TOWNSENDIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



893 



tree is marred by its early loss of leaf, especially 

 in a dry season. There are many varieties, 

 including tyratnidalis, of erect habit ; rubra 

 and aurea with red or yellow bark ; aspleni- 

 folia and lacittiata,Avi^.xl trees with cut leaves ; 

 and vitifolia in which they are lobed like a 

 Vine. 



T. VULGARIS [Coiniiiott Lime), not a true 

 native of Britain though freely naturalised. It 

 is too well-known to need description, growing 

 to a noble stature and great age, and often 

 planted in beautiful avenues about our old 

 country houses. It bears pruning better than 

 almost any other large tree, and when neces- 

 sary this work should be done during summer, 

 w hile in full growth. The Lime seldom sows 

 itself in this country, but no tree is more easily 

 increased by layers. The smell of the flowers 

 is agreeable, and spite of its size the tree is less 

 to be feared than many about the country house, 

 for the roots do little harm to other things and 

 the leaves all fall within a few days. 



Two or three new species have come to light 

 in eastern Asia and are coming into cultivation. 

 These are T. mandschiirica, which, in its own 

 land, makes a spreading tree of 50 to 60 feet, of 

 pendulous habit, with large sparsely-toothed 

 leaves. From nearly the same region comes 

 T. inongolica, a slender low-growing tree of 

 graceful appearance, with very small rounded 

 or three-lobed leaves. Perhaps the finest of 

 the entire genus is T. miqiteliana from the 

 forests of Japan, where it reaches a height of 

 100 feet. There are also an increasing number 

 of hybrid Limes, some of which promise to be 

 of value. T. orbicularis is a cross between 

 petiolaris and dasystyla; T. Blechiana perhaps 

 from alba and americana ; and spcctabilis per- 

 haps from alba and pi/bescens. 



TOWNSENDIA {/^ocky Moujitaiit 

 Dai<iy). — A group of low-stemmed annual 

 or perennial herbs with large aster-like 

 flowers, from the mountains of N.W. 

 America. In some kinds the flowers are 

 large and handsome, but only three are as 

 yet in cultivation. T.grandifiora is a dwarf 

 plant with grey foliage and large white 

 flowers ; T. sericca makes stemless rosettes 

 of silvery leaves with a stemless flower i 

 to 2 ins. across in the centre of each, the 

 rays of which are pure white or tipped 

 with purple. This plant flowers so early 

 as to have earned the name of Easter 

 Daisy with the colonists. 7". Wilcoxiana 

 is a pretty little alpine plant of creeping 

 habit, with rosy aster-like flowers in May 

 and June. All the kinds need a sheltered 

 sunny place in light dry soil, and their 

 degree of hardiness is not fully known. 



TRACHELIUM {Blue Throatworf).— 

 T. cceruleimi is a much-branched peren- 

 nial, I to 2 ft. high, bearing in summer 

 broad clusters of small blossoms, blue 

 in the type and white and lilac in the 

 varieties. It can be grown only in the 

 warmest situations in dry borders, rocky 



banks, and old ruins or walls. It is an 

 elegant plant for vases, etc. Mediter- 

 ranean. Seed or cuttings. T. ruvieliamDit 

 is a much dwarfer plant from Greece, 

 requiring similar treatment and bearing 

 pale violet flowers. 



TR ACHELOSPERMUM ( Chinese Jas- 

 mine). — Climbing shrubs with evergreen 

 leaves and fragrant white flowers, hardy 

 upon warm walls in favoured places. 

 T. jasniinoidcs (once known as Rhyncho- 

 spermum) was formerly much grown under 

 glass, but has done well in the open air in 

 the south and south-west of England and 

 Ireland. Even in the north of Wales 

 there is a sheltered house-front near the 

 sea completely covered with it. T. croco- 

 stemoti is even hardier, growing and flower- 

 ing on a wall at Kew, with protection in 

 severe weather. Until lately this plant 

 passed as a narrow-leaved variety {ajigiis- 

 tifolia) of the older one, but when it 

 bloomed freely in 1903 the flowers proved 

 to be distinct — creamy-white with an 

 orange centre. These shrubs are neatly 

 attractive, of rather slow growth, and the 

 flowers useful for cutting. A light or peaty 

 soil and a sheltered wall are the best con- 

 ditions, with protection at the root during 

 frost. They will grow well in partial 

 shade. Increase by half-ripe cuttings of 

 the young shoots, rooted in heat. China 

 and Japan. Syn. RJiynchospervium. 



TRACHYSTEMON.— Two species of 

 hardy perennials belonging to the Borage 

 family. T. oj'icnlalis is a dwarf border 

 plant blooming in early spring. Its broad 

 hairy leaves are a pretty bronze or purple 

 colour while young, and the hairy stems 

 of 9 to 12 inches carry long-stemmed 

 rosy-purple buds opening as blue and 

 white flowers. The plant thrives in any 

 soil, and is readily increased by seeds or 

 division. Asia Minor. 



TRADESCANTIA ( Virgiman Spider- 

 wort). — Beautiful herbs, some quite 

 hardy, of which T. virginica is by far 

 the best, and with its varieties repre- 

 sents all the beauty of the family. It 

 is 12 to 30 in. high, and has showy 

 purple flowers in summer. There are 

 varieties with white, mauve, rosy blue, 

 and deep red flowers, and there are also 

 double-flowered forms of most of these, 

 as well as of the parent plant. They 

 grow in any soil and are suitable for the 

 mixed border, margins of shrubberies, the 

 rougher parts of extensive rock-gardens, 

 and for the wild garden. Division. 



TRAPA {Water Ckestmit).—\N?iitx- 

 plants with nut-like seeds used as food in 

 the countries where they grow. T. natans 

 is an annual kind from the south of 



