ARUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ASIMINA. 



353 



ARUM (Cuckoo Pint). Tuberous 

 rooted plants of distinct form ; some 

 are hardy. They thrive best in warm 

 borders and about the sunny side of 

 garden walls. Some nine or ten kinds 

 are found in S. Europe. They have, 

 when in bloom, a very offensive odour. 



A. CRINITUM (Dragon's Mouth). In 

 flower this is very grotesque, from the 

 singular shape of its broad speckled spathe. 

 The leaves are cut into deep segments, 

 and the leaf-stalks overlapping each other, 

 form a sort of spurious stem i foot or 

 14 inches high, marbled and spotted with 

 purplish-black. Warm borders, fringes of 

 shrubberies, or beds of the smaller sub- 

 tropical plants suit it best. Division of 

 tubers. 



A. DRACUNCULUS (Dragons, Snake 

 Plant), from S. Europe, attains a height 

 of 2 to 3 feet ; the leaves large ; the stalks 

 and stem of a fleshy colour, deeply mottled 

 with black. It loves best a corner to 

 itself in sandy loam at the foot of a south 

 wall. Has a disagreeable odour. Divi- 

 sion. 



A. ITALICUM (Italian Arum) is larger 

 than our native Arum ; the veins blotched 

 with yellow. As the leaves come very 

 early in the season, they are attractive. 

 In the autumn, when they have died away, 

 the clusters of scarlet berries, on foot- 

 stalks 10 inches or 12 inches long, are 

 showy. 



Arundinaria. See BAMBUSA. 



ARUNDO (Great Reed) .Important 

 grasses of fine form, sometimes of great 

 height. A. conspicua (New Zealand 

 Reed) is a grass of noble form a com- 

 panion for the Pampas Grass, especially 

 in the western and southern countries 

 and on light soils. In fine deep loams 

 it reaches a height of nearly 1 2 feet, but 

 perishes from cold or other causes on 

 many soils. It flowers earlier than 

 the Pampas Grass. It likes plenty of 

 water nearly all the year round, and 

 may be increased by seeds or division. 

 A. Donax is the " Great Reed " of the 

 south of Europe, a noble plant on good 

 soils, in the south of England making 

 canes 10 feet high, in rich soil, but in 

 our country it has suffered much in 

 recent severe winters. A. Phragmites 

 (Common Reed) is the native marsh 

 plant, 6 feet or more high, bearing 

 when in flower a large, handsome, 

 spreading, purplish panicle. It is an 

 excellent cover for water birds. 



ASARUM (Asarabacca). Curious 

 little plants resembling Cyclamens in 

 their leaves, but of little value except 

 as curiosities. A. canadense is the 



Canadian Snakeroot, which bears in 

 spring curious brownish-purple flowers, 

 the roots being strongly aromatic, like 

 Ginger. A. virginicum is the Heart 

 Snakeroot, its leaves thick and leathery, 

 with the upper surface mottled with 

 white. A. caudatum is from Oregon, 

 and much like the others in habit, but 

 the divisions of the flower have long 

 tail-like appendages. A. europceum is 

 the Asarabacca, the flowers greenish, 

 about ^ inch long, and close to the 

 ground. 



ASCLEPIAS (Milk-weed, Silk-i 

 A large genus of strong - growing 

 herbaceous perennials, few of them 

 adapted for the flower garden, as they 

 require a good deal of room, and are 

 not attractive. They thrive in a light 

 or peaty soil, and may be increased by 

 division. A. acuminata has red and 

 white flowers. A. amcena, purple; 

 A. Cornuti (the common Milk- weed) 

 also known as A . syriaca grows vigor- 

 ously to a height of 4 feet, and bears 

 umbels of deep purple fragrant flowers, 

 of which bees seem to be fond. A. 

 incarnata (the Swamp Milk-weed) is a 

 good waterside plant with rose-purple 

 flowers. A. quadrifolia (Four-leaved 

 Milk-weed) bears fragrant terminal 

 heads of lilac-white flowers early in 

 the summer. A. purpumscens is also 

 a waterside plant with purple flowers. 

 A. rubra (the Red Milk- weed) is a dis- 

 tinct tall-growing plant with long 

 bright green foliage, and large umbels 

 of purple-red flowers. A. tuber osa 

 (the Butterfly Silk-weed) is the pretti- 

 est species, with its clusters of showy 

 bright orange-red flowers in the 

 autumn. Good flowering plants may 

 be obtained from seed in three years, 

 but is mostly increased by dividing 

 the tubers. This species likes sandy 

 soil and a warm situation. A. varie- 

 gata (Variegated Milk-weed) has dense 

 umbels of handsome white flowers with 

 a reddish centre. The downy stems 

 reach a height of 2 to 4 feet, and are 

 mottled with purple. 



ASIMINA ( Virginian Papaw). A 

 N. American shrub, or low tree of 

 the Custard Apple family. A. triloba 

 forms a small tree, with dull purple 

 flowers, about 2 inches across. It bears 

 fruit eaten by the inhabitants of the 

 Southern States ; hence the name. 

 Sometimes grown against a wall in 

 this country, but hardy in the southern 

 counties. 



