PTERIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. PULMONARIA. 66 1 



as a bush in the open, although not so 

 well as on a wall. The same applies to 

 the double-flowered variety, which for 

 forty years has been in our gardens. 

 Within the last year or two, the single- 

 flowered wild type has been introduced. 

 It has smaller rosy -white flowers, and 

 leaves, of the same shape as Fortune's 

 plant, but smaller. W. J. B. 



PTERIS ( Brake) . The Bracken 

 Fern (P. aquilina) , the only thoroughly 

 hardy species of this genus, is generally 

 so common as not to need cultivation. 

 In introducing it where it is scarce, 

 to transplant it successfully large sods 

 containing the strong creeping roots 

 must be dug up, and planted in light 

 soil ; if peaty, so much the better. 

 In very mild localities such species as 

 P. cretica and the elegant P. scaberula, 

 from New Zealand, sometimes thrive 

 in sheltered nooks. 



PTEROCARYA (Winged Nut}. 

 Walnut-like trees of fine stately form 

 of leaf and habit, P. caucasica being 

 hardy in our country, at least in the 

 southern and warmer parts. There 

 are good trees at Claremont and other 

 places, and one in Hyde Park. The 

 foliage is very glossy and large. The 

 tree is a vigorous grower, and should 

 not be planted near shrubs or other 

 plants we wish to have a fair chance. 

 The trees are natives of temperate 

 countries in Asia, and their number is 

 likely to be added to as soon as more 

 of China, Mongolia, and countries 

 near are opened up. The Caucasian is 

 the best known species others are : 

 rhio folia, Japan, stenoptera, China, and 

 Delavayi, Yun-Nan. 



PTEROCEPHALTJS. P. Parnassi is 

 a Scabious-like plant of dwarf compact 

 growth, forming a dense rounded mass 

 of hoary foliage, which in summer is 

 studded with mauve-coloured flower- 

 heads. It is a most desirable plant, 

 thriving best in light warm soils, and 

 is suited either for the rock-garden or 

 dry banks. Syn., Scabiosa pterocephala. 

 Greece. 



PTEROSTYRAX. P. hispidum is 

 a Japanese shrub, and quite hardy 

 enough for culture as a bush. It 

 makes a capital wall shrub, being rapid 

 in growth, handsome in foliage, and 

 very beautiful in flower. The leaves 

 are heart-shaped, about 6 inches long 

 and 3 inches broad, the small white 

 flowers borne very freely in drooping 

 clusters about the end of July. Another 

 Japanese species, P. corymbosum, is 

 less common, though d'esirable for 



walls. Its flowers, which are white or 

 faintly tinged, are in crowded clusters. 

 Both species are 8 to 12 feet high in 

 this country. They are known botani- 

 cally as Halesia hispida and H. 

 corymbosa, but ever since their intro- 

 duction they have been known as 

 Pterostyrax in gardens. Increase by 

 seeds, layers, and soft cuttings. 



PUERARIA (Kudsu). P. thunber- 

 giana is a remarkable climbing plant 

 of almost tropical vigour, growing up 

 poles, colonnades, and walls to a great 

 height in a very short time. It belongs 

 to the Pea family, and is a plant the 

 Japanese make a great economic use of 



rterocefihalus Parnassi. 



in various ways, but our main concern 

 with it here is for the flower garden, 

 where it is hardy and useful as a rapid- 

 growing leafy screen. The flowers are 

 a dull violet-purple and very fragrant, 

 but only come towards autumn, when 

 the plant is well established. Increase 

 by seeds, division of the fleshy roots, 

 or by cuttings. 



PULMONARIA (Lungwort). These 

 are vigorous and hardy in any soil. 

 Most of them grow well under the shade 

 of trees, and all succeed best in shade. 

 They form dense tufts of foliage, 

 generally handsomely blotched and 

 speckled with white, and make pretty- 

 groups in the spring garden, or in semi- 

 wild places, but are worthy of the best 

 places in the flower garden. There are 

 about half-a-dozen kinds, all like each 

 other. P. officinalis and P. angusti- 

 folia are native plants. P. officinalis 

 (sometimes called P. saccharata) has 

 rosy flowers turning to blue, and P. 

 angustifolia bears blue flowers. P. 

 mollis is intermediate between the two, 

 and P. grandiflora is somewhat] similar 

 to P. officinalis. P. azurea fcas rich. 



