ATTTr/lIXAL GLEANTNGS. 173 



produced often as late as November. Almost any soil or exposition suits this 

 plant, and division of its roots furnishes an abundant increase. The H. Cali/or- 

 nicum is a dwarfer species, with decurrent foliage. The Silphium laeiniatutn is 

 interesting for its foliage, which is elegantly pinnated, the leaflets being deeply 

 cut; its habit is tall, i.e. from five to six feet high, and its yellow blossoms 

 somewhat resemble those of the Sunflowers; but it is a handsomer plant. The 

 Selianthus atro-rubens, mollis, and angustifolia, may, however, fairly claim 

 admission into the borders; they are less common than some other species, but 

 more desirable. 



Two of the plants figured in our plate for the present month, the Cyananthus 

 hiatus and Convolvulus Italicus, are autumnal bloomers, and, as their figures will 

 testify, by no means the least interesting ; being fully treated of in another 

 place, we need not do more than register them among our 'gleanings'. And 

 to these we may add the pretty Plumbago Larpentce, which, although often 

 treated as a half-hardy plant, may yet be classed with the hardy perennials, if 

 grown in light dry soil, and a warm exposure ; its violet-blue flowers are 

 rather delicate, and liable to injury from the heavy rains of autumn. As a 

 companion plant, we may name the now common Zauschneria Califomica, which 

 is of a hardier character, and, when well grown, very showy. It requires a 

 friable, moist, vegetable soil, one which its roots can easily penetrate, and from 

 which they can obtain abundant nutriment ; in dry soils its flowers are few 

 and small and the shoots become naked near the ground. That old favourite, 

 the Clematis fiammula, is now loaded with its fragrant starry flowers, which 

 scent the air with their delightful perfume ; our plant was in full bloom this 

 season as late as the beginning of October, owing probably to its having received 

 a severe pruning late in spring. The Physostegia Virginiana and P. imbricata 

 are interesting hardy plants, blooming in August and September after the P. 

 speciosum, which they resemble, but have their flowers arranged in a closer spike — 

 those of both are of a reddish lilac ; they are rather tall plants, and increase 

 fast by their suckers. We may, without impropriety, include the more shewy 

 Salvia fulgens, which, though nominally tender, is quite hardy in most locali- 

 ties ; even the last severe season left our own specimens perfectly unscathed, 

 as well as others in soils less favourable to the preservation of the roots. 



A considerable number of hardy bulbs enliven the borders in autumn ; they 

 include, indeed, among them some of the finest of our bulbous plants. The 

 handsome Bomarea acutifolia, figured in the first plate of the present volume, blossoms 

 at this period, as well as the B. hirtella, a species scarcely inferior to it. The 

 Amaryllis lutea, or Sternhergia lutea, as it is now more generally termed, is 

 very effective in a clump of several bulbs; they each produce one lai'ge 

 bright yellow flower, on a scape four or five inches high. This plant is also 



