742 



TAMARIX. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



TAXODIUM. 



T. SIGNATA. Allied to the French 

 Marigold, but has much smaller flowers, 

 either double or single. As it needs a 

 little starving to induce it to bloom freely 

 in beds and masses, the soil must be rather 

 poor. Like all other Marigolds, it stands 

 drought well. 



TAMARIX (Tamarisk). Graceful 

 hardy shrubs, remarkably distinct in 

 their feathery growth and pale pink 

 flowers, produced in succession by the 

 various kinds from May to October. 

 No other woody plants we can grow 

 in the open air give the same fine 

 effect, yet they are often neglected 

 owing to our way of mixing things 

 together without regard to soil, expo- 

 sure, and position. Lost in the jumble 

 of the shrubbery they never give good 

 effect, and often perish outright from 

 the encroachments of hungry neigh- 

 bours, but grouped apart with free 

 air and space they are among the 

 most graceful of shrubs. For the 

 seashore they have no equal, thriving 

 in pure sand and shingle, their fine 

 branches splitting up the wind and 

 the heath-like foliage indifferent to 

 the salt spray. They are readily 

 increased from soft cuttings rooted 

 under glass, ripened cuttings which 

 root in the open air, and even thick 

 branches, which often root like a 

 Willow if planted deeply while quite 

 fresh. We are richer in names than 

 in distinct kinds, for the same shrubs 

 in slightly differing forms have been 

 named over and over again in nur- 

 series, and some of the species run so 

 closely together that even botanists are 

 puzzled. The following kinds are dis- 

 tinct : 



T. CHINENSIS. A recent introduction. 

 It is not quite so hardy as our native kind, 

 though like it in many respects. It has 

 very plumose branches, and is a most 

 graceful shrub with pink flowers. 



T. GALLICA (French Tamarisk). Is 

 found wild on the south-west coast of 

 England, in France, and N. Africa. It is 

 a shrub 5 to 10 feet high, or in N. Africa 

 a tree 30 feet high or more. The flowers 

 are pale pink, and borne on short cylin- 

 drical spikes in summer. T. anglica is 

 one of the forms of this species, which 

 varies much in different parts of its area. 



T. HISPIDA (Kashgar T.). This species 

 is from C. Asia, and is distinct, the foliage 

 being of a bluish-green colour. It flowers 

 in autumn. A seedling form of this, 

 (sstivalis, differs widely again from the 

 parent, being taller and more vigorous in 

 growth, with flowers from July, or a full 

 two months earlier. It is also of easier 



increase, and very desirable because of its 

 season of flower. 



T. ODESSANA. A new kind, with soft 

 grey-green foliage and handsome spikes of 

 large rosy- white flowers. South-east of 

 Europe and Asia Minor. 



T. TETRANDRA. Very like T. gallica in 

 general appearance, but distinguished by 

 having four instead of five anthers. It is 

 quite hardy, growing and flowering freely 

 near London. The flowers are pinkish- 

 white. Caucasus. 



MYRICARIA GERMANICA. Nearly allied 

 to Tamarix, and often figures in nursery 

 catalogues under the latter name. It 

 differs in having ten stamens to each 

 flower. The branches are erect, rather 

 sturdier than in the true Tamarisks, and 

 the leaves are of a pale glaucous hue, the 

 flowers white or rosy in June. It is a 

 native of various parts of Europe and 

 Asia. W. J. B. 



TANACETUM (Tansy). An elegant 

 variety of the common Tansy, T. vitl- 

 gare, and much dwarfer in stature than 

 it, is the var. crispum. Its emerald 

 green leaves are smaller, and have a 

 crisped appearance. 



T. HERDERI. A pretty plant for the 

 rock garden, with silvery leaves on thick 

 forked stems, which rise a few inches from 

 the surface. The bright yellow flowers 

 have a good effect on the silvery foil. 

 Similar in height and effect is T. argenteum, 

 which makes a shrubby mass of silver 

 rosettes and golden flowers. Division. 



TANAKEA RADICANS. A Japan- 

 ese alpine of dwarf carpeting and 

 creeping habit, this is a recent intro- 

 duction from Japan. The plant is 

 evergreen, and forms masses of firm 

 leathery leaves from which issue 

 dainty feathery plumes of creamy- 

 white flowers late in spring. Not more 

 than 6 inches in height, it is of easy 

 culture, and growing freely in peat and 

 loam. A good rock garden subject for 

 cool situations. 



TAXODIUM (Summer - leafing 

 Cypress). T. distichum is a beautiful 

 and stately tree, attaining in its own 

 country a height of 150 feet. In our 

 country it is of proved hardiness, 

 though neglected since the advent of 

 Californian and other half-hardy coni- 

 fers. A native of marshy places, it is 

 best planted in like situations in our 

 country. From the roots of old trees 

 its curious excrescences arise in the 

 shape of great bald knobs 3 or 4 feet 

 high. A tree of such beauty should 

 be grouped wherever water enters intx) 



