MAT 2, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



13 



Funeral Spray of Roses at the Exhibition at the University of Illinois. 



tivation are to their liking. I presume 

 the variety is Princess of Wales, which 

 continues the leader among singles. 

 C. W. 



MEXICAN IVY. 



I shall be pleased to see in The Ee- 

 view a note on the eo-called Mexican 

 ivy, together with its botanical name 

 and any facts about its manner of 

 growth, habitat, etc. P. B. 



The Mexican ivy got its trade name 

 from the first handler in wholesale mar- 

 kets — he recognized it as a good new 

 green for retail florists and, probably 

 not knowing its real name, gave it a 

 title that would not put his competitors 

 on the trail to the actual source of sup- 

 ply. Botanically, Mexican ivy is van- 

 couveria. 



liailey's cyclopedia says that van- 

 couveria is named after Capt. George 

 Vancouver, commander of the Discovery 

 on the historical voyage to the north- 

 west coast in 1791-95. Vancouveria is 

 df^scribed as a genus of three species 

 ot low, hardy perennial herbs native 

 to the Pacific slope, from central Cali- 

 fornia north to British Columbia. They 

 aic shade-loving plants, with slender, 

 •■'voping rootstocks and radical, two to 

 t!irt>e ternately compound leaves, some- 

 what like maidenhair or rue, and rather 

 ^mall white or yellow flowers in an open 

 I'iinicle on a naked scape. Vancouverias 

 ^i'"e not showy plants, but have foliage 

 0' an elegant and refined type. 



The leaves submitted for identifica- 

 I'f'n appear to be from Vancouveria, 

 I'l'merly known as Epimedium, hex- 

 !"'(]ra, or V. chrysantha, native to the 

 ' acific Coast range mountains from cen- 



■■'1 California northwards to Oregon. 

 IS a moisture-loving herbaceous plant 

 ■'11 led to berberis, and is locally known 

 >oth as flowering fern and inside-out 

 Tower. Both V. hexandra and V. chrys- 

 antha occur in shady forests near Santa 



ruz, Cal., and are not easy to dis- 

 I'Dguish apart from the foliage alone, 

 Tnough chrysantha generally has round- 



Bouqtset Shown at the U. of I. 



er leaflets 



species 



trade. 



IS 



It is likely foliage of both 

 collected for the florists' 

 W. Van Fleet. 



The botanical name of the sample of 

 leaves sent us is Vancouveria parviflora. 

 The common name is Mexican ivy or 

 ivy maidenhair. It belongs to the bar- 



berry family, and is sometimes called 

 American barrenwort. There are one or 

 two other species found on the Pacific 

 coast. This one, however, is the stiflfest 

 and most compact growing and has be- 

 come quite a feature in the green goods 

 department of the trade. E. G. 



WALLS OF CONCRETE BLOCKS. 



I noticed in The Eeview of April 18 

 an inquiry concerning the use of con- 

 crete blocks in greenhouse construction. 

 The inquiry is signed J. G., and reads 

 as follows: "Will some reader of The 

 Review please give his experience with 

 concrete blocks used in greenhouse 

 walls? Does the frost come through 

 and, freeze the plants next to the con- 

 crete wall, in a temperature of 40 or 

 45 degrees at night? Any information 

 regarding this will be greatly appre- 



icgaiuiiiff inis will DC greatly ap] 

 ciated. My location is southern Ali 



* • 



gan. 



chi- 



Now, our experience with that sort 

 of greenhouse wall, here in the rigor- 

 ous climate of Waterloo, Province of 

 Quebec, ought to be of use to J. G. 

 We are using an 8-inch hollow block 

 wall in all our construction, and find it 

 far ahead of anything else. We have 

 found from actual experience that it 

 will stand a full week, with an average 

 night temperature of 15 degrees below 

 zero, without frosting on the inside, 

 whereas a solid wall will frost through 

 the second night. I do not think that 

 J. G. would have any trouble at all 

 with freezing of his jplants under the 

 conditions he mentions, as long as they 

 do not actually touch the wall. 



Fred A. Slack. 



Chicago, HI.— J. H. Burdett, 1620 

 West One Hundred and Fourth place, 

 press agent for the National Council of 

 Horticulture, has begun the distribution 

 of the sixth spring series of articles for 

 the daily papers. The first installment 

 consists of three articles: "High Liv- 

 ing at Low Cost," "Points About Seed 

 Sowing," and "Vegetables for City 

 Back Yards." 



