OUR NATIVE PLANTS. 169 



Discussion. 



Warren H. Manning said that not ono person in a thousand ap- 

 preciates the value of our native plants. All should visit the 

 Botanic Garden where thej' can see them systematieail}' arranged 

 and carefully cultivated by Mr. Manda. Most of theni are horti- 

 culturally valuable. 



E. H. Hitchings, referring to the remarks of the essaj'ist con- 

 cerning the earl}' flowering of the Hepatica, said that on the 1st 

 of December he found a plant in bud. He marked the spot and 

 on the 9th of December, there having meanwhile been three or 

 four days with the thermometer about ten degrees above zero and 

 a three days' snow-storm, he found the plant in blossom under a 

 foot of snow. 



Robert T. Jackson said it is important to give high cultivation 

 to the class of plants under discussion. People think they do not 

 need it, but they do. Most our hardy ferns are easily cultivated, 

 hutWoodwardia avgastifolia is an exception. They ma}' be trans- 

 planted at any season, and will be fine Ihe next year. The,As- 

 pidiums and Aspleniums do not require special soil. 



The Irises, especially the English and Spanish, which are bul- 

 bous rooted, are an interesting class of plants. Like Iris versi- 

 color these two species have narrow petals and small standards. 

 They are best planted early ; some planted in November did not 

 do well when those planted in September succeeded. Monthretia 

 crocosmceflora, a bulbous rooted plant, formerly supposed to be 

 tender, has been found to withstand our winters. The speaker 

 saw a large bed of it at Beverly which had stood out. 



Robert Manning said that he had been entirely successful in 

 cultivating Dodecatheon Meadia, Mertensia Virginica, Trillium 

 grandijlorum and Ariscema triphyllum in ordinary garden soil, and 

 he hoped that no one would be discouraged from planting them in 

 a similar location by the remarks of the essayist concerning the 

 soil required by them. 



Mr. Manda said that he had recommended for the plants named 

 in his paper such soil as they grow in naturally, but he did not 

 wish it to be understood that none of them will grow in any other 

 soil. 



Mrs. H. L. T. Wolcott said that she had Ariscema triphyllum 

 growing abundantly' on a hillside ; it might have taken French 



