THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ACANTHROPANAX. 417 



thing like those of an Oleander, and bright 

 yellow flowers. A. melanoxylon at Tresco 

 is about 50 feet in height, and there are 

 good examples on the mainland. Other 

 species I have met with are A. riceana, 

 A. lophantha, A. calamifolia,A. linifolia, 

 A. latifolia, andA. platyptera. W. D. F. 

 ACwfluNA. Alpine and rock plants be- 

 longing to the Rose family. Though not 

 pretty in their flowers, if we except the 

 crimson spines that give a charm to the 

 little New Zealand A. microphylla^ these 

 plants have a neat habit of growth that 

 fits them for very dwarf carpets in the 

 rock garden, and now and then, to cover 

 dry parts of borders and tufts on the 



Acaena microphylla. 



margins of borders, among the most use- 

 ful being argentea, millefolia, pulchella, 

 ovalifolia, and sarmentosa, all of free 

 growth and increase. 



ACANTHOLIMON (Prickly Thrift}. 

 Dwarf mountain herb plants of the Sea 

 Lavender order, extending from the east 

 of Greece to Thibet, and having their 

 headquarters in Persia. The flowers re- 

 semble those of Statice and Armeria, but 

 the plants form branching, cushion-like 

 tufts ; the leaves are rigid and spiny. 

 They are dwarf evergreen rock-garden 

 and choice border plants. We have had 

 the following species for years, but have 

 not been very successful in propagating 

 any except A. ^hemaceum, which is the 

 freest in growth, the others being very 

 slow. Cuttings taken off in late summer 

 and kept in a cold frame during winter 

 make good plants in two years, but 

 by layering one gets larger plants sooner. 

 All are hardy, and prefer warm, sunny 

 situations in sandy loam. There are only 

 a few kinds in cultivation, such as A. 

 glumaceum, vennstum, and androsaceum. 

 A. Kotschyi\<s> handsome, with long spikes 

 rising well above the leaves and white 



flowers ; A. melananthum has short, 

 dense spikes, the limb of the calyx being 

 bordered with dark violet or black ; and 

 other pretty species, not all in cultivation 

 perhaps, are cephalotes, acerosum, laxi- 

 florum, libanoticum, and Pinardi, which, 

 so far as we know them, thrive best on the 

 sunny rock-garden, in light deep soil. 

 Where large plants of the rare kinds 

 exist, it is a good plan to work some 

 cocoa-nut fibre and sand, in equal parts, 

 into the tufts in early autumn, but before 

 doing this some of the shoots should be 

 gently torn so as to half sever them at a 



Acantholimon glumaceum. 



heel ; water to settle the soil. Many ot 

 the growths thus treated will root by 

 spring. Cuttings made in the ordinary 

 way are uncertain, but August or Sept- 

 ember is the best time to try them. E T 

 ACANTHOPANAX. A. ritini- 

 folium is the most striking of the shrubby 

 Araliads, hardy and grows freely at Kevv. 

 Professor Rein, of the University of Bonn, 

 mentions trees 90 feet high, with stem 

 9 feet to 12 feet in circumference in the 

 forests of Yezo, the great northern island 

 of Japan. A. sessiliflorum is a new species, 

 a native of China, Manchuria, and Japan. 

 It has wrinkled, dark green leaves, formed 

 of three to five leaflets, the midribs having 

 a few scattered bristles. A. spinosum. 

 A small shrub with leaves divided into 

 five segments (sometimes only three). 

 The stem is armed with a few sharp 

 prickles. This plant is more frequently 

 grown in a greenhouse than out of doors, 

 more especially the variegated form. 

 They are both hardy in sheltered positions, 



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