April i, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



135 



which we are acquainted. The general color-effect is 

 rather yellow than vermilion, the outer petals being almost 

 entirely yellow, with a pleasing shade of carmine at the 

 centre, and the inner ones almost entirely carmine, 

 with a narrow margin of yellow, while a distinct satiny 

 lustre adds to the richness of the combination. The flowers 

 when fully open are about six inches across, larger than 

 those of the best of the American seedlings. Perhaps the 

 truss will not be as large and full as those of some of our 

 seedlings, but the second trusses of Mr. Pierson's plants were 

 considerably larger than the one in our illustration, and held 

 well up on a long stem. The flowers of Canna flaccida are 

 rather frail, and it is therefore possible that this hybrid may 

 lack substance, but this is only conjecture, as it has not yet 

 been grown here out-of-doors. The foliage is a light green, 

 and the plant seems to be of taller habit than most of the 

 Crozy seedlings. 



Plant Notes. 

 North American Plums. 



THE value of some of the North American Plums as orna- 

 mental plants is hardly appreciated yet by the planters 

 of parks and large gardens. Of the species of the eastern and 

 northern parts of the country the Canada Plum, Primus 

 nigra, is the earliest to flower; this is a tree which, under 

 favorable conditions, occasionally attains the height of 

 thirty feet, with a short stout trunk separating into a number 

 of upright ridged branches armed after their first year with 

 short, lateral, spur-like branchlets. The fragrant flowers 

 appear in New England late in April or early in May, 

 before the leaves, and completely cover the head of the 

 tree; they are about an inch and a quarter across, with 

 pure white petals, which turn reddish purple as they fade, 

 and are borne on slender dark red pedicels. This is the 

 native Plum which is so often planted as a fruit-tree in 

 Canadian gardens, and is sometimes found naturalized by 

 roadsides in northern New England, where it is supposed 

 to have been introduced by the Indians. 



Even more beautiful is the Wild Plum of the middle 

 states, the Primus Americana of botanists, which is distin- 

 guished from the Canada Plum by its long, slender, pendu- 

 lous branches, which form a wide, graceful head. This tree 

 does not expand its flowers until after the petals have fallen 

 from the Canada Plum, and the flowers are smaller and 

 often do not fade until after the young leaves have begun 

 to unfold. A well-grown specimen of this tree covered 

 with flowers is an object of extreme beauty, and the only 

 objection to it is the rather disagreeable odor which the 

 flowers emit. Left to itself the Canada Plum produces 

 numerous suckers, so it is usually found in dense broad 

 thickets of many stems, but with the aid of a little judicious 

 pruning and attention it can be made to grow into a shapely 

 tree, often more than thirty feet high. It is most orna- 

 mental, too, in early autumn, when the branches are borne 

 down with its abundant crops of small fruits, which, after 

 they have attained their full size, are orange-color, with 

 bright cheeks, later becoming bright red. 



Very useful, too, as an ornamental plant is the Beach 

 Plum, Primus maritima, which, in cultivation, grows to a 

 much larger size than it often attains in its home, close to 

 the sea ; as a garden plant this shrub covers itself early in 

 May with innumerable small white flowers, which wreath 

 the branches from end to end and have the merit of last- 

 ing in perfection for a considerably longer time than those 

 of many other Plum-trees. The fruit, too, varies much in 

 size, in edible quality and in color, being occasionally a 

 clear amber, instead of the usual purplish red. 



These three Plums can be easily raised from seeds; they 

 grow rapidly and are perfectly hardy and not very particu- 

 lar about soil. Among the early-flowering trees in the 

 shrubberies of the Arnold Arboretum none have excited so 

 much admiration during recent years as a number of large 

 specimens of Primus Americana, which flower with remark- 

 able profusion. 



Cultural Department. 

 Cyclamens from Seed. 



T'HE Cyclamen may be grown to perfection in an ordinary 

 A window without bottom-heat, and with as little trouble as 

 would be given to a seedling; Geranium, and those who never 

 have grown it from seed have no idea of the ease with which 

 it may be brought to flowering size. Success with these plants 

 is possible if a seed is put here and there in the soil where 

 other window plants are growing;, and the young seedlings 

 are removed as soon as they are large enough to bear trans- 

 planting. 



If it is desired to bring the plants to blooming size as early 

 as possible, the seed should be sown as soon as ripe — which 

 will be in late winter or early spring — in shallow seed-pans or 

 boxes, in a soil composed of leaf-mold, well-decayed stable- 

 compost, and somewhat coarse sand in about equal parts and 

 thoroughly mixed. Glass may be laid over the top of the box 

 to assist in keeping the surface of the soil moist. The seeds 

 will germinate in from fifteen to twenty-five days. The first 

 leaves are nearly round, dark green above and of a dull red- 

 dish hue on the underside and cannot easily be mistaken for 

 anything else. The later leaves are heart-shaped, and are 

 mottled or marked on the upper side with grayish green. 



Fig. 17.— Hybrid Canna Italia— reduced.— See page 131. 



As soon as the seedlings have made the third leaf 

 should he transplanted into other pans or boxes of similar 

 disturbing the roots as little as possible, ami the; 

 moved again, if necessarv, before September or October, 

 when they should be placed in the pots in which they are to 

 bloom. The seedlings should have plenty oi light, but when 



