568 



EVERLASTING 



EXHIBITIONS 



handled in the same manner as Briza maTima, very 

 little of the 2f.»ii»u»ia being used dyed, however. Plilenm 

 pratense, Stipa pennafa, and various kinds of oats have 

 more or less commercial value, being used considerably 

 in the manufacture of imitation flowers and straw goods, 

 but from a florist's standpoint, they are not important. 

 The most important commercially of the imported 

 grasses is the Italian wheat, the quantities used in this 

 country for the manufacture of sheaves for funeral pur- 

 poses being enormous, and increasing yearly. It comes 

 in many grades of fineness and length of stem. In this 

 country all attempts to cultivate it in competition with 

 the European product have failed. 



Outside of wheat, it is generally true that the use of 

 dried grasses and flowers in this country is on the de- 

 cline. The fondness of our people for fresh flowers, and 

 the abundance in which these are now offered, every 

 where, at all seasons, is largely responsible for the de 

 cadence of the fancy for dried flowers. Another factor 

 is the artificial flower industry, which, in France par 

 ticularly, has attained a wonderful perfection, the ma 

 terials "being principally metal, porcelain, wax or cloth 

 In Europe, especially in Germany, the grasses seem to 

 maintain their popularity, and it is to these foreign-born 

 people that a large part of the material imported here 

 goes. 



A number of our native Composites— of the genera 

 Gnaphalium, Antennaria and Anaphalis — are called 

 Everlastings, and are often used in home decorations, 

 particularly in the country; but they have no com- 

 mercial rating. g. Batersdorfer. 



EYdVIA. {Greek, pleasant odor), ffiitdcerr. Between 

 20 and 30 trees or shrubs of the Old World tropics, with 

 opposite, punctate, simple or compound Ivs. and small 

 fls., in terminal or axillary cymes. Fls. unisexual; se- 

 pals and petals 4-5; stamens 4-5, inserted at the base of 

 a cup-shaped disk; stigma 4-lobed. Warmhouse ever- 

 greens. Prop, by cuttings of half-ripened wood. E. 

 61egan8, Hort. , from New Guinea, is a new plant re- 

 sembling Aralia elegantissima. Lvs. prominently 3- 

 lobed, undulate and crenate. E. fonndsa is another new 

 species int. 1900 by Sander & Co, 



£XACUM (classical name, of no significance to these 

 plants). Gentiandcece. An oriental genus of about 20 

 species, including 3 kinds of herbs, treated either as 

 annuals or biennials, with 5-lohed fls. of lilac, blue or 

 dark purplish blue. Cult, in a very few greenhouses. 

 The genus has no allies in its tribe of gai-den value. 

 Herbs, dwarf and annual, or tall and paniculate-branch- 

 ing; lvs. sessile, clasping or short-stalked : fls. small or 

 attaining 2 in. across, lilac, violet, blue or white, pedi- 

 celled or not, in forking cymes ; calyx 4-5-parted, the 

 segments keeled, winged or flat and 3-nerved; corolla 

 tube short; lobes 4 or 5, ovate or oblong, twisted; sta- 

 mens 4 or 5, attached to the throat, with very short 

 filaments. 



According to "K.F." in Gng. 6:229, E. affhie can be 

 grown in a greenhouse where the temperature ranges 

 from 55-60° P. The showier indigo-blue A' . macran- 

 thum requires a warmer house. The color of the fls. of 

 E. affine varies according to the treatment. If kept in 

 bright, sunny quarters they assume a bluish lilac color; 

 in the shade, blue to deep blue. Plants flower in August. 

 If specimens in 5-in. pots are desired, sow in March of 

 the same year ; for larger specimens, sow in August of 

 the preceding year. The plants must be kept in a cool 

 but not draughty greenhouse or frame in summer, and 

 shaded from fierce sunlight. The usxial precautions 

 needed for very small seeds should be observed. They 

 should receive their moisture from below, as overhead 

 sprinkling disturbs the sprouting seeds. 



A. Z/vs. with stalks often K in. long, 



affine, Balf. Stem cylindrical, 1-2 ft. high, much 

 branched from the base : lvs. 1-lJ^ in. long, elliptic- 

 ovate, faintly 3-5-nerved: sepals with a broad wing on 

 the back; corolla 6-9 lines wide; lobes almost rounded. 

 Socotra. B.M. 6824. A.F. 13:1104. Gng. 6:229. R.H. 

 1883, p. 512. Gt. 32:1108. G.C. II. 21:605. 



A. X/fS. nearly or quite stalkless. 

 B. Corolla lobes rounded. 



Zeyl&nicum, Roxb. Annual : stem 4-sided, branched 

 only above: lvs. becoming 3 in. long, strongly 3-nerved, 

 elliptic-oblong, acuminate, narrower than in E. affine, 

 and tapering: fls. IHin. across, in terminal, leafy 

 corymbs; sepals broadly winged; corolla lobes obovate, 

 obtuse. Ceylon. B.M. 4423 (sky-blue, with a dash of 

 purple). R.H. 1859, p. 238. 



BB. Corolla lobes tapering to a point. 



macr&nthum, Arn. {E. Zeylnnicum, var. maerdn- 

 thitni). Stem cylindrical, slightly branched: lvs. as in 

 E. Ztyhtniciini, though perhaps more variable from 

 base to summit: fls. 2 in. across. In both species there 

 is a narrow ring of yellow at the mouth, to which the con- 

 spicuous clusters of stamens are attached. Ceylon. 

 B.M. 4771 (deep purplish blue). G.C. III. 15:331. -The 

 best of the genus. The rich, dark blue is worth striving 

 for. Reintroduced by Sander & Co. 1899. -^ j,i 



EXCCECAHIA sehlfera. See Sapium. 



EXHIBITIONS of horticultural products may be made 

 for either of two purposes, — to illustrate the subject or 

 thing itself, or to illustrate an ideal. As a matter of 

 fact, all Exhibitions of domesticated products are for the 

 latter purpose. If an Exhibit were made of what a spe- 

 cies actually is — whether dahlia, peach or pumpkin- 

 hostility would be aroused, for in that case the incapa- 

 bilities as well as the capabilities of the plant would be 

 shown. Exhibits are really made up of those selected 

 forms which most nearly approach an ideal. This ideal 

 may be a commercial one or an artistic one. The com- 

 mercial ideal is likely to be held up as the only one. It 

 is usually held dogmatically, and one who has another 

 ideal is a heretic. A so-called show plant, as a chrysan- 

 themum or a dahlia, may represent only one of the 

 many possibilities of the species : and each of these possi- 

 bilities may be worth the cultivating. It is a significant 

 fact that many of the commercial types are not the 

 most artistic or the most satisfactory ones. They are 

 usually those which are most certain to give uniformly 

 profitable results to the grower. The constant forcing 

 of these types on the public attention tends to popu- 

 larize them. The chrysanthemum admirably illustrates 

 these remarks : the extra-large show blooms are less 

 satisfactory and agreeable to most persons than freer, 

 smaller and more individual blooms. 



The Exhibition ideal in any fruit or plant has a power- 

 ful influence on the evolution of the plant. People breed 

 for that ideal. They discard those forms which contra- 

 dict the ideal. Persons who care less for the formal 

 ideal than for variety, individuality and artistic merit 

 are amateurs in the best sense of the word. Skilled 

 amateurs usuallydeal with more varied and difficult sub- 

 jects than the professionals or commercial growers. It 

 is remarkable how plants have been bred to the Exhibi- 

 tion standard. The practice of carding and dressing of 

 the carnation in earlier times has produced the high- 

 centered, flat-bottomed carnation of today. In England, 

 the carnation ideal has been an entire or rose-leaf petal; 

 in America, the ideal is a moderately fringed petal. Per- 

 haps the effect of the Exhibition ideal is nowhere so well 

 seen as in the custom of exhibiting single blooms : it 

 has developed the individual flower rather than the 

 plant as a whole. The chrysanthemum, dahlia and ca- 

 mellia are examples. The Old World custom of show- 

 ing single blooms of florists' flowers in holes in a hoard 

 or in sand — like so many heads in a pillory— enforces 

 the ideal of the single flower. Fortunately, this type of 

 Exhibition has had little popularity in this country. A 

 comparison of the pictures of prize Exhibition subjects 

 in European and American journals would show some 

 interesting contrasts. It would contrast single-flower 

 or single-specimen ideals with bouquet ideals in flor- 

 ists' flowers. 



In general terms, the entire plant is the iinit, rather 

 than the flower or fruit alone. The love of flowers is 

 only the beginning of wisdom. The love of plants is a 

 higher stage. It is pleasing that American Exhibitions 

 are more and more given to plants and to artistic dis- 

 plays. The Old World Exhibitions, while emphasizing 



