492 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 459. 



In European plantations this tree is still little known ; and 

 it is too soon to speak with any authority of its future either 

 as an ornamental or as a timber tree in the eastern states 

 or in northern Europe. 



A second Larch of north-western America, Larix Lyallii, 

 is a small tree found only near the timber-line of high 

 mountains in southern British Columbia and in northern 

 Washington and Montana. Still imperfectly known, this 

 tree may perhaps be best considered an alpine form of 

 Larix occidentalis. It has not yet been brought into 

 gardens. 



The third American Larch, Larix Americana, inhabits the 

 east, where it is widely and generally scattered from the 

 shores of Great Bear Lake and the valley of the Mackenzie 

 River within the Arctic Circle to the coast of Labrador and 

 Newfoundland, and southward through the Canadian Prov- 

 inces and the northern United States to northern Pennsyl- 

 vania, northern Indiana and Illinois and central Minnesota. 

 Our eastern Larch is a tree often eighty or ninety feet high, 

 with a trunk two or three feet in diameter and compara- 

 tively stout branches, which on old trees become long and 

 are often irregularly developed and frequently much con- 

 torted. At the north the eastern Larch inhabits moist 

 uplands and intervale lands, but south of the boundary of 

 the United States it is confined almost exclusively to wet 

 and often overflowed swamps and bogs, which it frequently 

 covers with nearly pure forests. Like that of all the trees of 

 this genus, the wood of Larix Americana is hardy, strong 

 and durable; and, like other Larch-trees, it is valued in 

 ornamental plantations for its rapid growth and the pic- 

 turesque habit it assumes in old age. 



In a recent number of the Revue Horticole, Dr. A. Fran- 

 chet describes a new Chinese tree recently discovered by 

 Farges in China near the thirty-second degree of north 

 latitude, for which he proposes the name of Carrierea caly- 

 cina. In habit it is said to resemble Idesia and is thought 

 to belong to the Bixacete. Fresh seeds have been received 

 at the Museum in Paris and already distributed. It is prob- 

 able that this interesting tree, however, will not prove hardy in 

 our northern states, in spite of the fact that it grows naturally 

 at a considerable elevation above the surface of the sea. 

 This new genus is dedicated to Carriere, the distinguished 

 French horticulturist who died near Paris a few months ago 

 and who will best be remembered perhaps by his important 

 work on Conifers cultivated in Europe, of which two editions 

 have appeared. He was the author, moreover, of numerous 

 publications on horticultural and philosophical subjects, 

 and for many years, as the head of the nurseries at the 

 Paris Museum, occupied one of the most conspicuous posi- 

 tions in European horticulture. In dedicating this new 

 genus to his memory, Monsieur Franchet says "Carriere 

 was a skillful horticulturist, an experimenter of profound 

 intelligence and a zealous introducer of everything which 

 could contribute to the utility and beauty of gardens and 

 the future of forests. He was also a profound thinker who 

 was often able to give to his thoughts a form fantastic, 

 perhaps, but always striking, which many writers might 

 well envy." 



Climbing Plants in the Pines. 



FEW, if any, climbing plants are more interesting than 

 some of the neglected species of Smilax growing in 

 our Pines. Almost any one of the woody species, if rightly 

 used, would be an acquisition to the finest parks and gar- 

 dens. It is true that in some situations in the damp Pines 

 they form almost impenetrable barriers, and in the early 

 days of our country's settlement they may have been quite 

 troublesome, and we possibly have an inherited dislike to 

 the "hateful Catbrier." If we examine a single plant of 

 the most common species, Smilax glauca or S. rotundifolia 

 or S. hispida, which grow almost everywhere, from New 

 England to Florida, and west to Missouri and Texas, we 

 find botanically handsome netted, veined leaves — which 



are not common among the endogenous plants — and a pair 

 of tendrils at the base of the leaf, not on the petiole proper, 

 unless it is jointed, when the lower part, which is persistent, 

 becomes a sheath to protect the bud in winter, especially 

 the flower-buds. The short petiole is attached to this sheath 

 by a joint, and when the leaf is mature it drops and falls 

 to the ground, which it could not do if the coiled tendrils 

 grew on the leaf-stalk. The flowers come from beneath the 

 sheath in spring, and in the fertile plant— these plants are 

 usually dioecious — are succeeded by the berries. On S. 

 hispida we find from one to three peduncles emerging from 

 a sheath, and at this time of year each bearing a cluster of 

 from three to ten or more berries. The pedicels are 

 nearly half an inch in length. A large, strong stem will 

 produce leafy, fruiting branches from the sheathed buds, 

 and thereafter it will no longer bear buds, and the branches 

 will take up the work. 



In the Pines, Smilax rotundifolia is nearly evergreen, with 

 lustrous leathery leaves and an abundance of dark blue 

 berries which remain all winter. The leaves of S. glauca 

 are still more persistent, and it has black fruit covered with 

 a bloom. Several plants are established in my wild garden. 

 S. hispida is rambling through a Hemlock, not hurting it 

 in the least, and very attractive it looks peeping out here 

 and there with its clusters of fruit. One of the handsomest 

 species is S. laurifolia. which has long, thick evergreen 

 leaves, and in winter we see both black and green berries, 

 as it takes two years for the fruit to ripen. Another hand- 

 some species, but less common in the Pines, is S. Wal- 

 teri, with clusters of bright red berries which, mingled 

 with the dark blue of S. rotundifolia and the black of S. 

 glauca and S. hispida, make a fine display. The leaves of 

 most of the species turn to rich colors in autumn, and all 

 of these, with several other native species, would make the 

 best of material for boundary plantations and many other 

 situations, especially in large parks or private grounds. 



Celastrus scandens is another ornamental climber grow- 

 ing in the damp Pines. The reddish-colored seed-pods 

 < ipen in the autumn and disclose the bright scarlet covering 

 of the seeds. The two forms of Ampelopsis found here 

 are sufficiently dissimilar to attract the notice of any 

 observer. One has much larger leaves than the other, 

 which are green and not shining, and the flower-clusters 

 are cymose opposite the ample leaves and not at all con- 

 spicuous. The other has smaller leaves, smooth and shin- 

 ing, and often purple-tinted ; the flowers are purplish and 

 more thyrse-like than cymose. The short flowering stems 

 stand well up above the larger branches, especially when 

 it climbs over a low-headed Apple-tree, as it has in my 

 garden. It blossoms later than the other, and when in 

 flower is one of the handsomest climbers on the place and 

 attracts more notice than any other plant. Insects of many 

 kinds, especially the Hymenoptera, visit it in great num- 

 bers, coming in swarms while the plant is at the height of 

 its bloom. 



Many of our climbers will endure a wonderful amount of 

 hard treatment without showing any loss of vigor. One 

 of our native Trumpet creepeis, Tecoma radicans, had 

 climbed a few years ago to the top of a Pine-tree in the 

 garden. The trunk of the tree was free from branches for 

 about twelve feet, and the top was dense for a Pine and 

 round-headed, so that it presented a large surface to the 

 wind with comparatively small power to resist it, and one 

 of our July gales carried away the top and left a bare 

 stub twelve feet high. The vine, of course, came down 

 with the tree, and the lower branches, which had formerly 

 held it to the trunk, had mostly died ; at all events, it was 

 torn free from the trunk and was cut back to just the length 

 of the stub. It had no foliage, and was held in place with 

 bands, but it soon threw nut branches from adventitious 

 buds and fastened itself firmly to the trunk without regard 

 to the artificial support, and finally sent out branches all 

 around the top. As there was no way for it to climb any 

 higher, it has developed an umbrella-shaped head ; the 

 numerous branches, four feet or more in length, curve 



