EPIG^EA 



EPIMEDIUM 



1121 



rosettes having reached a diameter of about 7 to 10 

 inches. 



The flower-buds are formed from midsummer to 

 autumn. If the plants are kept in a warm greenhouse 

 during the winter the flower-buds seldom open. To 

 make them open normally the plants must be subjected 

 to a prolonged period of chilling. Actual freezing is 

 not necessary. The best chilling temperature for the 

 greenhouse is a little above freezing, about 35. Alter- 

 nate freezing and thawing, with strong sunlight, is 

 likely to injure the foliage. Strong sunlight without 

 freezing heightens the color of the flowers. After two 

 to three months of chilling the plants may be forced, 

 if early flowers are desired, by alternating the same low 

 night temperature with a day temperature of 45 to 

 60. Plants kept in a cool humid atmosphere often 

 remain in flower three to four weeks, redolent with 

 their well-known delightful fragrance. The male 

 flowers, with their yellow centers, are much larger and 

 prevailingly much pinker than the green-centered 

 female flowers. In cultivated plants the corollas some- 

 times have a spread of % of an inch. The most robust 

 plants have been secured by plunging the pot in moist 

 sphagnum in a pot of 2 inches greater diameter. The 

 roots then grow through the hole in the bottom of the 

 inner pot and develop profusely in the moist, well 

 aerated sphagnum of the outer pot. Old plants which 

 have become ragged at the center may be revivified 

 by cutting the stems back almost to the main root 

 immediately after flowering. They then throw out a 

 new circle of branches with new and bright foliage and 

 flower profusely the following spring. 



FREDERICK V. COVILLE. 



EPIL5JLIA (compounded of Epidendrum and 

 Lselia). Orchiddcese. A genus established to include 

 hybrids of these genera. 



E. belairensis (E. ciliare x L. autumnalis) . E. 

 Charleswdrthii (E. radicans x L. cinnabarina). E. 

 Fletcheridna (E. atrppurpureum x L. harpophylla) . E. 

 Hardydna (E. ciliare x L. anceps). C. 0. 1. E. 

 heateriensis (E. O'Brienianum x L. cinnabarina). E. 

 Lawrencei (E. vitellinum x L. tenebrosa). E. Lionetii 

 (E. atropurpureum x L. purpurata). E. Mdrgaritse 

 (E. Parkinsonianum x L. grandis). E. Sylvia (L. 

 cinnabarina x E. Cooperianum.) E. Vettchii (E. 

 radicans x L. purpurata). E. vitellbrosa (E. vitel- 

 linum x L. tenebrosa). GEORGE V. NASH. 



EPILOBIUM (Greek, upon the pod, referring to the 

 structure of the flower). Including Chamsenerion. 

 Onagrdceas. Border plants, with willow-like foliage, and 

 large showy spikes of deep pink, rosy crimson or white 

 or even yellow flowers borne from June to August- 

 Herbs or sub-shrubs, sometimes annual, erect, 

 sprawling or creeping: Ivs. alternate or opposite, 

 toothed or entire: fls. axillary or terminal, solitary or 

 in spikes or racemes, rosy purple or flesh-colored, very 

 rarely yellow; calyx-tube little, if at all, produced 

 beyond the ovary; petals 4, obovate or obcordate, 

 erect or spreading; stamens 8; ovary 4-celled; seeds 

 comose; stigma often 4-lobed: caps, long and narrow, 

 4-sided and 4-valved. Species about 200 or more, in 

 many parts of the world, mostly in temperate regions. 

 The taller species, like E. angustifolium and E. hir- 

 sulum, make very rank growth in moist places, and are 

 therefore especially adapted for the wild garden or for 

 naturalizing along the water's edge and in low meado.ws. 

 The underground runners reach far, and the plants 

 spread fast when not kept in bounds. Propagation is 

 by division or seeds. 



angustifolium, Linn. (E. spicdtum, Lam. Chamse- 

 nerion angustifolium, Scop.). GREAT WILLOW-HERB. 

 FIRE-WEED. In cult, mostly branched and 3-5 ft. 

 high; in the wild simple or branched, 2-8 ft. high: Ivs. 

 alternate, very short-petioled, lanceolate, entire or 



minutely toothed, 2-6 in. long, 4-12 lines wide, pale 

 beneath, acute, narrowed at bases: fls. spreading, in 

 long, terminal spike-like racemes, petals rounded at 

 tip; stigma 4-lobed: caps. 2-3 in. long. Eu., Asia, N. 

 Amer. B.B. 2:481. Var. filba, Hort., has pure white 

 fls. suitable for cutting; also occurs wild. This variety 

 was perfected in England. It forms a compact bush. 



hirsfttum, Linn. Stout, 2-4 ft. high, with short but 

 conspicuous soft straight hairs: Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, 

 usually opposite, sessile and often clasping, with many 

 small, sharp teeth, 1-3 in. long, pubescent on both 

 sides: fls. erect, axillary, about 1 in. across; petals 

 notched: weed from Eu., showy, and sometimes found 

 in old gardens. 



Dodonjei, Vill. (E. rosmarinifdlium, Haenke). Per- 

 ennial, 1-3 ft., blooming in midsummer, mostly erect: 

 Ivs. linear, tapering somewhat toward either end, 

 entire, smooth or somewhat soft-hairy: fls. red, the infl. 

 terminal on the branches. Eu. 



obcordatum, Gray. Glabrous perennial: decumbent, 

 sts. 3-5 in. long, 1-5-fld.: Ivs. numerous, opposite, 

 ovate, sessile, %in. or less long: fls. bright rose-color, 

 the petals Hin. long and obcordate; stamens yellow, 

 shorter than declining style: caps, short and thick. 

 Calif, in the high Sierras, and hi Nev. Offered as an 

 alpine. A handsome species. 



luteum, Pursh. Nearly simple, 1-2 ft., nearly gla- 

 brous: Ivs. ovate or elliptical to broad-lanceolate, 

 toothed, slightly fleshy, 1-3 in. long, sessile or with a 

 short-winged petiole: fls. bright yellow, the petals %in. 

 long; style often exserted: caps, long-stalked, some- 

 what puberulent. Ore. to Alaska. 



E.abysslnicumdlbum is offered abroad, as "pure white, pretty:" 

 the name does not appear to have botanical standing. E. lati- 

 fdlium, Linn. (Chamsenerion latifolium, Sweet). Erect, canescent, 

 about \ l /i ft. : Ivs. lanceolate or ovate - lanceolate, tapering at both 

 ends, thick: fls. purple, showy, sometimes 2 in. across. Newfound- 

 land to Ore. and north. L H B 



EPIMEDIUM (Greek, like Median, a plant said to 

 grow in Media; a name from Dioscorides, retained by 

 Linnaeus). Berb&riddcese. Herbs suitable for rock-gar- 

 dens and shady places. 



This genus contains some of the daintiest and most 

 interesting plants that can be grown in the hardy 

 border, and E. macranthum, particularly, is as distinct, 

 complicated and fascinating as many of the rare, ten- 

 der and costly orchids. The whole family to which it 

 belongs is exceptionally interesting, and is one of the 

 most striking of those rare cases in which the cultural, 

 botanical and artistic points of view have much in 

 common. Of the 8 or 9 genera of this family only Ber- 

 beris and Nandina are shrubs, all the others being herbs, 

 with creeping, underground sts., and all small, choice, 

 curious, and cult, to a slight extent, except Bongardia 

 and Leontice. Podophyllum contains our mandrake; 

 Caulophyllum_ the quaint blue cohosh ; and the others 

 are Aceranthus, Achlys, Diphylleia, Jeffersonia and 

 Vancouveria. A collection of all these plants should 

 make a charming study. What appear to be petals in 

 E. macranthum are really the inner row of sepals, col- 

 ored like petals, and performing their functions, while 

 the long spurs or nectaries are supposed to be highly 

 specialized petals. Epimedium has 8 sepals and 4 

 petals, which are mostly small and in the form of nec- 

 taries: stamens 4: caps, opening by a valve on the 

 back: Ivs. pinnately twice or thrice dissected. They 

 grow a foot or two high. For E. diphyllum, see Acer- 

 anthus, which is distinguished by its flat, not nectary- 

 like petals, and its Ivs. with a pair of Ifts. on each of 

 the 2 forks of the petiole. There are 11 species, all 

 natives of the northern hemisphere, but some are 

 found as far south as N. Afr. There is none native in 

 Amer. The Garden, 48, p. 486, shows what a charming 

 picture can be made of the foliage alone when cut and 

 placed in a bowl. The plants retain their foliage all 

 winter, especially in sheltered spots under trees. 



