EPIMEDIUM EQUISETUM. 



119 



and beds of American plants. It thrives 

 well in ordinary sandy loam, but attains 

 its greatest dimensions and beauty in 

 a deep, moist, and very sandy loam or 

 peat. It is the kind best suited for 

 naturalization, and forming in shel- 

 tered nooks dense tufts of handsome 

 foliage, and is peculiarly well suited 

 for associating with the smaller shrubs. 

 Division. 



Epimedium purpureum (Purple E.) 

 Flowers, in May ; purplish on the 

 outside, brownish-yellow within, twice 

 as large as those of E. alpinum, from 

 which it is also distinguished by its 

 rootstock not running so much, and 

 by the larger divisions of its leaves. 



Japan. Fringes of shrubberies, and 



beds of American shrubs, borders, 

 rockwork, or banks; always in peat 

 soil. Division. 



Epimedium violacenm (Violet &) 

 Resembles E. macranthv/m in habit 

 and stature. Flowers, in May ; large, 

 numerous, violet. Rootstock not run- 

 ning. Japan. Seems to differ from 

 E. macranthum, only in the colour of 

 its flowers, and its leaflets not being 

 regularly fringed with hairs ; the spurs 

 of the petals also are not half as long 

 as those of that species, being, in 



fact, not longer than the sepals. 



Similar positions and treatment to 

 those recommended for the preceding 

 kind will suit this. Division. 



Epipactis palustris (Marsh E.) A 

 somewhat showy orchid, 1 to 1^ ft. 

 high. Flowers, late in summer ; droop- 

 ing ; arranged in a loose spike of 6 to 

 1 2 on a stem ; petals and lip white, 

 tinged with purple; calyx purplish- 

 green. Leaves, lanceolate, erect, 

 sheathing the stem at their base, 5- 

 nerved. Stem, pubescent in the upper 

 part. Native of all parts of temperate 

 and southern Europe, in moist grassy 



places. The artificial bog, or moist 



spots near a rivulet, in soft peat. In 

 moist districts it thrives very well in 



peat beds away from the water. 

 Division of established tufts. 



Equisetum scirpoides (Dwarf Horse- 

 tail). A minute and interesting kind, 

 2 to 6 in. high. Flowers, in spring. 

 Stems, in very dense tufts, almost 

 thread-like, not rigid but somewhat 

 contorted, usually 6 -grooved ; sheaths 



3-toothed. North America. Peat 



borders, among minute plants, on the 

 rockwork in moist peaty spots, or 

 in the hardy fernery. Division. 



Equisetum sylvaticum ( Wood Horse- 

 tail). A little plant of the most ex- 

 quisite grace when well grown ; 8 to 

 15 in. high. Flowers, in spring; spike 

 blunt. Sterile and fertile stems simi- 

 lar, 12 to 18 in. high, with about 12 

 furrows, and many whorls of slender, 

 compound, spreading or deflexed, solid 

 branches ; sheaths lax, ending in 3 or 

 4 blunt lobes. Sheaths of the branches 

 with 3 long acute teeth, each 1 -ribbed 

 up to its tip. North Europe and Britain, 



in wet shady places. In the hardy 



fernery, in shady moist spots near 

 the rock-garden, rocky fringes of rivu- 

 lets or cascades. It also looks very 

 graceful grown in pots in cold frames. 

 Division. 



Equisetum Telmateia (Qiant Horse- 

 tail). A plant of much nobility of 

 port as well as grace of character when 

 well - developed ; 2 to 6 ft. high. 

 Flowers, in spring. Sterile stem 3 to 

 6 ft. high, occasionally bearing a small 

 terminal spike, furnished from top to 

 bottom with whorls of slender branches 

 which have 4 angles, each with a 

 longitudinal furrow and 4-toothed 

 sheaths, the lowest joint and sheath 

 exceeding the stem- sheath. Fertile 

 stem stout, 1 ft. or more high, with 

 many pale-brown sheaths with 30 to 40 

 teeth each ; spike large. Europe and 



Britain, in wet places, In the 



hardy fernery, artificial bog, shady 

 peat border, near cascades, or among 



