THALICTRUM. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



THALICTRUM. 



most stately of water-side plants. Its 

 glaucous foliage and elegant panicles of 

 purple flowers are welcome along the mar- 

 gins of shallow ponds or streams, and it 

 is hardy in sheltered places. It is best 

 grown in pots or tubs pierced with holes, 

 in a mixture of stiff peat and clayey soil, 

 and river mud and sand. The plant 

 thrives only in warm places in the south- 

 ern counties, where alone it should be 

 planted out. S. Carolina. Division. 



THALICTRUM (Meadow Rue\- 

 Perennial herbs with elegant foliage, but 



high, with graceful foliage, and abundance 

 of yellowish cream-coloured flowers. It 

 is hardy in a deep peat soil. S. Europe. 

 Beside these dwarf kinds there are about 

 two dozen other species, ranging from 

 3 to 6 ft. in height. There is a great 

 sameness among them, as all have finely- 

 cut foliage. A good kind with fern- 

 like foliage is T. aqtiilegifolium, which 

 is about 4 ft. high, and grows vigor- 

 ously in any soil. There are two or 

 three varieties of it, one (atropurpureuni) 

 with dark purplish stems and leaves, 



not showy flowers. A few of the 

 smaller species rival in delicacy of 

 form and colour some of the charm- 

 ing Maiden-hair Ferns, and may be 

 associated with flowering plants, or 

 those of fine foliage. T. anemonoides 

 (Rue Anemone) is usually only a few 

 inches high, its white flowers being 

 nearly I in. in diameter, and open in 

 April and May. It is best suited for 

 the rock-garden in deep moist soil 

 and partial shade. The double va- 

 riety may be preferred to the type, and 

 there is also a pretty form with pale 

 rosy sepals. N. America. T. minus 

 forms compact slightly glaucous sym- 

 metrical tufts, 12 to 1 8 in. high. May 

 be grown in any soil, but the slender 

 flower-stems, which appear in May 

 and June, should be pinched off. 

 This bushy little tuft resembles the 

 Maidenhair Fern, and its leaves are just 

 as pretty for mixing with cut flowers, and 

 last much longer. The plants also look 

 well isolated, in large tufts in borders or 

 as an edging. Division. T. adiantifolium 

 is similar. T. tuberosiun is about 9 in. 



Thalictrum aquilegifolium. 



and a second in which they are golden. 

 Kinds less well-known but quite worth 

 growing are T. Chelidonii from the Hima- 

 layas, with charming pale lilac flowers 

 and greyish-green foliage. T. Delayayi 

 comes near this, with larger flowers of a 



