7i6 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



OPUNTIA. 



baceous perennials, about \\ ft. high, the 

 flowers, usually small, lilac, appearing 

 late in summer and in autumn in spikes, 

 2 to 5 in. long, rising from grassy tufts of 

 evergreen foliage. They thrive in borders 

 or margins of shrubberies in sandy loam, 

 but are scarcely ornamental. O. japoni- 

 cus, Jaburan, spicatus, Muscari, and longi- 

 folius are the best known, and usually in 

 botanical collections. In Italy they are 

 used to form green turf, in lieu of Grass, 

 which perishes from the heat. Division. 

 Japan and India. 



OPHRYS. Small terrestrial Orchids, 

 singularly beautiful, and among the most 

 curious of plants. Many have been in 

 cultivation, but these being tender plants, 

 chiefly from S. Europe, they must have 

 protection, and require much attention. A 

 few native species, however, can be grown 

 in gardens, and of these one of the most 

 singularly beautiful is the Bee Orchis (O. 

 apifera). This varies from 6 in. to more 

 than I ft. in height ; it has a few glaucous 

 leaves near the ground ; flowers in early 

 summer, the lip of a rich velvety brown 

 with yellow markings, bearing a fanciful 

 resemblance to a bee. It is usually con- 

 sidered difficult to grow, but it may be 

 easily kept on dry banks in the rock- 

 garden, in a firm bed of calcareous soil, or 

 of loam mixed with broken limestone. It 

 thrives best if the soil be surfaced with 

 some very dwarf plant, or with an inch of 

 cocoa-fibre and sand, so as to keep it moist 

 and compact about the plants. Other in- 

 teresting species for a collection of hardy 

 Orchids are O. muscifera (Fly orchis), 

 arachnites, aranifera (Spider orchis), and 

 Trolli. 



OPUNTIA (Prickly Fig). There are 

 several of these succulent plants in culti- 

 vation, but few are hardy enough for the 

 open air in our climate. The hardiest are 

 O. vulgaris, missouriensis, humilis, bra- 

 chyantha, and Rafinesquei ; the finest 

 being O. Rafinesquei, an evergreen well 

 worthy of culture, bearing in summer 

 large showy yellow blossoms on fleshy 

 branches. It thrives in a sunny corner 

 of the rock-garden in good dry soil, 

 sheltered from any passing danger to 

 the stems, for it is rather fragile, and 

 anything brushing against it would in- 

 jure it, but by the skilful placing of a few 

 rough stones it is easy to prevent injury 

 without shading the plant. To prevent 

 splashings, the ground might be surfaced 

 with a dwarf mossy Saxifrage or Sand- 

 wort. Snails and slugs are fond of this 

 plant, and in the spring, and even in mild 

 winters, may destroy it. A dressing of 

 soot wil keep away these pests. To in- 



crease the plant, the cutting, a single joint, 

 is potted in sandy soil, and the pot placed 

 in a sunny airy spot under glass and 

 watered very sparingly, and in a short 

 time it will form roots, and commence to 

 push out young shoots. The hardier 

 kinds are from N.W. America, where the 

 winters are severe. 



Recently, the German traveller, Dr. 

 Purpus, and various American botanists 

 have found in the mountains of Arkansas, 

 Texas, Colorado, and Arizona a rich 

 variety of hardy Cacti thriving at eleva- 

 tions of 5,000 to 8,000 feet. The entire 

 collection contains upwards of 100 kinds 

 of Cacti (species and variety) of proved 

 hardiness throughout Central Europe, 

 many of them plants of real beauty and 

 value for our rock and wall gardens. 

 The Darmstadt collection fills a large 

 rock-garden formed of limestone blocks, 

 and Dr. Purpus considers the use of 

 limestone essential for these plants, all 

 being found on soils of this nature. In 

 many botanical gardens in Germany a 

 feature is made of these hardy Cacti, and 

 their value is well seen at Giessen, 

 Jena, Leipzig, Magdeburg Dusseldorf, 

 and many other places. Many of the 

 Opuntias produce beautiful flowers from 

 the middle of June to October, which in 

 manycases are remarkable for their bright 

 colour. 



The following kinds may be considered 

 hardy for Central Europe : 



Opuntia arborescens, tree-like in its 

 wild state with a stout stem 50 feet or 

 more in height, covered with clusters of 

 sharp spines, and many rose or rosy- 

 purple flowers. In Central Europe it 

 spreads on the ground instead, and is the 

 least hardy of outdoor kinds. Opuntia 

 camanchica, with its seven varieties, some 

 so distinct that they might be classed as 

 separate species. Thus, albispina, with 

 large brown-yellow flowers and long 

 white spines upon the joints ; pallida, 

 with very pale yellow flowers ; rubra, a 

 beautiful little plant with rosy or deep 

 pink flowers, and golden stamens ; spino- 

 centra, with large yellow flowers ; and 

 gigantea, orbicularis, and saluwnea. 



The Opuntia polyacantha, or missouri- 

 ensis, bears pale yellow flowers upon large 

 flat joints, studded with fine spines set in 

 bunches of yellow down. It is a creep- 

 ing plant in cultivation since 1814, but 

 until lately always under glass. There 

 are two beautiful varieties of it : erythro- 

 sietnina, with yellow flowers and red sta- 

 mens ; and salmonea, with salmon-pink 

 flowers. Opuntia fragilis is an old green- 

 house plant of drooping habit, its short, 



