670 MUTISIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



MYOSOTIDIUM. 



Muscari is M. luteum, with flowers fading 

 by degrees from a dull purplish hue to a 

 clear yellow. 



M. racemosum is a familiar old kind, 

 with dark purple clusters and a strong 

 smell of Plums, its long and weak leaves 

 almost prostrate, while in M. botryoides 

 and its varieties the leaves stand erect. 

 It will hold its own anywhere, and will 

 wander all over the mixed border, grow- 

 ing like a weed, and in any soil. It has 

 near relatives in M. commutatum (with 

 blue flowers, darkening by degrees into 

 purple) and M. neglectum also a hand- 

 some kind. There are several other 

 varieties mentioned in catalogues, but the 

 best are those mentioned above. Though 

 coming chiefly from the south of Europe, 

 they are all hardy, and grow in any posi- 

 tion in ordinary garden soil. 



MUTISIA. Very curious and distinct 

 half- shrubby climbers from Peru, 

 Ecuador, and Brazil, and characterised 

 by a climbing habit and tendril-pointed 

 leaves. Other kinds are natives of 



Mutisia. 



the Chilian Andes, and have simple 

 leaves, rigid in texture, whilst the habit is, 

 as a rule, bushy and not climbing. 

 Almost every one of about forty species is 

 remarkable for the size and beauty of its 

 flower-heads. Plants which possess such 

 qualities as these ought, one would think, 

 to be well represented in English gardens. 

 They are found at elevations sufficiently 

 high to admit of their being grown out-of- 

 doors in England, or at any rate in the 

 warmer parts of the country, and yet the 

 Mutisias are scarcely known in our 

 gardens. Some few cultivators have been 

 successful with M. decurrens ; once or 

 twice M. ilicifolia has been grown and 



flowered very well. M. Clematis is the 

 least delicate of the garden Mutisias. 



M. ilicifolia is a native of Chili, where 

 it grows over bushes. The plant has thin 

 wiry stems, and every part is covered with 

 a cobweb-like tomentum. The leaves are 

 about 2 in. long, the margins spiny- 

 toothed, the texture leathery, and the mid- 

 rib extending beyond the blade, branching 

 and forming a strong twining tendril. The 

 flowers are axillary, 3 in. across, with from 

 eight to twelve ray florets coloured pale 

 pink, or sometimes white with pink tips ; 

 the disc is lemon-yellow. It is a distinct, 

 interesting, and beautiful plant. 



M. decurrens. Of this, the most beau- 

 tiful of the three garden Mutisias, a fine 

 plate will be found in The Garden for 

 1883, p. 553. Mr. Coleman has grown it 

 well amongst Rhododendrons at Eastnor 

 Castle ; Mr. Gumbleton, Mr. Hooke, Mr. 

 Ellacombe, and Kew have also had it in 

 good condition. Most cultivators kill this 

 species by planting it in a hot, sunny, 

 dry position, where it gets baked, and soon 

 becomes sickly-looking, even if it lives. 

 It wants a moist, cool soil, a sunny, airy 

 position, and a few slender Pea sticks to 

 clamber upon. The stems when mature 

 are wiry, the leaves strap-shaped, with the 

 blade extending a long distance down the 

 stem, forming very conspicuous wings. 

 The midrib is prolonged into a stout wiry 

 tendril, which holds on firmly to anything 

 it once clasps. The flower-heads are ter- 

 minal, 4^ in. across, with fourteen ray- 

 florets, each half an inch across, spread- 

 ing, and then curving elegantly down- 

 wards, their colour being brilliant orange. 

 The disc is yellow, and the large involucre 

 is bluish green tinged with purple. 



M. Clematis. The first coloured 

 picture of this species ever published in 

 any English work was the plate in The 

 Garden, July 27th, 1883. It is a tall 

 herbaceous climber, 10 to 20 ft. high, with 

 pinnate leaves, terminating in branched 

 tendrils, the leaflets being covered on the 

 under side with a fine silky down. The 

 plant grows very freely, does not die off" 

 suddenly like the others, and when 

 properly treated it flowers freely. It is 

 probable that this species would thrive 

 out-of-doors in Devon, South Wales, and 

 South Ireland. It grows as fast as Cobaea 

 scandens, and is said to be propagated in 

 the same way, viz. by means of cuttings of 

 the young growth. This species is a native 

 of New Grenada, Peru, and Ecuador, at 

 elevations of from 6,000 to 1 1,000 ft. W. 



MYOSOTIDIUM (AntarcticForget-me- 

 Nof].-M. nobileis a lovely herbaceous plant 

 about which very little is known. I nits native 



