LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



LANTANA 



883 



again their welcome songs ; where blossoming shrubs 

 delight the eye, perfume the air, and make attractive 

 resting places. Such places may seem to exist more 

 for the living than for the dead, but the living are the 

 ones that need them. If it seems natural to select a 

 most beautiful park, a real picture, we might say, for a 

 sleeping place, it seems strange to put into this picture 

 obelisk after obelisk, stone posts and slabs of all shapes 





1238. A group which has been spoiled by the pruning shears 



and sizes, and stone tombs within whose walls their 

 owners hope to have their dead liodies preserved for- 

 ever. The history of sepulture shows the futility of 

 trying to preserve one's body or one's name with the help 

 of stone. A man can only hand his name down to pos- 

 terity by his own work, and even if his body should be 

 preserved as long as were those of the ancient Egyp- 

 tians, it might finally be used only to propel a locomo- 

 tive or a steamboat. These facts should be recognized 

 in the modern cemetery. The ground should assist in 

 changing the body back into organic forms or to receive 

 the ashes, if the quicker process of cremation is adopted. 

 The scenery should solace those that are bereft. 



It is repugnant to our best feelings to use the same 

 land over and over again, as is done in many cities in 

 Europe and, to some extent, in the United States. A 

 cemetery is frequently spoken of as the last resting place, 

 and it serves mankind best when it is so in fact, since in 

 that case, after it has served its purpose of purification, 

 it becomes a park, a breathing place for the people of 

 the city, whose growth is likely to crowd the vicinity with 

 houses. The memory of past generations will certainly 

 be sweeter if it is associated with trees, than if it is 

 connected with tombs, catacombs and pyramids. The 

 problem presented to cemetery associations is, there- 

 fore, how to secure the most pleasing combinations of 

 growing plants, including trees, shrubs, flowers and 

 grass ; the most satisfactory views ; the most harmo- 

 nious and restful park, for the cemetery is really a 

 memorial prfrk. 



Those seeking information on this subject will find it 

 in the histories of the various cemeteries and in ency- 

 clopsedias. The development of the landscape idea in 

 connection with cemeteries is given in some of the re- 

 ports of those institutions, that of Spring Grove for the 

 year 1869 being especially valuable. The reports of the 

 Association of American Cemetery Superintendents con- 

 tain many papers of interest. The volumes of the 

 "Modern Cemetery," afterwards the "Park and Ceme- 

 tery." the only periodical devoted to the interests of 

 burial places, contain articles relating to all phases of 

 the subject. All books relating in any way to Land- 

 scape Gardening are of value in cemetery work, since 

 they treat of all its natural features. 



O. C. SiMONDS. 



LANTANA fold name, once applied to a Viburnum). 

 Verbeniice(p. Perhaps a half hundred species of herbs 

 or shrubs, sometimes half -climbing, with opposite rough 

 dentate leaves, and spikes or cymes of small verbena- 

 like flowers. They are natives of the tropical and sub- 

 tropical parts of Asia, Africa and America. Fls. small, 

 gamopetalous, the calyx very small, the corolla some- 

 what irregularly 4-5-parted, the corolla tube slender : 

 stamens 4, didynamous: ovary 2-loculed, becoming a 

 fleshy or dryish drupe with 2 nutlets. The bracts sub- 

 tending the head often imitate an involucre. Verbena 

 differs in having akene-like nutlets and long-tubular 5- 

 toothed calyx. 



Lantanas have been long in cultivation, and it is difli 

 cult to refer the garden forms to botanical species. The 

 species themselves are confusing. Most of the garden 

 kinds are of the L. Camara type. There are several 

 Camara-like species which probably have hybridized to 

 produce these forms; but Voss, the latest garden mono- 

 grapher, regards these species as only forms of L. Ca- 

 mara (preferring, however, to use the name//. «c?/7ea/a). 

 Accepting L. Camara in Voss's sense, the garden 

 Lantanas may be said to be derived from that 

 species; and this view is adopted below. Monogr. 

 by J C. Schauer, DC. Prodr. xi. 594-fi09. 



L. H. B. 

 The Lantana has been improved in its useful- 

 ness as a bedding plant of late years, largely 

 through the efforts of French hybridizers. The 

 > older varieties were mostly rather tall and lanky, 

 * later in coming into bloom, and dropped their 

 flowers badly after rain storms, but were showy 

 in warm and dry weather. The new varieties are 

 Iwarf, spreading and bushy in habit, early and 

 tree flowering, and the heads or umbels of bloom 

 average much larger, with florets in proportion; 

 nor do they drop ofl:' from the plants as the old 

 varieties did in bad weather. These newer kinds 

 are not as well known as they should be. They are very 

 desirable for any situation where sun-loving bedding 

 plants are used, in groups or borders, window-boxes, bas- 

 kets and vases. The Lantana is not particular as to soil, 

 and flourishes provided the exposure is sunny and the 

 soil well supplied with moisture, at least until a fair 

 growth has been made. When well established it does 

 not seem to mind drought, and continue bright and at- 

 tractive in the hottest weather. It should not be 

 transplanted out in the open before danger of frost is 

 over. If- the old plants are wanted for propagation, cut 

 them back and transfer to pots early in September, and 

 when they start into new growth the soft wood will fur- 

 nish cuttings that root easily. Keep young stock in a 

 warm position through the winter months, and repot in 

 April. 



Save the old plants, after Jack Frost has nipped their 

 freshness late in the fall, prune severely back, remove 

 them indoors, giving them a temperature anywhere 

 above 40°, and with a little attention and fresh soil, 

 every plant will be a perfect specimen, covered with 

 bloom in May. Gardeners train them into fine standards, 

 as prim and shapely as need be. Among the French 

 varieties the most representative are Argus, orange with 

 yellow center; Tethys, canary yellow; A. Claveau, sil- 

 very rose with yellow center. These are very dwarf 

 spreading growers, about 8 in. high. Amiel is semi- 

 dwarf, orange-red with yellow center, bright and showy ; 

 Prot^e belon-gs to the .'^ame class, rose color, yellow- 

 shaded center; Delicatissima is a trailing or creeping 

 sort, with slender stems, small leaves and dainty flow- 

 ers of pink and lavender; La Pluie d'Or, golden yellow, 

 is a standard variety among the older kinds. 



Grove P. Rawson. 



A. Plant often spiny: fruit juicy. 



Camera, Linn. (X. (7r(/ie^/r/. Linn.). Fig. 1239. Small 

 shrub, 1-4 ft. high, hairy, sometimes with short, hooked 

 prickles: Ivs. rather thick, rugose, scabrous above but 

 pubescent beneath, ovate or cordate-ovate, mostly short- 

 acuminate, crenate-dentate, the petioles short: clusters 

 of fls. on strong axillary peduncles which may or may 

 not exceed the Ivs. : fls. in a dense, nearly flat-topped 

 head, usually opening yellow or pink but changing to 

 orange or scarlet, the bracts narrow and not conspicu- 

 ous. Trop. Amer.. extending north to Texas and S. Ga. 

 B.M. 96. L.B.C. 12:1171 (as L. scabrida, Ait.). -In the 

 wild, the plant may grow 10 ft. high, and it is usually 

 prickly (hence the name L. acuJeafa of Linn;eus). The 

 cultivated plant is less prickly or even unarmed. The 

 plant has a strong smell, but the ease with which it can 

 be made to produce an almost continuous supply of 

 bloom renders it a popular greenhouse and bedding sub- 

 ject. Color of fls. varies on different plants. Of late 

 years the Lantanas have been neglected by florists, but 

 improved varieties are now bringing it into favor again. 



Var. nivea {L. nivea. Vent.). Fls. white, the outer 

 ones becoming bluish: heads rounder. B.M. 1946. 



