rather poor pasture land where its fine corymbs 

 of beautifully rose-coloured flowers, equalling the Sweet- 

 william in size, are often met with. As a wild plant it is 

 more easily cultivated than many, especially^ those re- 

 quiring some special position not always available. In 

 florists' catalogues it still retains a place. 



Pinguicula grandijlora. — My acquaintance with this 

 plant is a long one. I recollect finding it in great abun- 

 dance on a piece of waste clayey land near the margin of 

 a sheet of water in the north of England. Its singularly- 

 formed blooms of a beautiful bright blue with a prominent 

 spur are elevated on neat little footstalks sufiioiently 

 above the fleshy foUage to give it an interesting appear- 

 ance. The foliage somewhat resembles that of the smaller 

 leaves of the ordinary Ice-plant (Mescmbryanthemum 

 erystallinum), a little more curled at the edges, perhaps, 

 and the plant is of lowly growth. It is only recently that 

 attention has been called to the plant as one to which the 

 term carnivorous has been appended ; of its capability 

 that way I can give no opinion. This is a beautiful plant 

 worthy of cultivation. 



Hydrocoti/le vulgaris (Marsh Pennywort). — This is not 

 by any means a florist's plant, but is more plentiful 

 than either of the two last mentioned. It is of low 

 growth, and its rounded leaves supported by stalks in 

 the centre instead of at one edge, as the majority of 

 foliage is secured, is attractive in its way. It is found 

 on marshy peaty places, whereas the Pinguicula is more 

 common on bare places on clayey ground, where it grows 

 freely. 



Butomus umheUatus is a highly ornamental plant, 

 found only in ditches and ponds and other wet places, 

 where its prettily-marked florets, united, as its name 

 implies, into an umbel of considerable size, give it a claim 

 to notice which many exotics really do not deserve. As 

 an ornamental plant it is easily transplanted, and a site 

 suitable for it is easily obtained, as an ordinary ditch 

 even if in the full sun will be found to suit it, provided 

 there be sufficient water. It is reported to be scarce in 

 Scotland, and I do not know that it is plentiful anywhere 

 except in certain localities, but it is well worth cultivat- 

 ing. Those having a piece of ornamental water would 

 find this occupy much less space than the more princely 

 Water Lily, of which more anon ; its foliage is also not to 

 be despised, and has sometimes been mistaken for some 

 of the Sedges, which often accompany it in its growth. 



Comarmn imlustre. — This is not a water plant, but one 



No. 1110— Vol. LIV., Old Series. 



