198 HARDY PERENNIAL PLANTS. 



shaped, are arranged in very long racemes. The color is usually rose 

 and white. Although perennial, it is generally treated as a biennial. 

 Plants are easily raised from seeds. 



DODECATHEON (American Cowslip) D. media, grows In shaded 

 positions, but it makes most of its growth while the surrounding trees 

 are leafless. The soil is composed largely of vegetable humus. Most of 

 the species thrive well, but are not much grown in gardens ; this is 

 probably because their period of bloom is short and the plants are apt 

 to be lost sight of and neglected v\ hen out of bloom. D. Clevelandii and 

 D. Hendersonii are Californian species of great beauty. The seeds 

 should be sown In places where they can remain undisturbed for at least 

 a year, as after germinating little progress Is made the first season 

 beyond the formation of a root stock. 



DORONICUM (Leopard's Bane) Useful plants, with yellow, daisy 

 like flowers, blooming in May. D. plantagineum excelsum is one of the 

 best. Other good kinds are D. austriacum, D. caucasicum and D. par- 

 dalianches. They should be increased by division in the Fall. 



ERPETION (Viola) REN1FORME A very dwarf plant, covering the 

 ground rapidly by means of runners, which are thrown out in great 

 profusion. It blooms all Summer if given a shaded position on the rock- 

 ery. The flowers are small, blue and white ; very showy. It will thrive 

 in any kind of soil if kept slightly moist during dry weather. In the lati- 

 tude of Washington, D. C M it is perfectly hardy. It is increased by seeds 

 or by division. 



FARFUGIUM GRANDE This fine Japanese plant is now known as 

 Seneclo Kaempferi aureo-maculata. It is one of the best plants for 

 the dwelling house. There is a beautiful kind with white spotted 

 leaves, which I have only grown for a couple of seasons, but I 

 suppose it to be as hardy as the yellow spotted one, which, by the way 

 has stood outdoors at Washington, D. C., for the last 24 years. Old 

 plants, with numerous growths, will stand division best in early Spring. 

 Give the pieces a week in the sand bed previous to potting, in order to 

 start new roots. They thrive well in a loamy soil, well drained. The 

 pieces are potted after midsummer in a compost consisting largely of 

 leaf mould and sand, placed under cover of sash on the approach of cold 

 weather, to preserve the leaves in a fresh state, and brought indoors 

 when wanted to bloom. 



FATSIA (Aralia) PAPYRIFERA (Rice Paper Plant) In this latitude the 

 plants are annually killed to the ground, but they send up shoots in 

 Spring from the roots, which grow very rapidly, making very attractive 

 growths, sometimes 6 feet high, so that it may be treated as an herba- 

 ceous plant instead of a shrub, which it really is in its native country 

 and in localities with mild Winters. Its habit of growth resembles to a 

 certain extent that of the Castor Bean, but the plant is furnished with 

 leaves and retains them from the ground up all through the season. 

 Propagation is by pieces of the roots cut into lengths of 2 or 3 inches. 



