174 Subtropical Gardening. 



past year or two. It is a comparatively dwarf subject, 

 and not at all striking in bloom like the Pampas, but 

 withal very distinct and desirable. It is one of the most 

 elegant grasses, forming dense tufts of long, soft, smooth, 

 slender leaves, which arch outwards and downwards in 

 the most graceful manner on every side, and, in the 

 flowering season, are surmounted by airy, diffuse, pur- 

 plish or violet-tinged panicles, rising to a height of from 

 20 ins. to 3 ft, the grassy tufts being usually about half 

 that height. This plant is widely distributed over South- 



Poa fertilis. 



ern Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, in wet 

 meadows and on low banks of streams. Of all the dwarf 

 perennial grasses it is perhaps the best for isolation on 

 the grass, where its fine dense and graceful tufts of long 

 hair-like leaves and elegant panicles form a quite distinct- 

 looking and ornamental object. 



*Polygonatum nniltiflorum (Solomon's Seal). 

 This, one of the most graceful of our native plants, is too 

 distinct and pleasing in aspect to be omitted from an 

 enumeration of ornamental subjects. It is best suited 



