Acanthus. 49 



* Acanthus longifolius. — A fine, distinct, and new 

 species from Dalmatia and S. Europe, 3^ ft. to 4 ft. high, 

 distinguished from A. mollis (to which it is allied) by the 

 length and narrowness of its arching leaves. They are 

 about 2\ ft. long, very numerous, of a bright green colour, 

 growing at first erect, then inclining and forming a sheaf- 

 like tuft, which has a very fine effect. The flowers are 

 of a wine-red colour, becoming lighter before they fall. 

 A specimen in the gardens of the Museum at Paris, in 

 four years after planting, had twenty-five blooming-stems 

 rising from the midst of a round mass of verdure nearly 

 2^ ft. in height and width. This would be very effective 

 on the undulating and picturesque parts of landscape- 

 gardens. It does not run so much at the root as 

 A. mollis. It seeds more freely than the other kinds, 

 and may be readily increased by seeds as well as by 

 division. Its free-flowering quality makes this species 

 peculiarly valuable, while it is as good as any for isolation 

 or grouping. 



* Acanthus mollis. — A well-known old border-plant 

 from the south of Europe, about 3 ft. high, with leaves 

 nearly 2 ft. long by 1 ft. broad, heart-shaped in outline, 

 and cut into angular toothed lobes. The flowers are 

 white or lilac, the inflorescence forming a remarkable- 

 looking spike, half the length of the stem. Well adapted 

 for borders, isolation, margins of shrubberies, and semi- 

 wild places, in deep ordinary soil, the richer the better. 

 Increased by division of the roots in winter or early 

 spring. 



*Acanthus spinosissimus. — This is in all respects 

 among the finest of thoroughly hardy " foliage-plants," 



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