3i8 Editors Letter- Box. 



Amateur Mycologist. — We know of no volume on fungi which will an- 

 swer your need. An elementary work on mycology is much needed, and would 

 be of great service. 



Red-hot Poker, Amesbury, Mass. — The plant commonly called by this 

 name is botanically Tritoina. There are several varieties, which differ chiefly 

 in size, and season of bloom. If covered with oak-leaves in winter, the plant 

 will remain uninjured in the open ground. 



Name, Ellsworth, Me. — The plant you mention as " Fair Maids of France " 

 is a double white buttercup, and is Ranunculus aconitifolius flore pieno. It is 

 very pretty, hardy, but yet rather difficult to keep. If you have a good stock, 

 we should like a plant. 



First Fruits, Tewksbury, Mass. — Names of pears : Number one, Vicar 

 of VVinkfield or La Cure ; number two. Winter Nelis ; number three, Easter 

 Buerre ; number four. White Doyenne ; number five, Laurence ; number six, 

 Frederick of Wurtemberg ; number seven, Duchesse d'Angouleme. 



Names of Flowers. — A. M. Number one, Tagetes signata piimila; num- 

 ber two, Centaiirea cyanetis ; number three. Campanula carpatica alba; number 

 four, an irrecognizable wild aster. 



Susie P. — Numbers one to six only different forms of English ivy : the 

 leaves vary very much. Number seven is not an ivy, though commonly called 

 " Coliseum Ivy : " the botanical name is Leiiaria cynibalan'a. 



Matthew R., Lyme, Conn. — The leaf is Eleagniis argenteus : would make 

 a pretty hedge if you can get enough of it. The flower is Thtinbergia alata. 



A. Burns, Portland, Me. ; Derry, Keene, N.H. ; Questioner, Oswego, 

 N.Y. — The ilower sent \s Anemone yapon/ca, and not a chrysanthemum, as 

 two of you suppose. It is perfectly hardy. 



X. Shepard, Harrisburg, Penn. — The best protection for the ground is 

 leaves ; for shrubs, evergreen boughs, tied or placed around them. Rhododen- 

 drons are generally hardy. 



New Varieties, New York. — The two new tree pjeonies raised by Dr. 

 Kirkland of Cleveland, O., were selected by him, as the best, from a stock of 

 many hundred seedlings. This plant is a special favorite with Dr. Kirkland, 

 and he has devoted much time to its improvement. These two seedlings he 

 considers as new and very distinct. He has named them " Colonel Wilder " 

 and " Edward S. Rand, Jun.," They have not yet been oflTered for sale. The 

 description you read of them in " The Horticulturist " was probably written by 

 F. R. Elliot, one of Dr. Kirkland's neighbors. 



