October 14, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



417 



only about three inches high, but it forms a perfect carpet of 

 its pretty leaves, which are also reniform, but with lobed edges. 

 It is a native of New Zealand, and of the two species I consider 

 this one the better. 



Calandrinia longiscapa is a Chilian species of this genus. It 

 grows to a height of eighteen inches, with branching stems. 

 The fleshy leaves are opposite, oblanceolate in outline, three 

 inches long by one and a half wide. The small pink flowers 

 are borne on rather long terminal panicles, and, like other 

 members of the Purslane family to which it belongs, opening 

 only in bright sunlight. After flowering it produces small, 

 globular, scarlet seed-vessels, which are rather attractive. 



Cucubalus baccifer is a trailing plant with stems a yard long 

 oppositely branched at intervals of two inches, each branch 



blue color inside, and white outside. The shape of the flower 

 differs from the Pea in having the petal called the standard 

 below instead of above. It is easily propagated by seeds. 



Coronilla seorpioides is a low, straggling annual with stems 

 a foot and a half long. The almost sessile trifoliate leaves are 

 alternately disposed on the stems. The leaflets are ovate, the 

 terminal ones larger than the side leaflets, being one inch long 

 by three-quarters wide. They are glaucous and of a bluish 

 green color. The small yellow flowers are borne on short 

 peduncles in the axils of the leaves. They closely resemble 

 the flowers of Scorpiurus, and the fruit has a tendency to 

 mimicry of some insect, as Scorpiurus does. It is a native of 

 Persia, and is easily raised from seeds sown in the open border. 

 Basella rubra is a trailing plant belonging to the Goosefoot 

 family. The leaves are somewhat fleshy, 

 oblanceolate in outline, three inches long by 

 two wide. The flowers do not apparently 

 open, but the little pink buds, which are dis- 

 posed on small spikes, sessile in the axils of 

 the leaves, are very pretty. Though it does 

 well in an open position in the hardy plan- 

 border, it is a very pretty subject for a hang- 

 ing basket in a warm greenhouse. It st a 

 native of India, where it is known as Malabar 

 Nightshade. It is readily propagated either 

 by seeds or cuttings. 



Stachytarpheta Indica is a shrubby annual 

 belonging to the Vervain family, and grows 

 about two feet in height. The oblong lanceo- 

 late leaves are three inches long by one and 

 a half wide with coarsely serrated edges ; 

 they are blotched with a peculiar bluish green 

 color, which gives the plant a somewhat 

 distinct appearance. The small, deep blue 

 flowers are on spikes about six inches long, 

 and continue neaily all summer. It is a 

 native of the West Indies. S. mutabilis is a 

 much coarser-growing species, with large 

 opposite leaves four to six inches long by 

 three wide. The flowers are borne on ter- 

 minal spikes; they are also small, but ot a 

 rosy pink color. The plants do not flower 

 till October, and if grown in the open border 

 they must be lifted and placed in a warm 

 greenhouse to flower; at least, this is our 

 experience with the plant. It is a native of 

 South America, and Nicholson's Dictionary 

 of Gardening says " the leaves have been im- 

 ported into England for adulterating tea- 

 leaves." It is synonymous with Verbena 

 mutabilis. Edward J. Canning. 



Botanic Garden, Northampton, Mass. 



Fig. 55- — Cedrus Attantica. — See page 412. 



being about six inches long. The almost sessile leaves are 

 opposite, lanceolate in outline and slightly hairy. The flowers 

 are borne singly on short peduncles, with petals small and 

 white, but a pretty cup shaped, persistent calyx, which makes 

 them attractive. It is a native of northern Asia and belongs 

 to the Pink family. 



Clitoria heterophylla, although a native of the tropics, does 

 well planted out in a partially shaded position, and has been in 

 flower for the past month in this garden. Like many of the 

 Leguminosae to which it belongs, it is of low, straggling habit. 

 The leaves are all pinnate, alternately disposed on the stems. 

 The leaflets are small, and, as the specific name indicates, of 

 two forms, some being round, while the others are best de- 

 scribed as panduriform. The flowers are of a beautiful azure- 



Asplenium ebeneum. 



"""THIS is oneof our most attractive Ferns at 

 •*■ this season when the foliage about it 

 drops away and the dainty fronds which 

 have been half-hidden through the summer 

 are again unveiled. Wesometimes find them 

 by the roadside in a tangle of Brier or other 

 wayside shrubbery, but always on high 

 ground, in light soil, in proximity of rocks 

 and stones. There is no mistaking this 

 Fern for any other species or variety, for 

 botanical limitations of dimension are closely 

 followed. The fronds are from nine to 

 eighteen inches high and rarely exceed or 

 reach the width of an inch. The stripe is 

 black and glossy and the fertile fronds very 

 erect. 

 If the arrangement of the auricied pinna? seems too precise, 

 this defect is countervailed by thegraceful spread of the curving 

 sterile fronds around the base of the plant. For indoor cul- 

 ture through the winter this Fern is excellent, whether grown 

 in pots, boxes or under glass. It especially delights in birch- 

 bark baskets, and is much more attractive when thus arranged ; 

 but, in any case, the roots should be placed against small stones 

 and native soil supplied if possible. Plants for cultivation 

 must be intelligently selected, for if the indusia h ive dis- 

 charged their spores, decay « >i the fronds is but a natural 

 sequence; if, on the other hand, the indusium is intact, such 

 fronds may be relied upon to hold their own until new fronds 

 appear in early spring. But if all the fronds are broken off, 

 alter a little rest entire new growth will appear, which, if lack- 



