878 



STRATIOTES. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



STUARTIA. 



and of stout free growth, with, in Septem- 

 ber, large showy bkie flowers somewhat 

 similar to those of a China Aster. It grows 

 freely in good warm soils, but from its late 

 season it does not always bloom well. In 

 damp localities place a hand-light over 

 the plants at the flowering season, but so 

 arranged as to allow free admission of 

 air. ^". c}>a?ica is useful for the conserva- 

 tory in autumn and winter. Division in 

 spnng. Insert the slips in a warm border 

 or a frame, in sharp sandy soil, and as 

 they begin to grow, transplant them. A 

 little sand and leaf-mould should be mixed 

 with the soil. There is a garden variety, 

 p)'(2cox, which flowers earlier than its 

 parent. 



STRATIOTES {Wafer Soldier).- S. 

 (tloidcs is an interesting native water-plant 

 with a compact vasiform tuft of leaves, 

 from the centre of which arises in summer 

 a spike of unattractive blossoms. In 

 artificial lakes or ponds it will take care 

 of itself, increasing by side-shoots from 

 the base of the leaves. 



STRUTHIOPTERIS ( Ostrich Fern).— 

 Tall, handsome, and vigorous hardy ferns 

 with fronds of two kinds, fertile and 

 sterile, the former being always grouped 

 in the centre of the plant, and the latter 

 forming a cordon round them. Struthi- 

 opteris can be increased by division of 

 the creeping underground stems, which 

 run for some distance round well-estab- 

 lished plants. Good well-drained peat 

 and loam is necessary, and group the 

 plants in bold slightly-sheltered spots, 

 where their noble appearance will tell. 

 As they are deciduous, plant among and 

 around them, for winter effect, some Poly- 

 stichums or other robust evergreen Ferns, 

 while, for effect at other seasons, some of 

 our finer Lilies are good. The kinds 

 suited for gardens are S. geruumica and 

 .V. pennsylvanica. The former is one of 

 the best hardy Ferns, with fronds nearly 

 3 ft. long, and well suited for shady slopes, 

 cascades, grottoes, the rough rock-garden, 

 and the margins of streams and pieces of 

 water ; it will thrive either in sun or 

 shade. S. pennsylvanica closely resembles 

 it, but has narrow fertile fronds. Both 

 kinds will grace the garden, and should 

 not be confined to the fernery. 



STUARTIA.— Though these beautiful 

 shrubs flower at a time when the shrub- 

 garden is past its best, they are seldom 

 planted. They are unfitted for bleak 

 northern districts and for cold soils, but 

 there are many gardens in the south where 

 they would do well. The flowers, like a 

 large single Camellia, are beautiful, and so 

 abundant that the trees stand outlined in 



white. They need no care beyond mulch- 

 ing in light soils and during dry seasons, 

 and the removal at intervals of weak and 

 exhausted wood. To do well they should 

 stand in moist ground with roots protected 

 from direct sunlight ; this is better than 

 shade, for they need all the sun they can 

 get to ripen the wood. Nothing so soon 

 spoils a Stuartia as fighting with hungry 

 neighbours : they should therefore be in 

 the open and yet sheltered, for bleak wind 

 does more harm than frost. The most 

 vigorous kind is the Japanese Stuartia 

 Pseudo-camellia^ and it is also the finest 

 in its autumn tints. Though far less vigor- 

 ous and hardy, the flowers of S. virginica 

 with their contrast of white and crimson, 

 are chastely beautiful, and S. pentagyna 

 is also worth growing. Peat soil is often 

 recommended for these, but is not neces- 

 sary in gardens of good free loam or allu- 

 vial grit, and they will even flower well in 

 some poor soils. A damp place and a 

 moist atmosphere are favourable, as is 

 proved by the fine growth of Stuartias in a 

 wet season, and the fact that they invaria- 

 bly choose stream-sides and wet places in 

 their own land. Increase is difficult and 

 the young plants of slow growth. The 

 lower branches may be layered, or cuttings 

 of the nearly ripe wood, taken with a heel 

 towards the end of summer, and plunged 

 in sandy soil under a bell-glass, will slowly 

 root. 



There are five species of Stuartia, but 

 only three are in cultivation. 



S. pentagyna {Shell Flower). — The best of 

 the American kinds, reaching a height of 1510 

 20 ft. , and freely branched from the base up- 

 wards. The flowers are fragrant, 3 to 4 ins. 

 across, creamy-white with yellow anthers, 

 coming in July and August for about three 

 weeks. In all stages the flowers are beautiful, 

 almost translucent in their purity, tinged with 

 pink upon the outside while in bud, and finely 

 fringed at the edges. The leaves are oval, 5 

 to 6 ins. Ion", rounded at the base, and finely 

 toothed The plant blooms very freely when 

 well-established. 



S. rseudo-catuellia. — A lovely flowering tree 

 from the mountains of Japan, where it reaches 

 a height of 50 ft. The white flowers are 2 to 3 

 ins. across with a tuft of yellow anthers, but 

 they look smaller than this because they re- 

 main half-closed like an Abutilon and never 

 open flat as in other Stuartias. The leaves are 

 thick like those of a Camellia, smooth, bright 

 green with often a reddish tinge, and finely 

 coloured with gold and crimson in the autumn. 

 A plant now 12 ft. high has proved perfectly 

 hardy for years past at Coombe Wood Nur- 

 sery, and flowers freely each year in July. 

 Syn., S. japonica. 



S. virgiJiica. — From the warmer states of 

 North America, where it grows in swamps, on 



