394 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 449. 



the Dogbane, Apocynum androssemifolium. Of Monardas 

 we have the Wild Bergamot and the Horse-mint, the latter 

 nne of the most abundant plants of the more open grounds, 

 appearing in patches, thinly covering large areas. Litho- 

 spermum hirtum and L. canescens are found scattered 

 everywhere, and Phlox pilosa is rather common. 



The Toad-flax, Linaria Canadensis, a low annual, or 

 more often a biennial here, shows its delicate blue flowers 

 in May, and is associated with the Dwarf Dandelion on the 

 hillsides. Later in the season another small annual, Poly- 

 gonella articulata, takes a place beside it, but is more widely 

 disseminated on the dunes, flourishing in the shade and 

 along the sides of roads and paths. Rumex Acetosella has 

 come in abundantly in such localities, and occasionally 

 Chenopodium Botrys. Comandra umbellata appears on the 

 sparsely wooded hills. In the dry open sands we find the 

 Purslane family represented by Talinum teretifolium, with 

 beautiful, but ephemeral, pink flowers and curious cylin- 

 drical leaves. Either seeking partial shade or by the bor- 

 ders of wooded areas are found some of the large Gerardias, 

 with handsome foliage and showy yellow flowers — G. 

 pedicularia, flava and quercifolia. The common Figwort, 

 Scrophularia nodosa, var. Marilandica, may also be seen in 

 the sands. Very common in the shade, especially of the 

 Pine-clad hills, is the Cow-wheat, Melampyrum Ameri- 

 canum. In such places we come upon the Pyrolas and 

 Pipsissiwa, Chimophila umbellata, and in the hollows one 

 may occasionally see its congener, C. maculata. In these 

 dry, basin-like depressions, or on the bases of the surround- 

 ing slopes, the Mayflower, Epigeea repens, occurs, but does 

 not seem abundant till we come near Michigan City. Com- 

 melina Virginica does well on the sunny slopes, a com- 

 panion of Tephrosia and the New Jersey Tea. Tradescantia 

 Virginica is sometimes abundant, and quite frequently 

 takes a low, hairy form. Climbing the trees or running 

 over the bushes, with stems sometimes ten to twelve feet 

 long, is Smilax herbacea Luzula campestris represents 

 the Rush family on the hills, though the ubiquitous [uncus 

 tenuis creeps in beside the pathways in more favored spots. 

 Plants that seem much out of place and serve as good ex- 

 amples of the strange association of species on the dunes 

 are Mianthemum Canadense and Smilacina stellata. The 

 two-leaved Solomon's-seal seeks cool, shaded places, and, 

 though abundant in the deeper hollows, is not common on 

 the hills, but the Smilacina is not only frequent in the shade 

 of trees, but often very abundant on the fresh-formed high 

 dunes near the lake-shore, where it is associated with the 

 Sea-sand Reed and similar plants. 



Space fails to speak of the Sedges which constitute the 



larger part of the flora of the contiguous wet lands, several 



species of which are represented on the ridges, or of the 



many cryptogamous plants which add color and variety to 



these sandy slopes and ndges. Of course, this list of the 



dune flora is not meant to be exhaustive. It is purposely 



limited to the higher ridges, and only those features have 



been kept in view that were best adapted to show its chief 



characteristics and varied nature. 

 Chicago, 111. -c. J. rial. 



Plant Notes. 



Rhododendron (Azalea) Indicum obtusum album. 



AZALEA OBTUSUM, which Maximowicz, the monog- 

 _/~\_ rapher of the eastern Asiatic Rhododendrons, con- 

 sidered a variety of Rhododendron (Azalea) Indicum, was 

 found by Fortune in a garden in Shanghai and introduced 

 by him into England in 1846. It is a dwarf, much- 

 branched shrub with slender branches, small evergreen 

 obovate or oval leaves slightly ciliate on the margins, and 

 from one to three-flowered clusters of small flowers, with 

 brick-red corollas, and exserted stamens usually five in num- 

 ber. This plant usually proves hardy in English gardens, 

 although it suffered at Kew during the severe winter of 

 1894-5, but we are unaware that it has ever been tried in 

 the open ground in this country. The white-flowered form, 



of which the photograph of a flowering branch is repro- 

 duced in our illustration on page 395 of this issue, appears 

 to be rare and its origin is unknown to us. For more than 

 thirty years, however, it has been growing in Professor 

 Sargent's garden at Brookline, Massachusetts, where there 

 are several specimens; these are planted out during the 

 summer with the collection of Indian Azaleas, potted before 

 frost, and grown in a low temperature during the autumn. 

 With the aid of a little artificial heat the plants are in flower 

 by Christmas, and it has been found impossible to retard 

 their flowering until spring. The tendency of this plant to 

 bloom early makes it possible to bring it into flower at the 

 beginning of the year without hard forcing, and the flow- 

 ers therefore last much longer than those of varieties 

 which bloom late and require a high temperature to induce 

 their buds to open. This Azalea, moreover, is a long-lived 

 plant; its habit is compact ; its light green leaves remain 

 for two or three years on the branches ; it never fails to 

 cover itself with pure white flowers ; and when white-flow- 

 ered Azaleas are needed early in the winter it can be 

 commended. 



Begonia gracilis, var. Martiana. — This Mexican plant, 

 usually known in gardens as Begonia Martiana, is well 

 worth growing for its beauty and distinctness. Like the 

 majority of the bulbous Begonias, it flowers in summer and 

 finds its best environment under shelter, where its tall, 

 succulent stems and delicate flowers will have protection 

 from the elements. Strong plants have a gradually ex- 

 panding stem, usually unbranched, and furnished rather 

 sparsely with small half-heart-shaped green leaves, slightly 

 hairy. Normally they have a single stem, but if this is 

 checked by bending or breaking it throws off side-shoots. 

 The flowers are borne from the axils of the leaves on short 

 peduncles, and in good forms approach two inches in 

 diameter. They are round, slightly cupped and of a most 

 delicate clear pink color. As the stem lengthens it is 

 studded at the top with flower-buds, which open in suc- 

 cession as it grows in height. It forms bulblets in the 

 axils of the leaves, which may be used in propagation, 

 and are apt to perpetuate the species in a greenhouse not 

 too carefully kept. The round white-skinned bulbs are 

 also less subject to decay than those of other tuberous 

 Begonias, except B. Evansiana, which is well known as a 

 reliable Begonia under very adverse conditions. Bulbs of 

 B. Martiana have been found to survive in very cold wet 

 soil in a greenhouse often just at the freezing-point, and it 

 is barely possible that the bulblets might perpetuate the spe- 

 cies out-of-doors, as do those of B. Evansiana, which is the 

 only species yet proven hardy in northern gardens. The 

 maintenance of B. Evansiana is not always, however, en- 

 tirely dependent on the bulblets, as the small bulbs, at least, 

 are usually frost-proof. How long they continue in that con- 

 dition does not seem to have been observed, but it is probable 

 that they scarcely survive beyond one or two seasons under 

 ordinary hard conditions. Bulbs of all tuberous Begonias 

 are short-lived, usually reaching the end of their usefulness 

 in about three years. These two species are not as big- 

 flowered as the hybrid Begonias which for a time seemed 

 to every one great marvels, but they rival any of the family 

 in dainty beauty. 



Cultural Department. 



An Outbreak of Asparagus Rust. 



THERE has been an unusual development of rust upon 

 Asparagus-plants, in some of the middle states at 

 least, and this is so alarming to the truck-growers of New 

 Jersey that Professor Halsted, of the Experiment Station of 

 that state, has sent out to the newspapers a special bulletin 

 on the subject. The directions are as valuable for those 

 who grow Asparagus for home use as for those who grow 

 it for market, and we give the essential matter of the bul- 

 letin below : 



Appearance of the Field.— When an Asparagus-field is 



