698 SAGINA. THE ENGLISH FLOWEti GARDEN. 



SALISBURIA. 



good plant from its leaves and habit. 

 Division in spring, the offsets being 

 started in a frame or pit ; in May or 

 June they may be planted out. N. 

 Africa. 



S AGIN A (Pearlwort),The only 

 species worthy of culture is the Lawn 

 Pearl wort (5. glabra), a plant generally 

 known in consequence of its failure 

 some years since as a substitute for 

 lawn grass, though it has not answered 

 expectations. It is none the less a 

 pretty little alpine plant, forming on 

 level soils carpets almost as smooth 

 as velvet, starred in early summer with 

 little white flowers. It is multiplied 

 by pulling the tufts into small pieces 

 and then replanting them a few inches 

 apart, when they soon meet and 

 form a carpet. Corsica. Syn., Spergula 

 pilifera. 



SAGITTARIA (A rrowhead}. Grace- 

 ful water-plants not only charming at 

 the waterside, but from their structure 

 among the most interesting of hardy 

 perennials. Their parts are strangely 

 variable in appearance and structure 

 the roots being tuberous, fibrous, and 

 stoloniferous (running) ; the leaves 

 submerged and ribbon-like, floating or 

 erect, and exceedingly variable in 

 shape ; the flowers are fertile or 

 sterile, single or double. This variety 

 of form is so confusing that uncer- 

 tainty prevails as to the entire group, 

 some botanists making a hundred 

 species, which others reduce to about 

 ten. There seems, indeed, to be little 

 fixity of character, the same plant 

 being unlike itself under changed 

 conditions. Several kinds are now in 

 cultivation, and no plants are more 

 easily grown in shallow water, where 

 they spread fast, the only care being 

 to keep them from overrunning other 

 things. Their tubers should be 

 planted in mud with water from 

 6 inches to a foot in depth, though 

 some kinds will make their way in 

 deeper water. The plants are quite 

 happy in partial shade, where the 

 flowers last longer. The following are 

 in cultivation : 



S. JAPONICA PLENA. One of our 

 best hardy water-plants, with large full 

 flowers 2 to 2^ inches across and like a 

 white Stock, gathered into whorls all the 

 way up a stem of nearly 2 feet. The roots 

 spread fast and will grow in water 2 feet 

 deep, though 6 inches is deep enough for 

 planting. The single kind is scarce, 

 though the snowy flowers with golden 

 anthers are very attractive, and the foliage 

 lasts much longer than in our native kind. 



S. LANCIFOLIA. Of uncertain origin, 

 with several other names. It is of robust 

 growth, with stems 5 feet high and 

 leaves prolonged into a narrow lance shape. 

 The flowers are in whorls of three, the 

 outer petals greenish flushed with rose, 

 and the inner ones pure white, with a 

 cluster of golden stamens. Syns., 5. 

 gigantea and S. sinensis. 



S. MACROPHYLLA. With large leaves 

 and loose spikes of white flowers, standing 

 about 3 feet high. Not only are the 

 flowers larger than in any other kind, but 

 the plant is worth growing for its fine 

 leaves alone, which takes a rich autumn 

 colour. 



S. MONTEVIDENSIS. From S. America, 

 too tender for the open before the end of 

 May, though it will thrive in the water- 

 garden all summer. The growths stand 

 boldly 4 or 5 feet out of the water, with 

 large creamy-white flowers, 2 inches across, 

 marked with a deep purplish blotch at the 

 base of each petal. One good spike will 

 carry 100 flowers. Seeds sown in Febru- 

 ary germinate freely, and the young plants 

 flower by July, so that it is often treated 

 as an annual. 



S. NATANS. A very distinct kind from 

 North America, with floating heart-shaped 

 leaves and scanty single white flowers. 



S. SAGITTIFOLIA. The wild Arrowhead 

 of our ponds and rivers, familiar in its 

 graceful arrow - headed leaves and the 

 pretty white flowers half an inch across, 

 with purple claws and anthers. It spreads 

 fast and is tenacious of life, having been 

 the last wild flowering plant to flourish 

 on the banks of the Thames in the heart 

 of London. The double-flowered form is 

 that mostly seen in gardens, with very full 

 flowers about an inch across, and pure 

 white like a little Banksian Rose. 



S. SIMPLEX. A scarce and neat species, 

 well adapted for growing in tubs or small 

 ornamental basins. Though hardy, it is 

 less vigorous than most kinds, with small 

 leaves of a less decided arrow shape, and 

 delicate flowers of soft pale yellow. 



S. VARIABILIS. The common Arrow- 

 head of N. America ; a very variable 

 plant, with a number of distinct forms. 

 It comes near our own kind, but the flowers 

 differ in their greenish centre, free from 

 the purple shading of sagiUifolia. Among 

 the many varieties are hastata, latifolia, 

 obtusa, gracilis a dwarf form rarely 

 exceeding 12 inches in height, and one 

 with double flowers. 



SALISBURIA (Maiden-hair Tree}. 

 S. adiantifolia is a beautiful tree in all 

 stages and at all seasons, perhaps most 

 attractive during the autumn, just 

 before the leaves drop, since the foliage 

 assumes then a bright yellow hue. A 

 rather deep, fairly moist soil of a 

 loamy nature seems to suit it best, 



