ZIZANIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. ZYGADENUS. 



787 



little chance of rapid progress when 

 finally set out. It is not advisable to 

 plant them out much before the second 

 week in June, as they are sensitive to 

 atmospheric changes, and are com- 

 pletely ruined by a few degrees of 

 frost. Zinnias have been a total 

 failure with me, not showing a trace 

 of their fine beauty as one sees it in 

 Austria and Italy, and therefore I have 

 thought it not worth the place that 

 might be given to better things. They 

 are plants that wet weather disfigured 

 very soon. In valleys and sheltered 

 gardens it may do better. 



ZIZANIA (Wild Rice}. A small 

 group of hardy grasses, excellent for 

 planting in water, or in wet ground at 

 the waterside. Z. aquatica is remark- 

 able for the fine effect of its Oat-like 

 stems, 8 to 10 feet high, with broad 

 vivid-green leaves and graceful bronzed 

 plumes of nearly a yard long, the seeds 

 of which are greedily sought by fish 

 and water -fowl. The plants thrive 

 only in water with a soft mud bottom, 

 and though they will often sow them- 

 selves, the seeds are so tempting that 



the safer way is to keep a store of 

 them in a bottle of water through the 

 winter, planting the seedlings in shal- 

 low water during June. The plant is 

 of annual duration, and the seeds 

 perish if kept dry. N. America. 



Z. latifolia, from Japan, is a peren- 

 nial kind, shorter and of more drooping 

 habit. It makes spreading tufts of a 

 good size, but does not bear its purplish 

 plumes freely in this country. 



ZYGADENUS. Plants of the Lily 

 family, not very ornamental for their 

 flowers, which are all greenish-yellow, 

 but their distinct growth makes them 

 worth cultivating in a botanical or a 

 full collection. They are slender bul- 

 bous plants with narrow grassy leaves, 

 and tall branching flower-stems, i to 

 4 feet high. Z. Fremonti (also known 

 as Z. glaberrimus, Z. chloranthus, and 

 Z. Douglasi) is the largest flowered 

 species. The other kinds are Z. 

 Nuttali and Z. paniculatus. Zygadeni 

 thrive best in a wet peaty border in a 

 shady position protected from cold 

 winds. California. 



3 D* 



