534 DAPHNIPHYLLUM. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



Asia Minor. Gitidinm, S. Europe, involiicrata, India. 

 jasjninea, Greece, jezoensis, Japan. Kuisiana, Japan. 

 Laureola, Europe. linearifotia, Syria. Mazeli 



tnezerenm, Japan. Rodriguezi, Minora. Ronmea 

 China, sericea, S. Eur. and Asia Minor. Sophia 

 Asia, striata, S. Europe, tangntica, China, tenui- 

 _flora, Ins. Timor, triflora, China. 



DAPHNIPHYLLUM. Evergreen 

 shrubs of fine effect of foliage and little 

 beauty of flower. D. Glaucescens grows well 

 in the home counties so far as tried, espe- 

 cially at Lyndhurst in Sussex, the leaves 

 over 6in. long, and glaucous underneath, 

 the flowers small, in the autumn ; but the 

 habit is so fine wherever evergreens are 

 cared for that this will be worth growing at 

 least in the southern and warmer counties. 

 The other species known is D. josoenses. 

 It is a much dwarfer plant, and is an under 

 shrub in the forests of Yezo. These plants 

 seem to be hardy enough in the Southern 

 districts of Britain, but may require a little 

 care to establish. Rich as we are in ever- 

 green plants in Britain, these are distinct 

 enough to take a good place. 



DARLINGTONIA (Californian 

 Pitcher-planf). A most singular plant, 

 resembling the Sarracenias, but very dis- 

 tinct : the leaves of D. californica rise to a 

 height of 2 ft. or more, are hollow, and 

 form a curiously shaped hood, from which 

 hang two ribbon-like appendages, the 

 hood often a crimson-red, and the flowers 

 are almost as curious* This remarkable 

 plant is found to grow in our climate if 

 care be taken with it ; and it would be 

 difficult to name a more interesting plant 

 for a sheltered bog garden. It is less 

 trouble out-of-doors than under glass ; 

 indeed, it only requires a moderately wet 

 bog in a light spongy soil of fibrous peat 

 and chopped Sphagnum Moss. A place 

 should be selected by the side of a stream, 

 in an artificial bog or in any moist place, 

 and the plants should be fully exposed 

 to direct sunlight, but sheltered from the 

 cold winds of early spring when they are 

 throwing up their young leaves. They 

 require frequent watering in dry seasons, 

 unless they are in a naturally wet spot. 

 When they become large they develop 

 side shoots, which, if taken off and potted, 

 soon make good plants. The plant is 

 also raised from seed, but this requires 

 several years. 



DATISCA. D. cannabina is a tall and 

 graceful herbaceous perennial from 4 to 7 

 ft. high, the long stems clothed with large 

 pinnate leaves, yellowish-green flowers 

 appearing towards the end of summer. 

 The male plant is very strong and grace- 

 ful in habit : the female remains green 



much longer than the male ; when it is 

 laden with fruit, each shoot droops grace- 

 fully, and the plant should be included in 

 any selection of hardy plants of good form. 

 Seed will be found the best way to increase 

 it, and would secure plants of both sexes. 

 The border is not its place ; it is, above 

 most other plants, suited for the grassy 

 margin of an irregular shrubbery, and will 

 be all the more effective if planted on a 

 grassy slope, where its deep-seeking roots 

 will soon defy the most protracted drought. 

 DATURA (Thorn Apple}. Plants of 

 the Nightshade family, including several 

 handsome garden plants that well deserve 

 cultivation. Being natives of Mexico and 

 similar countries, none are hardy, but 

 owing to rapid growth some succeed well 

 if treated as half-hardy annuals, and make 

 effective plants in a short season. The 

 best are : D. ceratocaula, from 2 to 3 ft. 

 high, with large, scented, trumpet-like 

 flowers, often 6 in. in length, and 4 or 5 in. 

 across, white, tinged with violet-purple, 

 expanding in the afternoon and closing 

 on the following morning. D. fastuosa 

 is a handsome species, having white 

 blossoms smaller than the preceding; 

 there is a fine variety of it with the tube 

 of the flower violet and the inside white. 

 The most striking forms of this species 

 bear "double" flowers, the primary corolla 

 having a second and sometimes a third 

 corolla arising from its tube, all being 

 perfectly regular in form, and often being 

 parti-coloured, as in the single variety 

 with violet flowers. D. fastuosa Huberi- 

 ana of the seed catalogues, and several 

 varieties of it that are offered, are re- 

 puted to be hybrids of this species with 

 the dwarf D. chlorantha flore-pleno or D. 

 humilis flava of the gardens ;-but although 

 they offer a greater variety of colour, 

 they are less hardy than the older forms 

 just described, and appear to require a 

 warmer climate for their complete de- 

 velopment. D. meteloides is a handsome 

 Mexican plant, called in gardens Wright's 

 Datura. Isolated specimens of it have a 

 fine aspect in sunny but sheltered nooks. 

 It is from 3 to 4 ft. high, has wide- 

 spreading branches, and blooms from the 

 middle of July till frost sets in, the flowers 

 white, tinged with mauve ; from 4 to 6 in. 

 across, showy and sweet, but the leaves 

 emit a disagreeable odour. Besides these 

 there are other kinds in cultivation, such 

 as D. ferox and quercifolia, but those 

 described are the finest. Fresh seeds are 

 readily raised in an ordinary hot-bed ; 

 the young plants while small should be 

 pricked out singly in pots, and finally 

 planted out where they are to stand. 



