HELONIOPSIS. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



HIDALGOA WERCKLEI. 



953 



and are somewhat later than those of 

 H. arborea 



HELONIOPSIS. Dwarf perennial 

 plants of the Lily order, from Japan, 

 forming neat tufts of erect lance-shaped 

 leaves of a few inches high, and carrying 

 short spikes of flower in early spring. In 

 H. breviscapa they are 6 or 8 in. long, 

 white with deep lilac stamens, the whole 

 turning a pretty rose-red before fading. 

 In H. japonica the flowers are larger, but 

 only two or three on a stalk, their colour 

 a deep rose with blue anthers. The 

 plants thrive in moist peaty soil and in 

 sunny sheltered nooks ; H. breviscapa 

 also does well in partial shade. Increase 

 by division late in summer, or seeds sown 

 in a cold frame. 



HEUCHERA. A few years ago this 

 little group of hardy perennials was 

 hardly known, and had there not been 

 improvement under cultivation they might 

 well have remained in abeyance, many 

 of the wild kinds have little to recom- 

 mend them save a graceful leaf, while 

 even H. sanguinea, .however attractive at 

 its best, is not a good plant, dwindling 

 away persistently in many gardens spite 

 of rich soil and every care. By crossing, 

 however, seedlings have been raised that 

 are more tractable in the garden and not 

 without effect in the border and for cut- 

 ting. All are of somewhat slow growth, 

 requiring shelter, a rich soil, and frequent 

 division, or they deteriorate. They cannot 

 endure drought or a poor soil, and there- 

 fore need special care in a dry season. 

 All are easily raised from seed, but the 

 seedlings need careful selection, their 

 colour being often poor. Selected plants 

 may be increased by division of the 

 tufts in October, or cuttings of the creep- 

 ing stems rooted in heat during spring. 

 The following species and their hybrids 

 are now in cultivation : 



H. brizoides (hispida x sanguined], 

 A hybrid of strong growth and a good 

 border plant, with neat bronzed leaves 

 and abundant airy spikes of coral-pink 

 flowers 3 ft. high. It blooms twice in 

 the season, and is often better the second 

 time than at the first. 



H. Coralie (brizoides and zabelana x 

 sanguinea). A dainty border plant with 

 the habit of sanguinea, and the coral tint 

 of brizoides accentuated in its large wide- 

 open flowers. 



H. Flambeau (sanguinea x zabelana). 

 A pretty garden seedling of good 

 colour, with numerous stems of red flowers 

 2 ft. high, and closely clustered as in 

 H. zabelana. 



H. hispida. This is of no value unless 



for its leaves, marked with rich brown 

 zones, and turning wholly bronze and 

 crimson towards autumn. Being ever- 

 green they are of some value for cutting, 

 or as edgings and tufts in .the rock- 

 garden, the flowers being removed as 

 soon as they show. The variety macro- 

 phylla has larger leaves. Syn., H. Richard- 

 soni. 



H. gracillima (micrantha x sanguinea). 

 This bears cloudy pink heads like a 

 wreath of mist seen in the dim perspec- 

 tive of a shady border. Leaf like that of 

 micrantha. 



H. Kilnfieldense (zabelana x briz- 

 oides]. The best white Heuchera, with 

 tall pale green spikes of pure white wide- 

 open flowers, loosely clustered as in 

 H. brizoides. The plant is a strong grower, 

 with neat glossy leaves. 



H. Lucifer (brizoides x sanguinea). 

 A good and vigorous plant of 3 ft. and 

 a real gain, being easy to grow, with the 

 bronze leaf-tints of brizoides and coral-red 

 flowers smaller than in that kind, very 

 abundant, and, like it, produced twice in 

 the season. 



H. micrantha. A species of fairly 

 free growth, with hairy leaves and tall 

 stems of tiny greyish-pink flowers, pretty 

 in a mass, or used cut like those of Gyp- 

 sophylla paniculata. Syn., H. erubescens 

 H. micrantha rosea is an improved form, 

 its charm increased by ruddy leaves and 

 coral-red stems. 



H. Rosamundi (micrantha rosea x 

 sanguinea}. The best hybrid yet raised, 

 with tall branched stems of rosy flowers, 

 intermediate in size between those of 

 gracillima and sanguinea. It is of good 

 constitution and pretty for cutting. 



H. sanguinea. The prettiest of the 

 wild kinds, and too well-known to need 

 description. There are several varieties 

 in cultivation, but none of them show 

 much improvement in constitution ; they 

 are grandiflora robusta, with larger 

 flowers of a paler pink; splendens, with 

 larger and darker flowers, the best of all 

 in colour ; rosea, also with pale flowers ; 

 and alba, the so-called white form, though 

 the flowers are only an uncertain greenish- 

 grey, turning pink with exposure. 



H. zabelana (sanguinea x alba). An 

 early hybrid, vigorous, easy to grow, and 

 making compact tufts of dark stems with 

 wide-open flowers of a soft rose tint, 

 but densely clustered and less graceful 

 than the airy inflorescence of later seed- 

 lings. 



HIDALGOA WERCKLEI (Climbing 

 Dahlia}. A showy climbing half-hardy 

 plant from the mountains of Costa Rica, 



