214 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 431. 



bogs, where Kalmias, Rhododendrons and the Deer Fern, 

 Lomarea Spicant, form dense masses, with a growth of 

 Sphagnum in the more springy parts. In the more gen- 

 erous soil clean, symmetrical, well-developed specimens of 

 two. Pines are found, the broad, conical Pin us muricata, its 

 dark long foliage contrasting strongly with P. contorta, 

 with its delicate cones and short light green needles. 

 Lilium maritimum finds a congenial home in these low 

 swales, rooting in the clumps of Deer Ferns or Rhododen- 

 drons, and throwing up slender stems from three to five 

 feet high, with dark green leaves in ample whorls and deep 

 red tubular flowers, harmonizing well with the surround- 

 ings. Further down these swales are bordered with Red- 

 wood and other timber trees until they join the main forest 

 which encloses the barrens. 



The higher barrens are covered largely with the tiny- 

 leaved Manzanita, Arctostaphylos nummularia, with scat- 

 tered Pjnes and Rhododenrons and a few of the larger 

 fuzzy Manzanitas, A. tomentosa. Ceanothus diversifolius, 

 a low-growing sticky-leaved plant with blue flowers, a 

 beautiful shrub when in bloom, and C. sorediatus, a rigid 

 spiny shrub, not without beauty when covered with its 

 bright bloom, are found here. The small-leaved Manzanita, 

 as I saw it last February, when it was festooned with tiny 

 bells, was a most interesting plant. Little ones only six 

 inches high were in flower, looking like the dwarfer Ericas, 

 and the larger ones were masses of bloom. The plant is 

 five feet high at its best. In the mixed growth on the bor- 

 ders of the swales and in the deep wood grows Rhododen- 

 dron Californicum, the loveliest of California shrubs. In 

 the higher heaths it is a low, many-stemmed bush with 

 gnarled charred stumps which have survived many fires. 

 In the wood borders it is a tall shrub ; in the deep wood it 

 is twelve or fifteen feet high, its glossy evergreen leaves 

 suggesting those of the evergreen Magnolia, and the pink 

 blossoms in this moist air are produced for a long season. 

 Even the rough woodsmen admire it, and it is a most 

 impressive plant, even to an unobserving visitor. 



The Huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum, is everywhere. 

 Here it takes a low compressed form, while in the wood it 

 is tall and slender. It flourishes in the fogs, and late in 

 autumn the bushes are black with juicy berries which only 

 feed the birds. On the borders of the woods and through- 

 out the cleared or burned lands the wild Blackberry, Rubus 

 ursinus, more properly a Dewberry, trails over the ground 

 and drapes every stump, fallen log and bush. It is per- 

 fectly at home here and produces in profusion fruit of the 

 largest size. It is sought by parties of campers who leave 

 their homes in the hot interior valleys in July for a few 

 weeks of the cool foggy air of the Coast Range, with inci- 

 dental berries. The Thimble Berry, Rubus Nutkanus, a 

 shrub attractive in leaf and flower and with palatable fruit, 

 thrives in the cool wood borders. Sallal, that is the fruit of 

 Gaultheria Shallon. is another edible berry which grows on 

 a low ericaceous shrub in dense mats on the woodsides. 



In the higher portions a burn will show thousands of tall 

 yellow flowers of Zygadenus paniculatus ; the dwarf dark 

 purple-flowered form of Brodia?a laxa is not uncommon, 

 and a little Gentian, with many annuals, is also to be 

 seen. The Cypress, which when crowded is often seen in 

 its dwarf form here, becomes a beautiful and symmetrical 

 tree. In the rich woodland borders its slender and beauti- 

 ful trunk is forty feet high and scarcely seems to taper. 

 Younger trees of the Western Hemlock are exquisitely 

 lovely; the light green foliage and drooping terminal 

 branches give it a weeping effect that I have never seen 

 elsewhere. Groves of perfect young specimens of Abies 

 grandis are found in the cleared woods. 



Ukiah, Calif. Call Pwdy. 



The Pitch Pine is our most cheerful tree, especially in the 

 early year when it is full of light, in peifect harmony with the 

 yellow earth and the spring: sun, and warms the landscape with 

 its ingrained sunniness. Yet men cut down these trees and 

 set imported Larches abouttheir houses. — Thorean. 



Plant Notes. 



Rubus deliciosus. — This Rocky Mountain Raspberry, or 

 Bramble, as it is often called, is one of the most beautiful as 

 well as the most hardy of shrubs which bloom in May, and 

 yet it is comparatively little known to cultivation, although 

 it was discovered by Dr. James, the surgeon of Long's 

 expedition, as early as 1820. This year the flowers opened 

 the first week in May, and although the flowers of all 

 shrubs forced into bloom by the unseasonable weather 

 have been unusually fugacious, the long arching branches 

 of this Rubus are still well furnished with a succession of 

 the large white blossoms. These are pure white, saucer- 

 shaped, resembling small Cherokee Roses, and nearly two 

 inches across. The plant, when left to itself, has a low, 

 somewhat spreading growth, and old plants assume some- 

 thing of a straggling habit. This is obviated by cutting 

 back the branches after the flowering season, and it becomes 

 a stout, well-shaped shrub, with light brown or gray bark 

 and leaves on long slender red petioles. The fruit, which 

 does not form abundantly here, is by no means delicious, 

 as its name would indicate, but consists of three or four 

 dry and almost tasteless carpels, although some improve- 

 ment might be made in it by selection. The plant is best 

 raised from seed, as it is rather hard to propagate from cut- 

 tings. Its perfect hardiness and the beauty of its flowers 

 make it a most desirable shrub. 



Iris lupina. — The Wolf's Ear Iris is found in Mesopo- 

 tamia and Central Asia, and is one of the introductions of 

 recent years. Like the other Oncocyclus Irises, this is a 

 spring-flowering plant, and coming from a country of rain- 

 less summers, it naturally becomes dormant soon after flow- 

 ering and wakes into life again when the fall rains begin. 

 I. lupina varies materially from I. Susiana, the best 

 known of this section, especially in the form of the flowers, 

 the falls being lance-shaped and the standards being oval, not 

 orbicular, as in I. Susiana and most other Oncocyclus Irises. 

 Like other Irises of this section, it has scanty, narrow and 

 dwarf foliage, and the characteristic coloration of narrow 

 veins on a ground of contrasting color. In this case the 

 veins are purplish brown on a yellow or greenish yellow 

 ground, a combination familiar in some Cypripediums, and 

 altogether quiet, dainty and indescribable. Of course, lan- 

 guage always fails to give any adequate description of the 

 colors of flowers, especially when they are unusual shades 

 of primary colors, but it is quite as impossible to describe 

 the infinite varieties of forms which give individuality to 

 every Iris. Altogether, I. lupina is well worth growing for 

 its distinctness and beauty of form and coloring. It has 

 flowered nicely with Mr. Gerard, who, after many experi- 

 ments, has finally adopted as closely as possible the method 

 of culture worked out by Herr Leichtlin. The rhizomes, 

 which are reliably hardy, should be dried off a few weeks 

 after flowering and kept perfectly dry until late in the year. 

 These Irises are treated in Mr. Gerard's garden as if they 

 were hardy bulbs whose leaves are not frost-proof. After 

 ripening them up they are stored in perfectly dry earth in 

 a cool cellar and planted out at the end of November, at 

 which time the ground is too cool to encourage growth. 

 Planted out in a perfectly open border, without protection, 

 they make no growth until after early frosts are over, and 

 if they were properly grown the previous year their flower- 

 ing is a matter of course. This season they have required 

 artificial watering, as there has been practically no rain 

 here since March. Every one who has bought Oncocyclus 

 Iris roots, especially of the new kinds and those which have 

 been collected, has been struck by their apparent weakness, 

 and this suggested to Mr. Gerard that it might be well to 

 grow them on so as to secure stronger plants. The result 

 was strong roots, but no increase of flowers, so that with his 

 present experience he is not prepared to say that strong roots 

 and luxuriant foliage are conducive to successful flowering. 

 On points like this, however, it is not well to be dogmatic. 



Nicotiana affinis. — This Tobacco plant has probably in 

 most places superseded the old scentless white-flowered 



