THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PYRUS. 787 



P. Parthenium {Fcvetfeiu). — The 

 golden-leaved variety of this plant 

 {P. aureum or Golden Feather) is now 

 common. Of this there are several 

 forms. One is called lacimafU7n, and 

 is very distinct from the older kind. 

 These have their uses in geometrical 

 borders, where they have a bright 

 effect. Their culture is of the simplest 

 description. Seed is sown in heat in 

 spring, and the seedhngs are pricked off 

 in pans, and when large enough trans- 

 ferred to open borders, and there they 

 withstand the winter unprotected. New 

 plants should be raised every year, as 

 after flowering the second year the old 

 plants lose their neat compact growth. 



P. Tchichatchewi {Turfi?ig Daisy). — 

 A Caucasian plant, retaining its verdure 

 in dry weather on dry banks or slopes 

 where few plants would flourish ; a dwarf 

 creeper, quickly forming a carpet of green. 

 The flowers have white rays and a yellow 

 disc, and in forming turf of the plant in 

 poor dry soils they should be removed, 

 though for the rock-garden of the rougher 

 kind or for borders the flowers have some 

 claim to beauty. 



P. uliginosum is one of the finest of 

 tall herbaceous plants, and forms tufts 

 5 to 7 feet in height. These are crowned 

 by lax clusters of pure white flowers, 

 each about twice the size of an Ox- 

 eye Daisy. It is excellent for cutting, 

 and its blossoms are produced late in 

 autumn before the Chrysanthemums come 

 in. It is a stately plant for a rich border, 

 and thrives best in a deep, moist, loamy 

 soil. It may be naturalised in damp places. 

 Division. Syn. P. seroti7mm. Hungary. 



PYROLA ( Winter-greei{).—]J\\X\& ever- 

 green plants of the northern woods and 

 boggy or sandy places, very distinct and 

 attractive both in leaf and flower. 



P. rotundifolia {Larger Winter-greeTi). 

 — P. rotundifolia is a rare native plant, 6 to 

 1 2 in. high, inhabiting woods, shady, bushy, 

 and reedy places. It has leathery leaves, 

 and its erect stems bear long, handsome, 

 and slightly-drooping racemes of pure 

 white flowers, rather like a Lily-of-the- 

 \^alley, half an inch across, ten to twenty 

 of which are borne on a stem. They 

 have a sweet scent. P. r. areitaria is a very 

 graceful plant, found wild on sandy sea- 

 shores. It differs from the preceding in 

 being smooth, deep green, and dwarfer, 

 and in having as a rule several empty 

 bracts below the inflorescence. Both the 

 type and its variety are beautiful plants 

 for the shady mossy flanks of the rock- 

 garden in free sandy and vegetable soil. 

 They flourish more readily in cultivation 



than any other species of the family. In 

 America there are varieties with flesh- 

 coloured and reddish flowers, but none of 

 these are in cultivation. P. UJiiflora., P. 

 media, P. minor., and P. seciinda are also 

 interesting British plants, and the first- 

 named is very ornamental, besides being 

 very rare. P. elliptica., a native of N. 

 America, is also found in our gardens, 

 though rarely. Any of the Pyrolas are 

 worth growing in thin mossy copses on 

 light sandy vegetable soil, or in moist and 

 half-shady parts of the rock-garden or 

 the fernery, where they make neat ever- 

 green carpets, flowering in summer. In- 

 crease by seeds sown as soon as ripe, or 

 division of the roots in autumn or spring; 

 this last is a work of care, the plants 

 being somewhat averse to disturbance. 



PYRUS {Pear and ^///^).— Beautiful 

 flowering trees and bushes of which 

 there is now a bewildering number, since 

 botanists have classed all Apples, Pears, 

 and their allies under the one family. 

 Here, however, it will be convenient to 

 adhere to the old classification, which 

 places Pears under Pyrus, Apples under 

 Malus, Beams under Aria, and Mountain 

 Ashes and Service Trees under Sorbus. 

 No one is likely to confuse one with 

 another, and their names are more easily 

 remembered when so classified. These old 

 genera are now placed as sections of Pyrus. 

 The finest flowering trees are those in- 

 cluded under the section Malus, the type 

 of which is the common Crab Apple {Af. 

 communis). There is a beautiful flowering 

 variety of the Crab Apple called the 

 Paradise Apple, having large handsome 

 flowers, but it is seldom planted for effect, 

 although in common use as a stock for 

 grafting. The Chinese and Japanese Crab 

 Apples include the finest of our small trees 

 that flower in early summer. The Chinese 

 double-flowered Crab {P. M. spectabilis) is 

 a lovely tree, 15 to 25 ft. high, with a wide- 

 spreading head of branches abundantly 

 wreathed with large semi-double delicate 

 rose-pink flowers. It is not often met 

 with, except in old gardens. The varieties 

 of P. M. baccata or Berry Apple (so called 

 from its small round fruits) are known as 

 Siberian Crabs. They are graceful in 

 growth, showy in flower, and have highly- 

 coloured fruits, which add much to the 

 beauty of the garden in autumn. The 

 Japanese Crab {P. M. Toringo) has 

 beautiful flowers and fruits. The flowers 

 are white or pale pink, and the very small 

 fruits are hung on long slender stalks. Of 

 the Toringo Crab there are now several 

 forms, differing in colour of flower and of 

 fruit. It is a small tree, and is a large- 

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