PENTSTEMON POLYGONUM. 



271 



the Arum family, 1 ft. to 18 in. high. 

 Mowers, early in summer ; yellow, 

 densely crowded all over the narrow 

 spadix, and emitting a singular odour. 

 Leaves, lance-shaped-ovate, entire, 

 long-stalked, floating, of a peculiar 

 glaucous tone. North America, in 

 rivulets and stagnant waters. Mar- 

 gins of ponds and fountain basins, or in 

 the very wettest part of the artificial 

 bog. I have never seen this plant 

 really well -grown, except in the late 

 Mr. Borrer's garden, at Henfield ; but 

 from what I saw of it in the bogs of 

 New Jersey in 1870, I have no doubt 

 it will prove of easy culture in marshy 

 soil with us. Division. 



Pentstemon crassifolius (TJilcTc-leaved 

 P.) A neat, spreading, bushy kind, 

 about 1 ft. high. Flowers, in May; 

 lilac-rose, about 1 in. long, in few- 

 flowered, terminal racemes ; anthers 

 very villous ; sterile filament villous 

 at the extremity. Leaves, obovate- 

 lance-shaped, much broader and 

 shorter than those of P. Scouleri, en- 

 tire, leathery, keeled underneath; 

 those on the flowering branches gra- 

 dually diminishing in size. N.W. 

 coast of North America. The rock- 

 garden, among dwarf shrubs and yigo- 

 ro\is alpine plants, or in the mixed 

 border, in ordinary soil. Cuttings. 



Phormium tenax (New Zealand 

 Flax). A stately plant with sword- 

 like leaves, 4 ft. to over 6 ft. high. 

 Flowers, early in autumn ; lemon- 

 coloured, in a unilateral spike scarcely 

 higher than the foliage. Leaves, long, 

 leathery, broadly sword-shaped, grace- 

 fully recurved at the top, and forming 

 noble tufts of foliage. New Zealand. 

 As isolated tufts in the pleasure- 

 ground, and by wood walks ; or in 

 groups of hardy foliage-plants. Also 

 as an aquatic. I have seen it growing 

 freely in water nearly 2 ft. deep, and 

 its effect on the surface of water is 



very fine. It is only suited for the 

 above-named positions near the sea- 

 coast and in the south and west of 

 England and Ireland, where it thrives 

 remarkably well. About London and 

 in many northern and inland districts, 

 it is only seen in perfection grown as 

 a pot-plant. The handsome varie- 

 gated variety will no doubt also prove 

 hardy out of doors in the south. Di- 

 vision. 



Phyllostachys bambusoides (Bamboo- 

 lilce P.) A. noble fine foliaged plant, 

 nearly allied to the Bamboos ; 10 to 

 12 ft. high. Flowers, in a broad and 

 shining panicle nearly 2 ft. long. 

 Leaves, oblong-lance-shaped, rounded 

 or attenuated at the base, very acute 

 at the point, 3 to t in. long and ^ to 

 | in. across, smooth above, pale and 

 pubescent underneath. Stems smooth, 

 yellowish, with prominent nodes. 



Japan. In the picturesque garden, 



in sheltered but sunny positions, in 

 deep sandy well-drained loam ; most 

 likely to succeed in the southern 

 counties. 



Polygonum sachalinense (Sachalin 

 P.) A tall and vigorous species, with 

 the aspect of a giant Dock, said to ex- 

 ceed the height of a man in its native 

 habitats, and differing from P. cuspi- 

 datum in having an angular striated 

 stem, leaves glaucous underneath and 

 covered on the ribs with slender hairs. 

 Flowers, late in summer ; of a delicate 

 greenish colour, in axillary clusters ; 

 bracts ovat'e, long-pointed. Leaves, 

 broadly ovate, or ovate-oblong, acumi- 

 nate, the lower ones sub-cordate at 

 the base, upper ones truncate, all with 

 glaucous and prominently veined un- 

 der-sides. Island of Sachalin, and 



North Eastern Asia. So recently 



introduced that nothing can be said of 

 its cultivation, but it may be tried in 

 the same position as P. cuspidatum, and 

 also by river-banks, etc., where a vi- 

 gorous type of vegetation is desired. 



