LYCIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. LYSIMACHIA. 559 



Easily propagated by seed or division ; 

 or, preferably, by cuttings secured with 

 a heel in early summer, and which when 

 rooted make excellent plants. 



Double Ragged Robin. 



LYCIUM (Box Thorn). Rambling 

 shrubs, the best known being L. 

 chinense, a common climber on cot- 

 tage walls. Though not a showy 

 flowering shrub, few others are so 

 rapid in growth, so graceful, and so 

 indifferent to the nature of the soil. 

 It is also suited for covering porches, 

 pergolas, and arbours, and in late 

 summer and autumn, when every long 

 drooping branch is thickly hung with 

 small orange-scarlet berries, it is pretty. 

 The flowers are small, purple and 

 white, and the unripe berries are of 

 the same tints. The commonest kinds 

 are L. chinense, from China ; L. bar- 

 barum, from N. Asia ; L. afrum, from 

 N. Africa ; L. Trewianum, and L. 

 pallidum, from Colorado. They are of 

 rapid growth, and therefore suitable 

 for covering high walls, though all are 

 deciduous. 



LYCOPODIUM (Ground Pine).L. 

 dendroideum is a very distinct Club 

 Moss, worth a place in the rock 

 garden, its little stems, 6 to 9 inches 

 high, much branched, and clothed 

 with small, bright, shining green 

 leaves. It flourishes best in a deep 

 bed of moist peat in a low part of the 

 rock garden, where its distinct habit 

 is attractive at all seasons. Difficult 



to increase, it is rare in this country. 

 N. America, in moist thin woods. 



LYGODIUM (Climbing Fern).L. 

 palmatum is an elegant N. American 

 twining Fern, hardy in a deep, peaty, 

 moist soil if in a sheltered and partially 

 shady position. It is remarkable that 

 so charming a plant is not yet in culti- 

 vation. I have so far failed with it, 

 though I have seen it among wild 

 shrubs in New Jersey. 



LYONIA. Plants allied to Andro- 

 meda ; indeed, the species belonging 

 to it, numbering about three, are some- 

 times called Andromedas. They are 

 not important, but would add interest 

 to a collection of peat-loving shrubs. 

 The chief are L. ligustrina, frondosa, 

 and rubiginosa, which have evergreen 

 foliage and small white blossoms. 



LYSIMACHIA (Loosestrife). Plants 

 of the Primrose family of much diver- 

 sity of habit. The most familiar 

 example is the common creeping 

 Jenny (L. Nummularia) , than which 

 there is no hardy flower more suit- 

 able for any position where long-droop- 

 ing, flower-laden shoots are desired, 

 whether on points of the rock garden, 

 or on steep banks, growing in any soil. 

 In moist soil the shoots attain a length 

 of nearly 3 feet, flowering throughout 

 their extent ; it is easily increased by 

 division, and flowers in early summer 

 and often throughout the season. 

 There is a yellow-leaved variety (L. N. 

 aurea), which retains its colour well, 

 can be readily increased, is useful for 

 rock gardens or borders, and merits 

 its name. The other kinds are tall 

 and erect. L. vulgaris, thy r sifter a, 

 lanceolata, ciliata, verticillata, punctata, 

 and davurica are all 2 to 3 feet high, 

 have spikes of yellow flowers, and, 

 delighting in wet places, are suitable 

 for the sides of ponds, lakes, streams, 

 and similar spots. Indeed, they grow 

 almost anywhere, but in a border they 

 must have a place to themselves, as 

 by their spreading they soon destroy 

 weaker subjects. L. clethroides, a 

 Japanese species, is a graceful plant, 

 2 to 3 feet high, with long nodding 

 dense spikes of white blossoms, and 

 the leaves in autumn of brilliant hues. 

 L. Ephemerum is a similar plant, from 

 S. Europe, but is scarcely so fine. 

 There are some beautiful species, such 

 as L. atro - purpurea and lupinoides, 

 which are rare. 



