LYSIMACHIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



MAGNOLIA. 655 



.are L. ligustrina, frondosa, and rubiginosa, 

 which have evergreen foliage and small 

 white blossoms. 



LYSIMACHIA (Loosestrife]. Plants 

 of the Primrose family of much diversity of 

 habit. The most familiar example is the 

 common creeping Jenny (L. Nummularia), 

 than which there is no hardy flower more 

 suitable for any position where long- 

 drooping", flower-laden shoots are desired, 

 whether on points of the rock-garden, or 

 rootwork, or in rustic vases, or on steep 

 banks, growing in any soil ; in moist soil 

 the shoots attain a length of nearly 3 ft., 

 flowering throughout their extent ; it is 

 easily increased by division, and flowers 

 in early summer and often throughout the 

 season. There is a yellow-leaved variety 

 (L. N. aurea), which retains its colour 

 well, can be readily increased, is useful for 

 rock-gardens or borders, and merits its 

 name. The other kinds are tall and erect 

 L. vulgaris, thyrsiflora, lanceolata, ciliata, 

 verticillata, punctata, and davurica are 

 all 2 to 3 ft. high, have spikes of yellow 

 flowers, and, delighting in wet places, are 

 suitable for the sides of ponds, lakes, 

 streams, and similar spots. Indeed, they 

 grow almost anywhere, but in a border 

 they must have a place to themselves, 

 as by their spreading they soon de- 

 stroy weaker subjects. L. clethroides, 

 a Japanese species, is a graceful plant, 

 2 to 3 ft. high, with long nodding dense 

 spikes of white blossoms, and the leaves 

 in autumn of brilliant hues. L. Epheme- 

 rum is a similar plant, from S. Europe, 

 but is scarcely so fine. There are some 

 beautiful species, such as L. atropurpurea 

 and lupinoides, which are rare. 



LYTHRUM (Purple Loosestrife]. The 

 common waterside L. Salicaria is the 

 most familiar plant of this genus, and one 

 of the showiest. It is well worthy of 

 culture where it is not plentiful. The 

 beauty of the ordinary wild kind is 

 surpassed by the varieties originated in 

 gardens, of which superbum and roseum 

 are the finest. The colour of these is a 

 much clearer rose than that of the wild 

 kind, and the spikes are larger, particularly 

 those of superbum, which, under good 

 cultivation, are 5 or 6 ft. high. These 

 plants are well worth growing by lakes or 

 in boggy ground, and are easily increased 

 by cuttings, which soon make good flower- 

 ing specimens. Isolated plants in good 

 soil make well-shaped bushes, 3 or 4 ft. 

 high and as much through, and look better 

 than when planted closely in rows. 



L. virgatum, alatum, GraefFeri, flexuo- 

 sum, and diffusum, smaller plants, and not 

 so showy, are not without beauty. 



Macleaya. See BOCCONIA. 



MADARIA (Mignonette Vine\M. 

 elegans is a hardy Californian annual with 

 showy yellow and brown flowers, requiring 

 the treatment of hardy annuals. 



MAGNOLIA (Lily Tree}. Most beau- 

 tiful of flowering trees and shrubs, there 

 are about twenty species of Magnolia 

 known, and all but some half-dozen or so 

 are in cultivation in this country. The 

 headquarters of these trees are in China 

 and Japan, a few are peculiar to the 

 Himalayan region, and a few more 

 to North America. A glance at the 

 engraving, representing a very fine speci- 

 men of the Yulan, will show what glorious 

 effects may be obtained in spring, in the 

 South of England at any rate, by its use. 

 It is true enough, unfortunately, that frosts 

 sometimes injure the flowers and change 

 their snowy whiteness into an unsightly 

 brown. Perhaps the reason that this 

 Magnolia and its allies are not more 

 often met with in gardens is owing to 

 the fact of their not transplanting readily. 

 The best results are obtained if the plants 

 are planted just as growth begins in spring". 

 The fleshy roots when injured rot rapidly, 

 and when autumn-planting has been 

 practised, many succumb to the ordeal, 

 those that do not do so outright often 

 struggling on in a pitiful plight for years. 

 A little care in transplanting in spring, 

 in sheltering with mats from dry winds 

 or hot sun, and in syringing the wood to 

 prevent shrivelling, until the plants are 

 established, would do much to prove that 

 the Magnolias can be planted with every 

 prospect of success. Some species 

 occasionally ripen seed freely in this 

 country, and it is well worth while to 

 sow this seed at once. If dried and 

 kept like other seeds until the following 

 season, all chance of germination will have 

 passed. All the species of the natural 

 order Magnoliaceae have seeds which 

 retain their vitality for but a very limited 

 period. 



M. acuminata (Cucumber Tree] makes 

 a noble specimen when planted singly 

 in the park or pleasure-ground. It is 

 deciduous, the leaves varying from 5 in. 

 to i ft. in length, and glaucous green, 

 the flowers yellow-tinged, bell-shaped, 

 and slightly fragrant. There are fine 

 examples of this tree at Kew, in the 

 gardens of Syon House, and Claremont. 

 In its native country it attains a height of 

 from 60 to 90 ft., with a trunk from 2 to 

 4 ft. in diameter. The yellow Cucumber 

 tree (M. cordata) is regarded by Professor 

 C. S. Sargent as a variety of M. acuminata. 

 It is a rare plant in a wild state, as it 



