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Garden and Forest. 



[Number 254. 



double have really only the single one to sell. The fault is 

 probably not theirs, but that of the growers, who might easily 

 separate the single from the double when the plants are in 

 bloom. The bulbs of the two varieties are exactly alike, but 

 the leaves of the single kind have the brown specks scattered, 

 while in the double sort they are clustered at the base of the 

 leaflets. O. cernua will endure the winter in the open ground 

 with a slight covering, but will not flower in the following 

 spring, therefore pot-culture is the best for it. 



Oxalis Bowiei is one of the best-known, one of th^ oldest in 

 gardens, and one of the finest of all. It is very distinct from 

 all others in its clusters of large rosy flowers, broad, fleshy 

 bright green leaflets and horn-shaped bulbs. The bulbs should 

 be selected for their thickness, not their length. If a plant of 

 Oxalis be turned out of its pot while in full growth it will be 

 found to have thick, translucent roots ; these are used by 

 natives of South Africa and South America as articles of food. 

 I have eaten the roots of all the kinds of Oxalis which I have 

 grown, and find those of O. Bowiei by far the best in flavor, 

 being very sweet and sugary and devoid of the smoky taste 

 which makes many so disagreeable. O. Bowiei should be 

 planted much earlier than it generally is ; I sometimes put a 

 few bulbs into the open ground early in July and have flowers 

 in abundance from the middle of August until October. Few 

 garden plants can surpass O. Bowiei when so treated. 



Oxalis Piotta; is probably at once rarer and prettier than any 

 other kind. I include it among Cape species with some doubt. 

 It is the subject of plate 1817 of the Botanical Register, whose 

 description says, " It is said to be a native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope." It is not included in the list of Harvey and Senders 

 " Flora Capensis," nor can I find any mention of it except in the 

 place already referred to, which quotes Colla as authority for 

 the species. The editor of the Register received it from a 

 lady to whom it had been given by Professor Savi, of the Bo- 

 tanic Garden of Pisa, and it seems to have been kept there 

 very closely, for after searching for it through all the cata- 

 logues I could find for twenty years I found it at last in the 

 list of the Italian firm of Dammann & Co. The figure spoken 

 of is only fairly accurate. The foliage, as I find it, is not bright 

 green, but strongly glaucous ; it grows very thickly, so that a 

 pot of it much resembles a sod of close white Clover, though 

 the leaflets are much smaller ; the flowers are large, about an 

 inch and a half across, of a bright salmon color, entirely un- 

 like those of any other species I have seen. The dense, thick 

 clustered, blue-green foliage and the large, attractive and 

 distinct flowers render O. Plottag, on the whole, the most 

 pleasing of my collection, though, probably, a part of my ap- 

 preciation of it may be due to its having been obtained after 

 so long a search. The bulbs are small and very curiously 

 covered with sharp, interlacing ridges. There is no doubt 

 that the species belongs to some part of Africa, for the bulbs of 

 the New World species have a structure of their own, so 

 peculiar that they could be distinguished in the dark. 



Oxalis bifida is another very pretty kind. Its manner of 

 growth is somewhat rambling ; at the end of the long leaf- 

 stalks thick tufts of leaves appear, composed of three sharply 

 notched, vivid green leaflets. The flowers are bright pink, 

 and very pleasing, but not very freely produced. The bril- 

 liantly colored, finely cleft foliage is the chief attraction of the 

 plant. O. bifurca has purple or lilac flowers of medium size ; its 

 leaflets, arranged in threes, are so deeply notched as to be 

 very nearly of the shape of a capital Y. 



Oxalis caprina (of Linnjeus) is a species of much beauty, 

 bearing small, bluish purple flowers, with yellow centres, in 

 great abundance. The plant is much branched, and the 

 sharply cleft leaflets, resembling the print of a goat's foot, 

 suggested the name. 



Oxalis compressa much resembles O. cernua, but is of a 

 more compact habit, and the leaf-stalks are much flattened. 

 The flowers, somewhat deeper in tint than those of O. cernua, 

 are strongly and agreeably perfumed. 



Of Oxalis imbricata I have the double-flowered variety only. 

 It is a low-growing trifoliate kind, whose blossoms, unlike 

 those of the double O. cernua, are very pretty and well worth 

 having. I owe my possession of this to the kindness of Mr. 

 Watson, of Kew. One or two other species are sometimes 

 double-flowering, but I have so far seen only these two. 



Oxalis incarnata was formerly sold under the name of O. 

 luculla. This species has much the appearance of a tree in 

 miniature, in the manner of branching resembling a Wliite 

 Oak. The flowers are freely produced, and are so faintly pink 

 as to seem white unless looked at closely. If the plant grows 

 in the shade the under side of the leaves is deep violet or pur- 

 ple. The bulbs are long and of nearly even thickness until 

 near the tip, and are covered with a loose, yellowish skin. 



Oxalis filicaulis is given by Harvey and Sonder as a synonym 



of O. bifida, but the species which I have under that name is 

 quite distinct and much less attractive. It has no great inter- 

 est, and I omit any description. 



Oxalis Comorensis, though not a Cape species, is certainly 

 African, and is most probably from the Comoro Islands. I 

 have never been able to find it in any botanical work. I ob- 

 tained it from E. G. Henderson, of London, more than twenty 

 years ago, and lost it after cultivating it some years ; it is a 

 very curious kind, inasmuch as the lower surface of its large 

 round leaflets is covered with a dense brown fur, which, 

 projecfing from the edges, gives the plant a very fantastic 

 appearance. The flowers are large and pink. 



Canton, Mass. W. E. Endicott. 



Woody Plants for Winter Flowering. 



A VARIETY of stock is required in order to keep the con- 

 ■^"^ servatory bright with flowers during the dull winter 

 months, and while much can be done with Primulas, Cycla- 

 mens, Begonias and other soft- wooded plants in conjunction 

 with various forced bulbs, yet something more is needed to 

 vary the arrangement. Among the plants adapted for such 

 use, none are more showy or more lasting than the various 

 varieties of Euphorbia pulcherrima, the type producing the 

 largest bracts, while the variety known as Major gives a head 

 of moderate size and of crimson shade, rather than scarlet. 

 The double variety also forms very large heads, and of bril- 

 liant color, and, from its highly decorative character, quite 

 jusdfies the enthusiasm with which the collector, Roezel, 

 presented it nearly twenty years ago. An advantage also pos- 

 sessed by these Euphorbias is that they can readily be stored 

 away beneath the stages after their blooming is over until the 

 spring or early summer, this season of rest being requisite to 

 their welfare. Euphorbia fulgens is another valuable sub- 

 ject for winter decoration in the conservatory, and requires 

 very similar treatment to E. pulcherrima, though during its 

 growing season this plant is more impatient of extremes of 

 drought and moisture than the other. Both species are readily 

 propagated from cuttings either of hard or soft wood, the 

 latter needing more heat to enable them to root, and also more 

 attention to prevent damping off. 



Plumbago rosea-coccinea is also a valuable shrub, bearing 

 quite large, bright red flowers. This plant flourishes in a 

 somewhat higher temperature than the well-known P. Capensis, 

 and is stronger in growth than the latter, but like it in needing 

 no special culture. P. Capensis is also admirable during the 

 latter part of the winter and early in spring, for while this 

 plant is considered a summer bloomer, yet it is not closely 

 confined to one season, and its pale blue flowers are accept- 

 able at any time. 



Reinwardtia trigyna is another useful plant at this season, 

 and, with proper attention during the summer, in the matters 

 of watering and potting, can be made into a very attractive 

 specimen for decorating the conservatory in winter. This 

 plant is sufficiently familiar to most growers to require no 

 special description here, and while its bright yellow flowers 

 are not very lasting, yet they are produced in such an abun- 

 dance that the plant retains its beauty for a length of time. 

 R. trigyna is best grown outdoors during the summer, in a 

 frame or beneath a lath shelter, it being less liable to the 

 attacks of red spiders when grown in this way, providing it is 

 not permitted to get too dry. 



Erica hyemalis is probably the easiest member of this exten- 

 sive genus to grow, since it can be rooted without much 

 trouble in the spring, and, unless abused, it will form nice 

 little bushes by the following winter, and will produce long 

 sprays of delicately tinted little flowers during the winter and 

 spring. This is really a charming plant, so graceful in habit 

 and profuse in flowering, and the cut sprays can also be used 

 to advantage. In short, it is a plant deserving of much wider 

 use. 



Cyfisus racemosus should not be omitted, for when properly 

 grown it may be brought into bloom quite early in the spring 

 or rather late in the winter. To have this plant in condition 

 for early flowering, the growth should be well ripened out-of- 

 doors during the summer ; young plants that have been 

 rooted early in the spring should be shifted on as necessary 

 until they are in six-inch pots, when they should be plunged 

 in a bed of coal-ashes. Naturally grown plants, that is, with 

 only enough pinching to make them moderately bushy, are 

 the most graceful, though some growers trim them in with 

 shears until a perfectly round head is formed, after the manner 

 of an Azalea. 



The Centradenias are old-fashioned plants of considerable 

 merit for winter decoration, two species in particular being of 

 value, namely, C. grandiflora and C. floribunda, the first- 



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