RAPHIOLEPIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. RETIXOSPORA. 759 



R. Lingua (Great Spear-wort}. A 

 native kind, and a noble waterside plant, 

 its leaves rising boldly out of the water, 

 and large yellow and attractive flowers. 

 Thrives in muddy watersides, and the 

 numerous and handsome flowers are good 

 for cutting for the house. 



R. Lyalli (Rockwood Lily). A lovely 

 New Zealand plant ; in moist places in the 

 Southern Alps the plant has large rounded 

 leaves and very large handsome waxy white 

 flowers, not unlike those of Anemone 

 japonica, with delicate yellow stamens 

 in the centre. In some places in Britain 

 this plant is not hardy, but in others it 

 stands the winter well. A writer in The 

 Garden says of a plant at Kew : " It is 

 growing in a deep peaty bed, sheltered 

 from the north and east, and has been 

 without protection of any kind for over two 

 years. To get the seed of this charming 

 plant to germinate is difficult, as importa- 

 tions in recent years have failed, and like 

 many other similar plants it seems to do 

 best when let alone. It has flowered in a 

 few gardens, and would seem to require 

 cool rock-garden treatment so far as now 

 known." W. K. 



R. parnassifolius (Parnassia-leaved 

 Buttercup}. A singular-looking plant with 

 thick, entire leaves, woolly on the edges, 

 flowers large, of a pure white colour, borne 

 two or three together on a prostrate stem 

 in the month of May. In the Pyrenees 

 and on the French Alps it is rare to 

 find a flower of this handsome species 

 which possesses the full number of petals. 

 A rock-garden plant requiring the same 

 treatment as the higher mountain species. 



R. rutaefolius (Rue-leaved Buttercup} 

 has Rue-like leaves and white flowers 

 with dark yellow centres. Coming from 

 the highest parts of the Alps, it requires 

 the same treatment as the higher alpine 

 plants, in a fully-exposed spot in moist soil 

 with plenty of grit in it. 



R. speciosus (Large Double Buttercup} 

 is a showy plant, with compact rosette- 

 like flowers of bright yellow in May, 

 succeeding in any light soil. In a full 

 collection, R. gramineus, chasrophyllus, 

 illyricus, and fumaricRfolius may be in- 

 cluded. 



The above is but a selection from a 

 very large family in nature, many of which 

 are little known in gardens, and many of 

 no garden interest. 



RAPHIOLEPIS (Japanese Hawthorn}. 

 R. ovata is a beautiful Japanese shrub, 

 hardy in southern districts, and with a 

 little winter-protection may even be 

 planted in cold parts. Its thick evergreen 

 leaves are of a dark colour, and its flowers, 



Raphiolepis indica. 



which are large, white, and sweet-scented, 

 are in clusters terminating the young 

 branches. It is a low 

 spreading bush, some- 

 what open and strag- 

 gling, and should not 

 be crowded with other 

 shrubs. Some of the 

 other species, such as 

 R. indica and R. salici- 

 folia, both from China, 

 are not hardy enough 

 for the open ground, 

 but make good wall 

 shrubs. 



RESEDA (Mignon- 

 ette}. The only spe- 

 cies worth growing is 

 R. odorata, and its 

 varieties. Seed sown 

 in the open ground in 

 March or April pro- 

 duces in a few weeks flowering plants, which 

 continue to bloom till late in autumn. If, 

 fine masses be wished for, the seed should 

 be sown in pans about the end of March, 

 the seedlings placed singly in 3-in. pots, and 

 planted out in good soil in an open posi- 

 tion. A little attention should be given 

 to thinning out the weak shoots and 

 stopping the vigorous ones. Plants sown 

 in autumn will survive mild winters and 

 produce flowers in early summer, these 

 being finer than those of spring-sown 

 plants. There are now many varieties, as 

 R. odorata grandi flora, R. o. pyramidalis 

 grandiflora, the compact strong growing 

 variety Machet, with bold spikes of reddish 

 flowers and broad abundant leaves, and 

 dwarf varieties. Machet is the kind 

 grown so largely in pots for the London 

 markets, and it is also a good kind for 

 the open air. 



Retinospora. See CUPRESSUS. 



A name often wrongly given, and it would 

 be difficult to exaggerate the evil effect in 

 various ways of giving long Latin names to 

 mere forms and "states" of twigs which may 

 unhappily be propagated by cuttings or grafts, 

 and the repeating for ever in nursery catalogues 

 of doubtful generic names, of which a bad in- 

 stance is that of this name, with which our 

 catalogues have been crowded for years. As 

 is not unusual among the conifers, mere 

 states of totally distinct trees, such as the 

 Arbor vitic were catalogued ; and where it 

 was given with somewhat better reason to 

 distinct plants we now find that all given the 

 name belong to a nobler race, the Cypresses. 

 This name Retinospora, therefore, may be 

 dropped out of use by those who care to sim- 

 plify their words and collections of trees. One 

 result of this confusion of mystifying names is 

 that it very often keeps many willing planters 



