April I, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



137 



possible to get a perfect bed. Later we have special effects in 

 nooks and corners of the shrubberies, with Foxgloves, Canter- 

 bury Bells, Sweet Williams, Larkspurs and Hollyhocks.. 



Wellesley, Mass. T- D. Hatfield. 



Dendrobiums at the Harvard Botanic Garden. 



DENDROBIUM SECUNDUM deserves mention as the most 

 distinct species of this showy genus, in bloom here at 

 present, although its flowers are not as gorgeous or as delicate 

 in color as those of many other species. It is an erect plant, 

 its stoutest stems being about twenty inches high and three- 

 fourths of an inch in diameter. The young stems of last sum- 

 mer's growth are clothed with ovate leaves three or four 

 inches long and an inch and a half in breadth. The flowers 

 are produced in racemes, are four inches or more in length, 

 from the upper part of the leafless one or two-year old, or 

 even older stems. The small rosy purple flowers, about fifty 

 or sixty in number, are arranged thickly along one side of the 

 rachis. The sepals and the slightly smaller petals are ovate, 

 the lip a lighter shade of color than the other parts of the 

 flower, with an orange blotch at the apex. The spur is long 

 and rather broad and blunt. A plant carrying several racemes 

 is very striking, and, although the flowers are small, they last 

 in good condition for several weeks. It does well planted in a 

 pot, using fern-root and sphagnum as a compost. During the 

 summer it is grown in the stove, and when its pseudo-bulbs 

 have grown their full length water is withheld by degrees and 

 it is shifted into a cooler and drier house, suspended near the 

 roof-glass, and with only enough water to keep it from shrivel- 

 ing. When the racemes begin to sl.ow on the upper part of 

 the stems it is taken back and treated more liberally. If it 

 needs shifting into another pot this is done after the plant has 

 flowered. 



Another distinct species in bloom now is Dendrobium aggre- 

 gatum. It is a dwarf evergreen plant, growing some four 

 inches high, with oblong-ovate pseudo-bulbs two inches in 

 length. The loose pendulous racemes of yellow flowers, pro- 

 duced from the side of the pseudo-bulb, are six inches long, 

 and made up of ten or twelve flowers. When the plant blos- 

 soms well the light and graceful racemes hide the sides of the 

 basket. The flowers are golden-yellow when they open, but 

 in a few days they turn to an orange-yellow. This Dendrobium 

 is usually cultivated on a bare block of wood, but here we grow 

 it in a small shallow basket, using fibrous peat for a compost. 

 It is kept during summer in the warmest house and needs lib- 

 eral watering and frequent syringing. When the pseudo-bulbs 

 are full grown less water is needed, and late in the fall it is 

 removed to a cooler house, where it rests until the flowering 

 season. With the above treatment it produces an abundance 

 of flowers every year. It was introduced into English gardens 

 from India more than sixty years ago. 



The handsomest yellow-flowered Dendrobium in bloom is 

 D. fimbriatum oculatum. This is a strong upright grower, its 

 long cane-like pseudo-bulbs attaining a height of nearly three 

 feet. The upper half of the stout stems when young is 

 clothed with green leaves, which are six inches long. The 

 flowers are produced from the ripened stems in drooping ra- 

 cemes, which contain from half a dozen to a dozen blossoms. 

 The individual flowers measure two inches or more across and 

 are of a rich orange-color, with a deep maroon-purple spot at 

 the base of the lip. The lip is the most conspicuous part of the 

 flower; it is margined with a deep golden-colored fringe. If 

 the flowers are kept dry and not too much moisture in the 

 house they last two or three weeks. This Dendrobium is 

 planted in a deep basket in fern-root and sphagnum and sus- 

 pended near the roof-glass. When it is making its new growth 

 it requires stove-heat and abundance of water. After it has 

 completed its season's growth it requires to be kept dry and in 

 a slightly cooler temperature until it begins to show flowers. 



Dendrobium superbum is a fine species, easy to grow and 

 flowers freely every spring. It does best in the stove, in a 

 basket suspended near the roof-glass during the summer 

 months. After it has completed its growth it needs a good 

 rest in a slightly lower temperature, and in a position where it 

 can get all the light possible. This is a strong-growing, droop- 

 ing, deciduous plant, and has stout pseudo-bulbs nearly a yard 

 long, with oblong lanceolate leaves five inches in length. The 

 pale purple flowers are large, measuring three to four inches 

 across, and are produced in pairs from the joints of the new 

 growth. They last well and the plants are handsome for 

 some time. 



Some of our plants of Dendrobium chrvsanthum are in 

 bloom now, but on a number of them the buds are just begin- 

 ning to show on the long pseudo-bulbs. This Dendrobium is 

 treated differently from the other species mentioned in these 



notes. It is grown in the stove the year round, as it rejoices 

 in heat and moisture. When the pseudo-bulbs have finished 

 growing less water is needed, but at no time is the water 

 withheld long enough to permit the compost to become quite 

 dry. It is one of the easiest species to grow when properly 

 treated. Some of the pseudo-bulbs are nearly four feet long 

 and a mass of golden flowers. The only deficiency the plant 

 has is that its flowers do not last long. It does best when 

 grown in a basket suspended from near the roof, where its 

 long graceful stems will show to the best advantage. The 

 beautiful golden-yellow flowers are produced on the young 

 leafy stems and they measure about one inch and a half 

 across. 



The most useful and the best-known species is the old Den- 

 drobium nobile. Even the smallest collection can boast of 

 plants of this handsome Orchid. Among a number of plants 

 of this showy species in bloom here, the variety named D. 

 Sanderiana stands out conspicuously and seems one of the 

 most distinct. It has magnificent flowers, large and very bril- 

 liant in color. 



Botanic Garden. Harvard University. Robert Cameron. 



Caladiums. 



T T is not surprising that bulbs and other tuberous-rooted 

 *■ plants occupy so prominent a place in decorative garden- 

 ing, for without these there would be a great loss of decorative 

 material. Plants which accumulate nutriment for another 

 year in bulbous or tuberous roots can be stored away during 

 their resting season in a very small compass, and the advan- 

 tage of this is obvious. It is necessary to prepare each year 

 for considerable summer decoration, and at the same time 

 provide space in the greenhouses for the growing of cut flow- 

 ers. No plants are more useful for summer decoration than 

 the fancy-leaved Caladiums. There has been quite a revolu- 

 tion in this class of plants since their cultivation was taken up 

 in Brazil by skilled operators under the best possible condi- 

 tions. At the World's Fair in Chicago an education was 

 afforded by the fine examples of Caladiums seen there, and 

 which showed brilliant colors and excellent cultivation, the 

 fine effect being obtained in but a few weeks and continuing 

 throughout the season. The newer kinds, to that time prac- 

 tically unknown to us, were made familiar, and these are no 

 more difficult to grow than the older kinds of less brilliant col- 

 oring. We have fairly tested this new Brazilian set of Cala- 

 diums for several seasons. The cost is reasonable, and they 

 are very effective. A set to be found in English nurseries sur- 

 passes them in one respect, that of dwarf habit. I am told that 

 this habit was brought about by crossing the larger high- 

 colored varieties with the dwarf red variety Caladium minus 

 erubescens that we grow as a companion to C. argyrites. The 

 resulting progeny is superb in coloring, dwarf in habit, and 

 excessively high in price at present, but someday we hope they 

 will be obtainable. Among other things we have noticed that 

 the varieties that have foliage of pale color and thin texture, 

 often without a trace of green in their composition, are also 

 very sensitive to sunlight, and practically of no value for gen- 

 eral decoration such as we need for terrace or piazza, and are 

 of little use except in the greenhouse, owing, perhaps, to the 

 lack of chlorophyll. But as conservatory plants they are very 

 beautiful ; the transparency of the leaves, through which it is 

 possible to read a newspaper, gives them interest in a collec- 

 tion. The varieties of higher color are all that one could desire, 

 and there are, I think, as many as sixty in all. We had the set 

 complete at the start, but many of them were practically iden- 

 tical, and more were undesirable owing to the dull tints, and 

 the original number is reduced consequently. But the dis- 

 tinctive character of the collection is due to the iniluei. 

 this Brazilian strain. It is to be desired for us that a: 1 

 tuguese scholars that the raiser in future give to his infants 

 names that could be pronounced by an Anglo-Saxon tongue. 

 I shall not attempt to put the names in type here, for they can 

 be seen at a glance in lists of Caladiums, and there is the 

 consolation that the plants are at least as distinct as their 

 nomenclature. 



A few remarks about their cultivation to those who wish to 

 try them : Caladiums are distinctly tropical, being found di- 

 rectly under the equator, and cannot be treated to too high a 

 temperature, as we understand this particular in greenhouse 

 work. It is in the manner of resting the tubers that many tail, 

 but we always shake the tubers out of the pots in autumn and 

 place them in the warmest part of the boiler room, each kind 

 being provided witli a new label ami placed in dry sand in 

 small pots or in such as are large enough to accommodate the 

 tubers. In this way a large number maybe stored in small 

 space without the loss of a single individual, care being taken 



