556 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ECHINOCEREUS. 



DRYAS(J/6'«;//(?/«^7'tv/j-).— Mountain 

 plants of the Rose family, containing two 

 or three dwarf alpine plants of spreading 

 growth and neat evergreen foliage. They 

 thrive in borders in light soil, though they 

 are seen to best advantage in the rock- 

 garden, where they can spread over the 

 brows and surfaces of limestone rocks, 

 best on an exposed spot, not too dry, 

 though when well established they will 

 flourish under almost any conditions. 

 Division in spring. The kmds are D. 

 Dru/mnoftdi, a dwarf, hardy, evergreen 

 trailer, with flower-stems 3 to 8 in. high ; 

 its yellow flowers, i in. across, appear in 

 summer. A native of N. America. D. 

 ociope/ala, a creeping evergreen, forming 

 dense tufts, with pretty white flowers. It 

 is a British plant and there are two others, 

 D. Ia7iata, a native of Europe, and D. 

 intes;rifolia^ American. 



ECCREMOCARPUS.— i^. Scahcr \?> a 

 delightful old climber for walls, trellises, 

 and pillars, its orange-red flowers are 

 beautiful, and its rambling shoots graceful. 

 If the roots are protected during winter, 

 they are uninjured and the plant annually 

 increases in size. Increased freely by seed, 

 and should be raised in this way occasion- 

 ally. Syn., Calampelis. 



ECHEVERIA. — Dwarf succulent 

 plants, much used in the flower garden, es- 

 pecially the half-hardy species like secunda. 

 Other species are tenderer and need a 

 greenhouse to keep them through the win- 

 ter, and a warm house or frame to propa- 

 gate them in the spring. E. secunda is well 

 known by its pale green rosette, leaves 

 tipped with red. E. s. major is but a 

 mealy form of the same. E. s. glauca 

 differs only in having leaves rather more 

 pointed and glaucous. E. s. pumila is a 

 smaller form, with narrow leaves of the 

 same colour as E. s. major. E. glauca 

 metallica is intermediate between the 

 well-known E. metallica and E. secunda 

 glauca. Dwarf and massive, the leaves 

 are very solid and fleshy. E. metallica is 

 a noble species, and distinct in the size 

 of its leaves and in their rich metallic hue. 

 The dwarfer kinds are used mostly as 

 edgings or panels. The fine E. metallica 

 is very effective on the margins of beds and 

 groups of the dwarfer foliage plants, or here 

 and there among hardy succulents. 1 1 should 

 be planted out about the middle of May. 



Increase. — As soon as the seed is ripe 

 prepare to sow it. Fill some 4-in. pots to 

 within \ in. of the rim with equal pro- 

 portions of leaf-mould and well-sanded 

 loam. Make the surface very firm, and 

 water the soil so that the whole body of 

 it becomes thoroughly moistened. Having 



allowed the moisture to drain away, scatter 

 the seed lightly and cover it thinly with 

 silver sand. Place the pot in a hand-light 

 or in a close frame ; cover with a pane of 

 glass and shade. The seed will germinate 

 before the soil can dry, and if it is sown 

 as soon as it is ripe every seed will come 

 up. As soon as the seedlings are large 

 enough to handle, prick them out thinly 

 into pans or 6-in. pots ; keep them close 

 until they are fairly established, and then 

 allow them the full benefit of sun and air. 

 After the middle of September give no 

 water, and take care to remove all decay 

 as soon as it is perceived. If planted 

 early in April in well-worked and fairly- 

 enriched soil, these little plants will 

 be strong by the autumn. There is 

 another method of increasing them. 

 With a sharp knife cut out the heart of 

 the plant, so as to induce offshoots. These 

 taken off will speedily make good speci- 

 mens. E. metallica maybe increased in the 

 following manner : Take off the flower- 

 stems which come early in the season ; cut 

 off the embryo flowers and place the stems 

 in pots of sandy soil. These stems will 

 strike and will produce little offsets from 

 the axils of the flower-stem leaves. If 

 these are taken off they will readily strike. 

 E. metallica may also be raised from seed 

 in the manner above described. 



Echinacea. See Rudbeckia. 



ECHINOCACTUS.— ^. Simpsoni is a 

 beautiful little Cactus {Pincushion Cactus) 

 plant, a native of Colorado, occurring at 

 great elevations, and hardy. It grows in 

 a globular mass, 3 or 4 in. across, which 

 is covered with white spines. It flowers 

 early in March, bearing large pale purple 

 blossoms which are very beautiful. In 

 its native habitat it enjoys a dry climate, 

 and, in some seasons at least, is more or 

 less protected from frost by a covering of 

 snow. In this country, however, it has 

 withstood 32^ of frost. 



One of its varieties grows at the altitude 

 of 8,500 feet above sea-level — where frost 

 occurs every month in the year and the 

 growing season is very short. 



The common form is globose and 

 thickly set with interlacing spines, so that 

 the body of the plant is hidden. The 

 colour varies to light brown, gray, and 

 rarely to snow-white. The flowers are 

 pink or red, arranged in a cluster or circle 

 at the top of the plant. This grows all 

 among the lower mountains and foothills, 

 and sometimes on the rolling lands 

 adjoining. 



ECHINOCEREUS. — Plants of the 

 Cactus family (from arid regions in N. 

 America), some of which are hardy. All 



