AQUATICS 



AQUILEGIA 



to the variety, some being moderate growers, others vig- 

 orous and robust. , Tr 



WILLIAM THICKER. 



[The best book on the American culture of Aquatics is 

 The Water Garden, by Win. Tricker, N. Y. 1897, pp. 120, 

 to which the reader is referred for extensive cultural 

 directions and for lists of Aquatic plants. For botanical 

 descriptions of the various kinds of Aquatics, with brief, 

 special cultural directions, the reader may consult the 

 CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HORTICULTURE, under the 

 various genera, as JVymphcea. Nelumbium. and Victoria. 

 -L. H. B.J 



AQUILEGIA (from aquilegus, water-idrawer, not from 

 aquila, eagle). Hammculacece. COLUMBINE. Hardy per- 

 ennial herbs of the northern hemisphere ; mostly with 

 paniculate branches, terminated by showy flowers, and 

 1-3 ternately-compound leaves, commonly glaucous ; the 



124. Aquilegia 



Canadensis. 



leaflets roundish and obtusely lobed : fls. large, showy, 

 usually in spring or early summer ; sepals 5, regular, 

 petaloid ; petals concave, produced backward between 

 the sepals, forming a hollow spur ; stamens numerous : 

 fr. of about 5 many-seeded follicles. About 30 distinct 

 species. The Columbines are among the most beautiful 

 and popular of all hardy plants. Seeds sown in pans, in 

 coldframes in March, or open air in April, occasionally 

 bloom the first season, but generally the second. The 

 different species should be some distance apart, if pos- 

 sible, if pure seed is desired, as the most diverse species 

 hybridize directly. They may be propagated by division, 

 but better by seeds. Absolutely pure seed is hard to ob- 



tain, except from the plants in the wild state; and some 

 of the mixed forms are quite inferior to the true species 

 from which they have come. A. ccerulea, glandulosa. 

 and vulgaris are likely to flower only two or three years, 

 and should be treated as biennials; but A. vulgaris may 

 be kept active for a longer period by transplanting. A. 

 Gray, Syn. Flora of N. A., Vol. 1, Part 1, Fasc. 1, pp. 42-45. 

 J . G. Baker, A Synopsis of the Aquilegia, in Gard. Chron. 

 II. 10:19, 76, 111, 203 (1878). K. C. DAVIS. 



A light, sandy soil, moist, with good drainage, shel- 

 tered, but exposed to sun, is what they prefer. Some of 

 the stronger species, when of nearly full-flowering size, 

 may be transplanted into heavier garden soil, even heavy 

 clay, and made to succeed; but for the rearing of young 

 seedlings, a light, sandy loam is essential. The seed of 

 most Columbines is rather slow in germinating, and it is 

 necessary to keep the soil moist on top of the ground 

 until the young plants are up. A coldf rame, with medium 

 heavy cotton covering, is a good place to grow the plants. 

 The cotton retains sufficient moisture to keep the soil 

 moist on top, and still admits sufficient circulation of air 

 to prevent damping-off of the young seedlings. When 

 large enough, the seedlings may be pricked out into 

 another frame for a time, or, by shading for a few days 

 until they get a start, they may be set into the permanent 

 border, or wherever they are to be placed. 



F. H. HORSFORD. 



The following is an alphabetical list of the species de- 

 scribed below : A. alpina, 16 ; atrata, 9 ; atropurpurea , 

 Miq.,6; atropururea, Willd., 4; bicolor, 10; blanda,9', 

 Buergeriana, 6; cserulea, 15; ecerulea, var. flavescens, 5; 

 Californica,!!', Canadensis, 5 ; Canadensis, var. aurea, 



13 ; Canadensis, var. formosa, 11 ; caryophylloides, 19 ; 

 chrysantha, 13 ; flabellata, 7; flavescens, 5', flaviflora,5; 

 formosa, 11; Garneriana,W; glandulosa, 17; Jonesii, 1; 

 lactiflora, 3 ; leptoceras, Fisch. & Mey., 8 ; leptoceras, 

 Nutt., 15 ; leptoceras, var. chrysantha, 13 ; longissima, 



14 ; macrantha, 15 ; Olymplca, 9 ; oxysepala, 2 ; Sibir- 

 ica, 10 ; Skinneri, 12; Skinneri,v&r. hybrida, 13 ; speci- 

 osa,W stellata, 9; Stuarti, 18; truncata, 11; viridiflora, 

 4 ; vulgaris, 9 ; Wittmanniana, 9. 



A. Sepals not more than % or %in. long : expanded 



fls. 1 or l%in. in diam. 

 B. Limb of petal sliorter than the sepal. 



1. Jonesii, Perry. True st. very short or almost want- 

 ing, soft pubescent : tufted root-lvs. 1-2 in. high from 

 the stout, ascending branches of the rootstock, biter- 

 nately divided; partial -petioles very short or none; leaf- 

 lets very crowded : fls. blue; sepals oblong-obtuse, equal- 

 ing the spurs and twice the length of the petal-limbs 

 and head of stamens : follicles glabrous, large, nearly 

 1 in. long ; styles half as long ; peduncles lengthening to 

 about 3 in. in fr. July. Wyom. and Mont. G.F. 9 : 365. 



2. oxysepala, Traut. & Mey. Plant 2% ft., slightly 

 pubescent above : radical Ivs. long-petioled, secondary 

 divisions sessile : sepals blue, ovate-lanceolate, much 

 exceeding in length the petal limbs, which are 6 lines 

 long, white, rounded-truncate ; stamens not protruding 

 beyond the petal limb : spur knobbed, bent inward, 

 shorter than petal-limb : follicles pubescent, with styles 

 their own length. June. Siberia. In 1898 F. H. Horsford 

 said : "The first to bloom with me, and one of the most 

 attractive in the list. It is one of the most dwarfed ; 

 fls. large, blue, yellow and white : it comes so much be- 

 fore the others that its capsules, as a rule, all fertilize 

 before any of the other species come into flower." Only 

 recently introduced. 



3. lactifldra, Kar. & Kir. St. l%ft. high, glabrous in 

 the lower part : partial -petioles of root-lvs. 1K-2 in. long; 

 Ifts. sessile or short-stalked, 1 in. long, many lobes reach- 

 ing half way down; st.-lvs. petioled and compound: fls. 

 about 3 to a st. : sepals nearly white or tinged with blue, 

 over Kin. long, narrow; petal-limb half as long as sepal; 

 spur Kin., slender, nearly straight, not knobbed at tip; 

 stamens equal in length to the limb. June. Altai Mts., 

 Siberia. A desirable species, but not much used. 



BB. Limb of petal about equal to sepal. 



4. viridifldra, Pallas. St. l-l%ft. high, finely pubes- 

 cent throughout, several-fld. : the partial-petioles of root- 

 lvs. 1-2 in. long; Ifts. sessile or the end one shortly stalked, 



