PYXIDANTHERA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



789 



P. vestita (called also P. lanata and nepal- 

 enszs), is extremely fine, but is not hardy 

 everywhere. Its very large leaves are like 

 those of the Loquat, and are of silvery 

 whiteness. Where it thrives it is 20 to 

 30 ft. high. 



PYXIDANTHERA {Pine Barren 

 Beauty). — P. barbulata is a curious little 

 American evergreen shrub, smaller than 

 many Mosses, flowering in May, rose- 

 coloured in bud, Avhite when open, the 

 effect of the rosy buds and the white flowers 

 on the dense dwarf cushions being singu- 

 larly pretty : it is plentiful in the sandy 

 dry "Pine barrens" between New Jersey 

 and North Carolina and often found on 

 little mounds in low but not wet places. 

 It is a charming plant for the rock-garden, 

 planted in pure sand and leaf-mould, and 

 fully exposed to the sun. Increase by 

 careful division of old plants, or seeds 

 sown in a cold frame as soon as ripe. 



QUAMOCLIT.— g. coccinea is a pretty 

 Convolvulus-like plant, with many small 

 scarlet flowers and slender stems of rapid 

 growth, attaining a height of 6 to 8 ft. in 

 a few weeks. It may be treated either 

 as a half-hardy annual, and sown in 

 February or March under glass or in a 

 hot-bed, but it requires a warmer climate 

 than ours to do well. Q. hedercefolia is 

 another pretty species. It has scarlet 

 flowers and lobed foliage, and requires 

 the same treatment. Both are excellent 

 plants for sheltered trelhses, as they give 

 abundance of flowers from July to Sep- 

 tember. 



QUERCUS ((9rt/&).— Noble evergreen 

 and summer-leafing trees of northern and 

 temperate regions, of whose beauty and 

 value books can give but a feeble impres- 

 sion. If we think of our own stately Oak 

 and its variety of form in different situa- 

 tions, even within the narrow area of 

 our storm-tossed isle, we may perhaps 

 get some idea of the value of the several 

 hundred known species of Oak. Of these, 

 by far the most useful for our northern 

 land are the summer leafing (or decidu- 

 ous) Oaks, resting as they do from all evil 

 influence during the trying season, and 

 coming out in beautiful leaf when the 

 summer is nearly with us. The evergreen 

 Oaks, though of vast importance in more 

 temperate countries (I have passed 

 through millions of acres of evergreen 

 Oak in North Africa alone), are of less 

 value in our cold climate, but we have one 

 precious kind in the Ilex, and other kinds 

 may be grown in the mild parts to a lim- 

 ited extent, especially in sea-shore districts 

 where evergreen shelter is welcome. 



From the point of view of effect, the 

 most noble of the summer-leafing Oaks 

 are the American Oaks, with their fine 

 colour in autumn. No trees have been 

 more talked of, yet why are they so 

 rare in our gardens? The answer is, 

 I think, because of our ways of pro- 

 curing them, by plants too old, from 

 nurseries, and, most fatal of all, by the 

 habit of grafting exotic kinds on the com- 

 mon Oak, and neglecting the natural 

 modes of increase, in the case of Oaks, 

 certainly by seed. If we were dealing 

 with plants of a tender nature, for which 

 some hardy stock would be necessary, 

 there might be some reason for this, but 

 it is not so, because these lovely American 

 Oaks inhabit colder regions than our own 

 country, and they are absolutely different 

 in character from ours, some of them living 

 on dry, warm soils, whereas our Oak is 

 usually best, and certainly the timber is 

 best, on soils of a heavy nature. There- 

 fore, those who wish to have the American 

 Oaks in their beauty should work from 

 seed sown in the place where we wish the 

 trees to grow, or raised in nurseries and 

 transplanted early, or purchase young 

 and healthy plants from forest tree nur- 

 series, and in that way secure the vigorous 

 growth of the seedling tree. Communi- 

 cation is so easy with America now that 

 there should be no difficulty in getting 

 seeds by post, nor should there be any 

 trouble in our nurserymen raising good 

 stock from seed of all the more essential 

 and well-known kinds. In getting acorns 

 over from America or other countries, 

 they should be sown as soon as possible 

 after coming to hand, and it is best to 

 have them sent packed tightly in moist 

 earth. 



In the country seats of the United 

 Kingdom there is much varied land in 

 which these Oaks might find a place, at 

 first for their beauty, as in the case of the 

 scarlet and red Oaks, and eventually 

 these great Oaks would have value as 

 timber trees, more than some of the trees 

 we give a place to. Therefore I think 

 that in renewing and filling gaps m wood- 

 lands near the house, and also in planting 

 new woods, it might often be well to 

 plant a group or mass of these American 

 Oaks. 



In such a large family as the Oak there 

 are rare and delicate species which we 

 need not concern ourselves with, at least 

 before we have established about us in 

 some effective ways the more stately and 

 noble Oaks, nor need we be much con- 

 cerned about hybrids which occur in 

 nature between wild species, and also 



