146 



HOTEIA HYACINTHUS. 



paler and rather smaller ; legume 

 curved, uneven on both sides. Leaves, 

 composed of from 9 to 15 pairs of 

 small, oblong or linear, smooth leaflets. 

 Europe. The rock-garden ; and bor- 

 ders, in any soil. Seed and division. 



Hoteia japonica (White ff.) 

 Spircea japonica. A fine herbaceous 

 plant of tufted habit, covered, espe- 

 cially at the base of the stems and leaf- 

 stalks, with long, scattered, semi-trans- 

 parent, reddish hairs ; 1 ft. to 16 in. 

 high. Flowers, early in summer; 

 numerous, silvery white, in a panicled 

 cluster, the ramifications of which, as 

 well as the pedicels and bracts of the 

 flowers, are also white. Leaves, of the 

 root numerous, in tufts, with 3-cleft 

 footstalks, which are swollen at the 

 commencement of the first forking : 

 those of the stem alternate, stalked, 

 thrice-pinnate ; divisions oval, toothed 

 and fringed, of a glistening green on 



the upper side. Japan. Warm 



borders, fringes of shrubberies, rough 

 rockwork, etc., in peat or sandy soil. 

 It is now much grown in pots for 

 forcing. Division. 



Hottonia palustris (Water Violet). 

 A beautiful British water-plant, with 

 bright green, deeply cut, submerged 

 leaves and stems ; from 9 in. to 2 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in early summer ; pink 

 or pale lilac with a yellow eye, in 

 whorls at intervals one above the 

 other, forming a handsome spike; calyx 

 and corolla divided into five segments ; 

 pedicels short, with a small bract at 

 the base of each. Leaves, pinnatifid ; 



leaflets linear, narrow. Europe. 



Lakes, ponds, and fountain-basins; 

 also on the soft and wet muddy banks 

 of streams. Division, or seed, which 

 should be sown in autumn. 



Houstonia caerulea (Bluets]. A very- 

 minute and charming evergreen herb, 

 with small pointed leaves, forming low 

 cushions on the ground, from which 

 spring the slender stems about 2 in. 



high. Flowers, in early summer ; 

 beautiful blue or white; the stems 

 dividing into 2, or sometimes 3, thread- 

 like branches or peduncles, each being 

 terminated by a single flower. Leaves,oi 

 root spoon-shaped ; stem-leaves, some- 

 what lance-shaped. North America, 



from New England to Florida. The 



rock-garden, on well- drained spots in 

 very fine sandy or peaty soil. It fre- 

 quently perishes in winter, and should 

 be grown in small pans in cold frames 

 in peat soil. Careful division or seed. 

 Humulus Lupulus (Common Hop). 

 A very common, well known, and 

 vigorous twining perennial. Flowers, 

 in summer ; greenish yellow, the males 

 in loose panicles in the axils of the 

 upper leaves ; females in shortly- 

 stalked, axillary, roundish spikes or 

 heads. Leaves, opposite in pairs, 

 stalked, broadly heart-shaped, deeply 

 3- or 5-lobed, sharply toothed, rasplike 

 to the touch. Europe, Asia, and 



Britain. Admirable for covering 



bowers, etc., especially where vegeta- 

 tion that disappears in winter is de- 

 sired ; also when allowed to run wild 

 among shrubs, etc., in almost any 

 soil. Division. 



Hutchinsia alpina (Alpine Hutchin- 

 sia) A very pretty and diminutive 

 alpine plant, with shining green leaves 

 and hosts of small white flowers ; 2 or 

 3 in. high. Flowers, in spring, and, 

 when planted in spring, for a long 

 period ; pure white, abundantly pro- 

 duced, in clusters. Leaves, smooth, 

 shining, deeply cut into comb-like 

 lobes, and resembling pinnate leaves. 

 Mountain chains of Central and 



SouthernEurope. The rock-garden, 



and the margin of choice borders, in 

 sandy soil. Division or seed. 



Hyacinthus amethystinus (Amethyst 

 H.) A beautiful bulb, 4 in. to 1 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in early summer ; hand- 

 some blue, drooping, nearly unilateral, 

 arranged in a loose cluster of 4 to 12 



