42 



ACANTHUS ACHILLEA. 



Native of forests of Dalmatia and S. 

 Ettrope. Borders, margins of shrub- 

 beries, and isolation in semi- wild 

 places, in deep ordinary soil, the richer 

 the better. Division and seed. 



Acanthus mollis (Common Bear's 

 Breech). A well known vigorous peren- 

 nial 3 to 4 ft. high. Flowers, in summer ; 

 white, rose, or lilac, sessile in the 

 axils of deeply toothed bracts, the in- 

 florescence forming a remarkable look- 

 ing spike half the length of the stem. 

 Leaves, large, nearly 2 ft. long by 1 ft. 

 broad, heart-shaped in outline, cut 

 into angular toothed lobes. S. Europe. 



Same positions and uses as for 



the preceding. Increased by division 

 of roots in early spring. 



Acanthus spinosissimus (Armed 

 Bear's Breech}. A handsome and dis- 

 tinct plant, about 3^ ft. high when in 

 bloom, Flowers, late in summer ; rosy 

 flesh-colour, stalkless, arranged in a 

 very handsome spike, and accom- 

 panied with acute, recurved, and 

 very spiny bracts. Leaves, growing in 

 a tuft, pinnatifid, leathery, almost 

 smooth, excessively spiny on all parts, 

 and with deeply pinnatifid divisions. 



Native of S. Europe. Much less 



common in gardens than A. mollis. 

 Thrives equally well in the worst and 

 coldest kind of soil, but as the plant 

 depends for its attractions a good deal 

 on its leaves, it is best to secure the 

 development of these by planting in 

 rich warm ground. Division in early 

 spring. 



Acanthus spinosus (Spiny Bear's 

 Breech}. Another ornamental kind, 

 2 to 4 ft. high. Flowers, in summer ; 

 purplish,in spikes; calyx spiny. Leaves, 

 pinnatifid, deeply and regularly cut, 

 each division terminated by a sharp 



spine. S. Europe. Borders, tufts 



isolated on grass, among hardy fine- 

 leaved plants, by woodwalks, or on the 

 margins of shrubberies, in good garden 

 soil. Increased readily by division. 



Achillea eegyptiaca (Egyptian Tar- 

 row}. A very silvery fern-like 

 plant, 12 to 18 in. high. Flowers, 

 in summer ; fine yellow, in corymbs 

 at the top of the stalks. Leaves, pin- 

 nate; leaflets obtusely lance-shaped, 

 serrate-toothed. Egypt and Greece. 



Rockwork, among the taller 



plants in sunny sheltered positions; 

 as an edging to beds of subtropical 

 plants, on warm borders and dryish 

 banks. This plant is not fastidious as 

 to soil, but thrives best in a deep and 

 well-drained sandy loam. Division. 



Achillea asplenifolia (Asplenium- 

 leaved A.) Flowers, in summer; small, 

 rose-coloured, in a compound corymb ; 

 involucrum obovate-oblong, smooth, 

 the scales having a very narrow red- 

 dish-brown margin. Leaves, lower ones 

 stalked, pinnatifid, with pinnate lobes ; 

 upper ones pinnate ; segments of the 

 leaves more obtuse than in the rose- 

 coloured var. of the common yarrow. 

 Long cultivated under the name of A. 

 Millefolium var. rosea. Native country 

 unknown. Borders and naturaliza- 

 tion, in any soil. Division. 



Achillea Clavennse (Silvery Yarrow). 

 A dwarf, white -leaved, distinct plant, 

 6 to 10 in. high, not rampant like 

 some of the other kinds. Flowers, 

 in early summer; white, in neat 

 heads standing well above the foliage. 

 Scales of the calyx rather hairy. Leaves, 

 pinnatifid; segments linear, obtuse, 

 slightly toothed at the tip, and, like 

 the whole plant, hoary. Alps of Swit- 

 zerland, Austria, and Carinthia. A 



good and easily grown rock plant, and 

 also an excellent subject for the front 

 rank of the mixed border, where the 

 soil is not too cold and stiff. On 

 congenial soils it might be used as an 

 edging plant for the sake of variety. 

 Increased by division of the tufts. 



AcMllea filipendula (Nolle Yarrow). 

 A noble and showy perennial, 3 to 

 5 ft. high. Flowers, in summer ; yellow, 



