354 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 445. 



those elements favorable to their growth. This becomes 

 evident by the study of the formation of these sand hills. 

 The burying- of vegetation provides them with organic 

 matter which more or less pervades them throughout. It 

 is not abundant, but is enough to support the thin growth 

 which covers them. At the time of the falling of the leaves 

 in autumn or early winter we have a special lesson show- 

 ing how vegetable matter is caught and preserved. Every 

 bunch of grass or weed of any kind which the less active 

 winds of summer have allowed to grow becomes a lodg- 

 ing place for leaves moving about with every breeze, and 

 is soon surrounded by a ring of them. They are quickly 

 loaded down by the shifting sand, to be buried with the 

 plants which have caught them, or carried elsewhere along 

 with the uprooted plants. This process annually repeated 

 adds to the vegetable matter of the dunes, and sands which 

 to the eye seem so purely silicious have more or less plant- 

 food diffused among them. Where the vegetation has 

 been undisturbed for a long time and the surface is well 

 protected, a layer of vegetable mold two or three inches 

 deep, mixed with some sand, accumulates, especially on 

 the sheltered slopes and in the hollows. When such areas 

 are near the shore they may be assailed by the wind and 

 carried away, or the mold may be buried more or less 

 deeply by the sand sifted in among the trees. 



Nor are the dunes as devoid of moisture as would natu- 

 rally be inferred. Their bases are saturated with water 

 from the lake or from neighboring sloughs, and an unfail- 

 ing supply is obtained for wells driven six or eight feet into 

 the ground at this low level. This water comes to the sur- 

 face of the hills by capillary action, and by digging down 

 a foot or two the sand feels cool and moist. The roots of 

 the plants not only run deep, but they are very finely 

 divided and offer many points of contact with the soil. 

 When the wind in destroying a dune exposes a section of 

 its surface these roots are found to pervade the sand with 

 a close, fine network, and are left as a dense fringe hang- 

 ing from its upper edge. Some may be traced seven or 

 eight feet vertically, though the stem of the plant itself 

 rises but a foot or two above the surface of the ground. 

 Some run a long distance horizontally. Those of Artemisia 

 may be traced five feet or more in this way, though they 

 become almost hair-like in diameter soon after leaving the 

 main root. When the surface of the ground in places 

 exposed to the direct rays of the sun becomes very warm 

 the heat does not penetrate deeply, for much of it is reflected 

 from the smooth surfaces of the particles of sand. Hence 

 it is not common on the dunes to see plants drooping and 

 withering even in quite dry weather. The earlier annual 

 plants which have less depth of root are most likely to be 

 affected. The supply of moisture from the base of the 

 hills and from the vapors of the lake goes far toward coun- 

 teracting droughts, so that in this respect the vegetation of 

 the dunes is more favorably situated than that otten grow- 

 ing on richer soil. . „... 



Chicago, III. £•• ./■ ■""'• 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



Cattleya Hardyana. — This supposed natural hybrid 

 between Cattleya gigas and C. aurea first flowered in Eng- 

 land about ten years ago, when it was imported withC. gigas. 

 It was named and figured by B. S. Williams in his Orchid 

 Album, v., t. 231. It is by far the most beautiful of all the 

 Cattleyas of the labiata group, and, notwithstanding a con- 

 siderable range of variation revealed in the plants of it 

 flowered in European collections, it continues to be one of 

 the most highly prized, and, I might add, highly priced, of 

 garden Orchids. The most beautiful form of it yet seen 

 was sent to the last meeting of the Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety by Baron Schroeder under the name of Clarke's variety, 

 and was awarded a first-class certificate. The flowers are 

 large, of a lustrous rose-purple color, the well-formed 

 spreading lip rich maroon in front, crimson in the throat, 



with deep yellow reticulating veins. A flower of an ordi- 

 nary variety of C. Hardyana was shown with it for pur- 

 poses of comparison. C. gigas is one of the noblest of 

 Cattleyas, its only fault being a shy flowering nature. The 

 form called Sanderiana or imperialis is the freest, and some 

 of the latter so nearly resemble C. Hardyana that one feels 

 disposed to look upon the latter as a sport simply from 

 C. gigas. 



Spathoglottis plicata. — There are now three well-marked 

 varieties of this Malayan ground-Orchid in cultivation, 

 namely, the type which has leaves two feet or more long, 

 a scape about a yard high bearing a short raceme of about 

 a dozen flowers each an inch or so in diameter, the sepals and 

 petals rose-purple and the long-clawed lip- paler, with a 

 yellow crest. The second is the white-flowered form called 

 alba, of which the only plant I know is in the Kew collec- 

 tion. This differs from the first-named in having flowers 

 with white segments and a yellow blotch on the lip. The 

 third is a new introduction recently flowered in Messrs. 

 Sander & Co. 's nursery at St. Albans. This is remarkable 

 in having smaller leaves, a scape only a foot long and 

 flowers half as large again as those of the type. It is 

 named Spathoglottis plicata, var. Michohtzii, in compli- 

 ment to the collector who found it in Perak. These plants 

 grow best when suspended near the roof glass in a hot 

 moist house, their pseudo-bulbs nestling in a light sandy 

 compost and surrounded by sphagnum, which should be 

 kept saturated all through the growing season. S. aurea, 

 S. Kimballiana and S. Wragi, all first-rate East Indian 

 Orchids, thrive under the same treatment. 



New Hybrid Orchids. — Among the new plants exhibited 

 this week at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 the following hybrids deserve special mention : Cypripe- 

 dium Excelsior, var. Mars, raised by Messrs. Sander & Co. 

 from C. Rothschildianum and C. Harrisianum. It has a 

 white dorsal sepal with purple lines, the petals drooping, 

 greenish, with numerous black-purple spots and the pouch 

 dark purple mixed with rosy lilac. Lajlio-Cattleya Seraph, 

 raised by Mr. C. L. Ingram, of Godalming, from L. elegans 

 and C. citrina. It has short fusiform pseudo-bulbs, erect 

 scapes and medium-sized flowers with spreading greenish 

 yellow sepals and petals and a white and purple lip. The 

 characters of C. citrina are not apparent in the hybrid. 

 Cattleya Marriottiana, from Sir William Marriott, and said 

 to be the result of a cross between C. gigas and C. Eldo- 

 rado, does not differ appreciably from the last-named 

 except in having smaller flowers. This cross would appear 

 to be interesting as a case of reduction in size in all the 

 vegetative characters of the two parents, an unusual occur- 

 rence in plant hybridization. 



Hardy Bamboos. — A comprehensive collection of these 

 plants from the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons formed 

 a special feature at the last meeting of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society. This enterprising firm has not been slow to 

 work up a stock of hardy Bamboos to meet the demand for 

 them consequent upon the success of the experiments in 

 their cultivation in the open air at Kew and the various 

 books, papers and lectures specially devoted to them. 

 Some of the species were awarded first-class certificates, 

 notably Bambusa palmata and B. Kumasaca, two of the 

 most distinct and attractive, the former being remarkable 

 for the large size, thickness and rich green color of its ever- 

 green leaves, borne on stems three to five feet high ; the 

 latter for its elegant habit, the stems being perfectly erect, 

 two or three feet high, branched below and bearing ovate 

 dark green leaves quite distinct in pose an.d outline from 

 all other hardy Bamboos. The growth made by these 

 plants this year under the influence of exceptional sunshine 

 and heat has far surpassed anything done in previous sea- 

 sons. The collection at Kew is now looking magnificent. 

 It is difficult to overrate hardy Bamboos as effective shrubs 

 for open-air gardening. 



Phloxes. — The herbaceous border or isolated bed on the 

 lawn are beautiful at this season of the year with forms of 

 Phlox suffruticosa, the parent of the popular garden Phlox. 



