264 LUTHER BURBANK 



The value of the Lippias as lawn plants had 

 been shown by Dr. Francheschi, of Santa Bar- 

 bara, California, as long ago as 1900, he having 

 introduced a common form of Lippia repens 

 from southern Europe, where it had been grown 

 as a lawn plant by division until it had lost its 

 power of producing seed, thus making further 

 improvement impossible. 



The opportunity to improve the plant came 

 when my collector in Chile sent seed of some of 

 the wild species from the Andes. There was a 

 good deal of variation among the plants raised 

 from this seed, and the following season about 

 ten thousand plants were raised, each one of 

 which was given a little space in order that its 

 individual peculiarities as to rapidity of growth, 

 tendency to spread, and color of foliage might 

 be studied. 



From among these plants about half a dozen 

 were saved, and the descendants of these con- 

 stitute several varieties of Lippia that have 

 marked peculiarities. A single cutting of one 

 variety will spread on an ordinary soil over a cir- 

 cle about ten feet in diameter in a single season. 

 This form would be very valuable for growing 

 in sunny places, in certain localities along 

 irrigating ditches, where the soil is subject 

 to wash. 



