120 



EQUISETUM ERICA. 



shrubs growing in moist hollows, in 

 vegetable soil. Division. 



Equisetum variegatum (Variegated 

 Horsetail). A simple-stemmed and 

 somewhat slender species, 8 to 20 in. 

 high. Spike, short, egg-shaped, 

 pointed. Stems, simple or slightly 

 branched, growing in tufts, of a pale 

 green, very rough, with 4 to 10 

 furrows ; sheaths slightly enlarged 

 upwards, green below, black above ; 

 teeth blunt, each tipped with a deci- 

 duous bristle, persistent, ovate, black 

 in the centre, with a white membra- 

 nous margin. Europe and Britain. 



In wet places or in water, by the mar- 

 gins of ponds or streams. Division. 



Eranthis hyemalis ( Winter Aconite). 

 A small plant, with yellow flowers, 

 surrounded by a whorl of shining- 

 green divided leaves, and a short, 

 blackish underground stem, resembling 

 a tuber ; 3 to 8 in. high. Flowers, from 

 January to March ; calyx of from 



5 to 8 oblong, petal-like sepals ; petals 



6 to 8, very short and tubular; sta- 

 mens numerous. Leaves, deeply 

 divided ; involucre composed of 3 

 deeply-cut leaves growing together. Eu- 

 rope. This is seen to best advan- 

 tage in a wild state, under deciduous 

 trees or shrubs, on slopes in half- wild 

 places, etc., though it is occasionally 

 worthy of a place among the earliest 

 border flowers. It grows in any soil 

 and is most easily increased by di- 

 vision. 



Eremostachys laciniata (Jagged K) 

 A very distinct- looking subject, 12 

 to 30 in. high. Flowers, in summer ; 

 purplish, in whorls of from 10 to 20 ; 

 calyx downy, widely tubular -cam - 

 panulate, with 5 prominent ribs. 

 Leaves, pinnate ; leaflets oblong- 

 lance-shaped or linear, deeply jagged ; 

 root-leaves 6 in. long or more ; stem- 

 leaves the same shape but smaller; 

 stems nearly simple. Levant and 



Eastern Caucasus. Borders,in warm 



sandy loam. It is also useful in groups 

 of the bolder perennials, and in warm 

 soils might be naturalized on sunny 

 banks or slopes, amidst other tall 

 perennials. Division or seed. 



Eremostachys iberica (Iberian E.) 

 Phlomis iberica. Differs from K 

 laciniata in having leaves less hairy, 

 and flowers yellow, with the limb not 

 so open or gaping. Georgia, near the 



Caucasus. Similar positions and 



treatment to the preceding. 



Erica carnea (Winter Heath). A 

 brilliant, dwarf, very early-flowering 

 shrub, 6 to 9 in. high. Flowers, from 

 March to May; red, axillary, droop- 

 ing, disposed in racemes ; corolla 

 conical, 5 to ^ in. long ; bracts remote 

 from the calyx. Leaves, linear, smooth, 

 3 to 4 in a whorl. Stems and 

 branches prostrate. Germany, Swit- 

 zerland, and Britain. Borders of 



all kinds, in tufts or as edgings, the 

 rock-garden, or naturalized among our 

 own wild heaths. It thrives in ordi- 

 nary garden soil, but, like most of its 

 family, grows best in peat or in fine 

 moist sandy soil. Division. 



Erica ciliaris (Ciliated Heath). 

 A somewhat straggling evergreen 

 shrub, readily known by its very 

 showy racemes of flowers, as large as 

 those of St. Daboec's Heath ; 1 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in early summer ; pale 

 red ; corolla ovate, oblique at the 

 mouth, nearly f in. long ; sepals small, 

 ciliated. Leaves, 3 in a whorl, ovate, 

 glandular, ciliated, spreading. Western 



Europe. Beds, with the smaller 



shrubs, on the margins of shrubberies, 

 and in the rougher parts of the rock- 

 garden in peat soil. Division. 



Erica cinerea (Scotch Heath). A 

 dwarf evergreen shrub, allied to E. 

 Tetralix, but easily distinguished by 

 its flowers not being in terminal 

 heads, and by its deep green hue ; 6 

 to 12 in. high. Flowers, in summer 



