January 25, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



47 



as in the Apennines, and the Alps properly so called. More- 

 over, its artistic value is at least doubtful. It does not possess 

 a graceful, perfumed, delicate-colored corolla, but has the sole 

 merit of resemblance to an irregular star cut out of a bit of 

 flannel. In reality, the imitation Edelweiss, fashioned from 

 white flannel, is perfect and could not be improved upon. 

 Therefore, why should people kill themselves for a plant 

 neither rare nor essentially Alpine, and which any skillful 

 dressmaker can so faultlessly imitate ? It is high time to aban- 

 don this craze. It should also be remembered that the Edel- 

 weiss is very easily cultivated, that it is raised easily from seed, 

 and that the flowers are as fine, or nearly as fine, as those 

 gathered on Alpine heights. Any one can grow, in a small 

 pot, the quantity of Edelweiss sufficient for his needs. 



If inquiry is made of our shepherds what, other than forage 

 plants, are their favorites, the following is learned, but not 

 without difficulty, for they do not talk freely with strangers. 

 The plant held in the highest esteem, nay, even venerated, is 

 certainly I'AUium Victorialis, L., by no means common in 

 Switzerland. Its root, covered with fibrous transverse-veined 

 envelopes, is reputed a sovereign charm against every species 

 of witchcraft, and there are few chalets under whose thresholds 

 fine roots are not hidden, or in whose interiors, by dint of 

 searching-, small bundles of the same are not found concealed. 

 The narnes of this plant are characteristic and of very great 

 antiquity; " AUermannsharnish," that is, the armor of AUer- 

 mann, who was probably some German god ; and "Neiinkern- 

 ler," that is, root with nine coverings, because of the en- 

 velopes already mentioned. 



Another plant which every mountaineer gathers and places 

 in his hat, but which is carefully put in a box at homeasasov- 

 ereio'n remedy, is Artemisia mutellina, Vill., a charming spe- 

 cies, several inches high, covered with shiny and silvery down 

 and'bearing little yellow flower-heads. This rather rare plant, 

 found only on slopes much exposed to the sun, at an elevation 

 of 7,000 feet and higher, has a very powerful perfume and an 

 exceedingly bitter taste. Taken as tea it is an excellent sudo- 

 rific, and generally affords great relief in colds and neuralgia. 

 A friend, one of the foremost Swiss geologists, follows this 

 peasant custom, and always keeps on hand a supply of this 

 plant to serve in case of need. I have seen a tourist, nearly 

 exhausted by the great hardships of an excursion on the Treft- 

 joch, in Valais, quite restored in a single night bya strong dose 

 of "Genipe" tea, which I was able to furnish his guide from 

 the collections I had made that day. 



Another much-sought-for flower, and that solely for its 

 beauty, is the " Speick," so called by the Tyrolese. Universally 

 known and admired, it is in reality the national flower of the 

 Tyrol, givingtheir name to many localities, for example, "Speick- 

 leiten," hill-side of the Speick; "Speickecken," point of the 

 Speick, etc. In reality no plant merits its popularity more than 

 this, the Primula glutinosa, for it is the most beautiful and 

 odoriferous of its kind. It is not widely diffused, but in its 

 habitat is found in little close-growing clusters covered with 

 blooms, and the entire plant is enveloped with a glutinous' 

 matter so delicious in perfume that one never tires of it. This 

 perfume, a mixture of balsam and vanilla, is agreeable beyond 

 words. Its flowers, in close little heads, are dark violet, verg- 

 ing toward indigo, rich and beautiful in form. A bouquet of 

 "Speick" is the most glorious thing all Alpine nature can 

 show, and the embodiment of truly original beauty. When 

 presented by a Tyrolean to his lady-love it is a genuine declara- 

 tion of love, admiration and endless homage. This Primula, 

 not found in Switzerland except in the mountains of the lower 

 Engadine, becomes more common in the eastern Tyrol, and 

 extends into the Austrian ranges and those about Salzburg. I 

 have found it on Italian soil also in the Passo di Gavia, leading 

 from the Val Canonica to Santa Caterina, in the Bernese Alps. 

 It was found growing beside the Ranunculus glacialis with very 

 large snow-white corollas, the rosy flowers of the Primula 

 cenensis, the Androsace glacialis, Wopp., and the intense blue 

 of the Gentians. It was a vision of beauty. I have brought it 

 home to my garden, but I fear so delicate and exquisite a plant 

 will not succeed under conditions so different trorn those to 

 which it has adapted itself. . 



Bale. Switzerland. H. Christ. 



The Iris Season. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I observe in Garden and Forest of November 

 30th of last year, that one correspondent thinks that the Iris 

 season may last from May to August, while you yourself ex- 

 tend it to the period from February to August. I cannot resist 

 the temptation to say that, with the help of a cold frame and 



a cool greenhouse, I manage so that I am never, I [think, a 

 whole fortnight during the year without an Iris bloom to 

 look upon. 



Iris Monnieri, a very handsome yellow Iris of the spuria 

 group, is somewhat later than I. Kaempferi, and very soon 

 after its last bloom has gone, I have, during early September or 

 later, a fair succession of blooms from I. ensata, var. bigkimis. 

 This latter is a second blooming, but with me is better and 

 fuller than the first blooming. I can always depend on this 

 plant blooming twice. When it has passed away I have to 

 depend on second blooms of certain dwarf Irises, namely, a 

 variety of I. Cengialti, and certain hybrids from it, some dwarf 

 Irises of the biflora group, some hybrids of I. virescens, etc. 

 These all bloom fitfully, and as the damp, late autumn comes 

 on, the blooms are poor; but still they are there. And I often 

 get late second, or even third, blooms from the little North 

 American I, lacustris. Before these have wholly failed, I. 

 Vartani (belonging to the reticulata group) and I. 'alata make 

 their appearance in a cold frame ; very soon afterward I. un- 

 guicularis (stylosa) comes out in a cool greenhouse, say, in De- 

 cember, and then I am quite safe, for I. unguicularis goes on 

 blooming for many weeks. I. Palasstina flowers at Christmas in 

 the greenhouse, and with the help of a few pots of I. histrio, 

 and others of the reticulata group, I am secure until the various 

 forms of I. reticulata and I. Rosenbachiana flower in the open 

 ground, to be followed by other bulbous Irises until the first 

 I. pumila expands. I may add that the hybridization of Irises 

 is not wholly unbroken ground. I have some thirty hybrids 

 of my own raising which have flowered, and of some' of which 

 I am rather proud ; and there are very many more "on the 

 way." 



Shelford, Cambridgeshire, England. M. Foster. 



[The note to which our correspondent refers was from 

 the owner of an estate whom we knew to be especially in- 

 terested in hardy plants, and our comments were only 

 intended to note the flowering of Irises in the open with- 

 out protection. We know of gardens here where Irises 

 may be found in flower under protection from early No- 

 vember till flowers appear in the open ground in the early 

 year. It will scarcely be denied, we think, that Irises are 

 very scarce flowers from August to November, but we are 

 obliged to Professor Foster for calling attention to the fact 

 that from his well-known rich collection of plants it is pos- 

 sible to secure flowers even at that dry season. Further 

 notes from him as to varieties likely to flower then will be 

 helpful to our readers. We say likely to flower, for it ap- 

 pears from the list given that most of the blooms of that 

 season are secondary and fitful. The horticultural world 

 will welcome any hybrid Iris bearing Professor Foster's 

 endorsement, and we trust others may follow the good ex- 

 ample and add to the riches of our gardens. — Ed.] 



Tigridias. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Mr. W. Watson, in reviewing Mr. Baker's book on 

 Iridete in Number 250 of Garden and Forest, says ; " There 

 does not appear to be any good reason for keeping up Tigridia 

 Pringlei as a species distinct from T. pavonia." I infer, there- 

 fore, that Mr. Baker has placed it under T. pavonia. The late 

 Sereno Watson named this species from bulbs collected by 

 Mr. Pringle, and flowered at Cambridge, affording him the 

 best material. In his description of it when figured in Garden 

 AND Forest, October 10, 1888. he speaks of it as closely related 

 to T. pavonia, but he mentions certain specific differences 

 which led him to call it a distinct species. After growing T. 

 Pringlei several seasons with T. pavonia, it is hard to believe 

 them the same. T. Pringlei seeds very freely in this climate ; 

 almost every flower produces a full capsule, while T. pavonia 

 produces none. T. pavonia increases fast by division, while 

 the opposite is the result with T. Pringlei ; indeed, it does not 

 seem to divide at all. I never knew a flower of T. Pringlei to 

 open the second time, but I have seen those of T. pavonia 

 open, close toward night, and open again the second day. But 

 these characteristics may have no bearing as to its being a dis- 

 tinct species. 



In the same paragraph of this review Mr. Watson says, 

 " Tigridia Dugesii and T. buccifera are likely garden-plants 

 from the description of them." Are we, then, to infer that T, 

 buccifera, Watson, is also not a true species ? I believe that 

 Mr. Watson decided that T. Dugesii was not a Tigridia, but be- 

 longed to the genus Nemastylis. 



