A NEW LAWN PLANT. 



|MONG the more important plants which I became ac- 

 quainted with in the Jardin des Plantes for the first time 

 is one whose name it is not expedient to mention oitener 

 than is absolutely necessary Pyrethrum Tchihatchewii (Boiss.), 

 and which I forgot to allude to while describing that establish- 

 ment. I first saw it growing on the mound near the large cedar, 

 covering the dry and arid ground under the shade of trees with 

 a close carpet of short, fresh, dark green leaves, elegantly divided, 

 and lying quite close to the ground. The position was a sloping 

 one, the soil chalky and very bad. Notwithstanding these draw- 

 backs, nothing could have looked better than the little carpet 

 formed by the Pyrethrum. It not only looks well in summer, 

 when grasses, if they cannot grow well in such positions, are at 

 all events to be seen in a fresh green state in others ; but in 

 winter and early spring, when all around is dead and at rest, it 

 looks as green as healthy ivy. It is perfectly hardy, and runs about 

 close to the ground in a remarkably rapid manner. It does not 

 seem to grow more than an inch and a half or two inches high, 

 and in spring and summer bears white flowers, which rise a little 

 higher than those of the daisy, and must be removed in the same 

 way if the making of a fine lawn with this plant be attempted. 

 From what I have seen of the plant, I have no hesitation in saying 

 that it is certain to be useful in some positions in gardens and plea- 

 sure-grounds, and probably will be found generally useful. The spots 

 for which we may count upon it as a gain are deeply-inclined banks 

 on a dry soil, where grasses grow with difficulty, and perhaps almost 

 perish during dry weather in summer j the many places under 

 trees, which are usually bare from the shade, and from the roots of 

 the trees drying and impoverishing the surface. From the nume- 

 rous inquiries that are made about suitable plants for covering such 



