ACHILI.EA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ACORUS. 



419 



nurserymen insist upon sending out many 

 forms which, however attractive they may 

 appear to them in the hand, planted out 

 soon give a poor and even harmful effect. 



The known and cultivated species are the following : 

 Acer cainpestre, Europe ; caudatum, N. India ; cir- 

 ciiMtum, California ; cissifolijiiit, Japan ; carpini- 

 folintn, Japan ; cratcegifolinni, Japan ; creticum, Asia 

 Minor ; diabolicum, Japan ; distylum, Japan ; erio- 

 carpunt, N. America; glabrum, N. America; grandi- 

 dentatum, N. America ; Heldreichi, E. Europe ; 

 hcterophyllum, E. Europe ; hyrcanum, Caucasus ; 

 insigfie, Persia: japonicinn, Japan; Lobeli, S. Italy; 

 inacrophylliini. California ; tnicranthunt, Japan ; 

 tnonspessitlanum, S. Europe ; Ncgundo, N. America ; 

 nikoense, Japan ; opuli/olintii, Europe ; palniatnm, 

 Japan; pectinatum, N. India; pennsylvanicum, N. 

 America; pictuni, Japan; plaianoides, N. Europe; 

 Pseudoplatanns, Europe, Asia ; rubrum, N. America ; 

 rufinerve, Japan ;saccharinum, N. America; Sieboldi- 

 n/ium, Japan: sikkimense, N. India ; sficatum, N. 

 America ; tataricum, E. Europe ; Volxemi, Caucasus. 



ACHILLEA (Milfoil, Yarrow}. 

 Hardy herbaceous and Alpine plants 

 spread through Northern Asia, S. Europe, 

 and Asia Minor, varying in height from 

 2 in. to 4 ft., their flowers being pale 

 lemon, yellow, and white, but rarely pink 

 or rose. They grow freely in most garden 

 soils, and, with the exception of the 

 dwarfer mountain species, increase rapidly. 

 Some of the large kinds are fine plants 

 for groups, as A. Eupatorium. The alpine 

 kinds, such as A. tomentosa, are for the 

 rock-garden, or margins of choice borders. 

 The best of the larger kinds are ex- 

 cellent for large groups in mixed borders 

 and also in shrubberies ; among the best 

 being A. Eupatorium, A. Fili-pendula, 

 A. millefoliuin roseutn (a rose-coloured 

 variety of a native plant), and A. Ptarmica 

 (the Sneezewort), the double variety 

 being one of the best perennials. The 

 variety known as the " Pearl" is a larger 

 improved form. A. ^Egeratum (Sweet 

 Maudlin) is a distinct old kind, about 2 

 feet high. 



The dwarfer species come in for groups 

 for the rock garden or the margins of rock 

 borders, and, occasionally, as edging 

 plants, most of them growing freely and 

 being easy of increase ; but some of the 

 higher Alpine kinds are not very enduring 

 in our open winters. Among the best 

 are A. aurea, A. rupestris, A. tomentosa, 

 and A. Clavennae. 



ACIPHYLLA (Bayonet PZanf}.Sin- ; 

 gular and distinct New Zealand plants. 

 A.Colensoi. Forming a spiny bush. A. ! 

 Lyalli is similar in habit but- is smoother 

 in all its parts, the leaves being divided 

 into sharp spines. A. squarrosa is the 

 best known species, thriving in free 

 soil and sunny parts of the rock garden : 

 they are more curious than attractive 

 from a garden point of view. 

 ACONITUM (Monkshooct).1*S\. and j 



handsome herbaceous plants, of theButter- 

 cup order, dangerous from their poison- 

 ous roots. There are many names not 

 so many species, of value for our gar- 

 dens. They should not be planted where 

 the roots could be by any chance dug up 

 by mistake for edible roots, as they are so 

 deadly : almost all the kinds may be easily 

 naturalised in copses or shrubberies away 



Aconitum Napellus (Monkshood). 



from the garden proper, or beside stream- 

 lets or in openings in rich bottoms. 



The best kinds are A. Napellus and its 

 forms, versicolor and others ; A. chinense, 

 A. autumnale, A.japonicum, and A. tauri- 

 cum; A. Lycoctonum is a yellow-flowered 

 and vigorous species. They are from 

 3 ft. to 5 ft. high and flower from July to 

 September. A. Fortunei, the old A. 

 chinense of gardens, is the best for late 

 blooming. 



ACORUS (Sweet Flag}. Waterside or 

 marsh plants of the arum order, easily 

 cultivated, and of wide distribution. A. 

 Calamus (Sweet Flag) is a marsh or water- 

 side plant, now naturalised in most parts 

 of Europe. A variety has gold-striped 

 leaves. A. gramineus (Grass-leaved 

 Acorus) has a slender creeping rhizome 

 covered with numerous Grass-like leaves, 

 from 4 in. to 6 in. in length, and 

 there is a variety with white-streaked 

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