March i, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



105 



Chamsedorea concolor and Copernicia Pumos, the latter a fan- 

 leaved Palm, at elevations of from 7,000 to 8,000 feet. In my 

 garden, Chamuedorea desmoncoides seems quite hardy. 

 Some of the Mexican Acrocomias and Astrocaryums, splen- 

 did spinescent Palms, would undoubtedly flourish in favorable 

 places here. In Ceylon, Oncospermafasciculatum, a slender- 

 stemmed prickly Palm, of great elegance, occurs as high as 

 5,000 feet, while Copernicia cerifera, the Brazilian Wax Palm, 

 extends into Argentina, and would likely flourish here. 



It should not be inferred that the fan-leaved section of 

 Palms is much less beautiful in all species than those of the 

 former group. Indeed, a few species rival and some excel 

 the pinnate Palms in magnificence, and no paper would be 

 in any degree complete without reference to them. Com- 

 mencing with Washmgtonia filifera, which is abundantly rep- 

 resented, we have, in lesser numbers, Chamserops excelsa 

 and C. humilis, picturesque, but stiff and ungraceful Palms. 

 Not quite so common is Corypha australis, a fine Australian 

 Palm. Still rarer is Latania Borbonica, a fine fruiting speci- 

 men of which can be seen at Mr. Hancock Johnson's place in 

 East Los Angeles. There are two other fine Palms, rarely 

 seen, and yet their native habitat is less than 400 miles distant — 

 Erythea edulis, from Guadaloupe Island, off the coast of Lower 

 California, and E. armata, occurring in deep canyons just 

 below the state line in Lower California. They are both quite 

 hardy and make splendid plants as they attain size. The for- 

 mer has rich, dark green leaves, much darker than Washing- 

 tonia, and without the filaments so characteristic of this spe- 

 cies, while the foliage of E. armata is an ashy blue, and one of 

 the most distinct of Palms. 



The Sabals, of which S. Palmetto, of Florida and other 

 southern states, is so well-known, are rarely seen in our gar- 

 dens here. All are sufficiently hardy. All of the species of 

 Thrinax are elegant plants. — y. C. Harvey, in Rural Califor- 

 nian. 



Correspondence. 



Feeding-places for Birds. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The destruction of birds through the severe cold and 

 the snowing under of seed-bearing weeds and other food-sup- 

 plies, will in some sections of the country be complete. Cedar- 

 trees provide excellent shelter for quail and grouse, and their 

 berries, which last season were very abundant, afford them food. 

 Years ago an occasional stack of grain was left in the fields for 

 the birds, giving them at once food and protection from the 

 cold. There are yet some farmers imbued with the spirit of 

 Walter von der Vogelweid, who 



Gave the monks his treasure, 



Gave them all with this behest, 

 They should feed the birds at noontide 



Daily on his place of rest. 



One of my neighbors daily throws a few handfuls of grain 

 on a stack of corn-stalks near his barn, to the delight of a 

 large number of birds, who are regular visitors. Game socie- 

 ties should see that food is distributed where birds abound, in 

 places that will not be covered by snow and ice. Many of our 

 quail are the offspring of southern birds, and their instincts do 

 not prepare them in the first generation to battle with our cli- 

 mate or to search for food. I observed recently a bevy of 

 nine birds frozen to death, within half mile of a sheltered 

 swamp, to which our native birds would have gone. 

 Plainfield, N.J. Fercy C. Ohl. 



New Hybrid Cypripediums. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — The following new hybrids have recently flowered in 

 Mr. H; Graves' collection at Orange, New Jersey : 



Cypripedium X Tacita, Measuresianum x Tonsum. The 

 foliage of this new hybrid is very striking. The leaves are five 

 to eight inches long and one and a half inches wide, dark 

 green, with darker reticulation above, the reverse suffused 

 with vinous purple, particularly the midrib and base ; flower- 

 scape slender, pubescent and" monoflorous ; seed-pod pale, 

 covered with purplish pubescence ; flower waxy, large, five 

 inches across, ground color sepia-green, shaded with vinous 

 brown ; the dorsal sepal is veined with brown and margined 

 with white ; petals rounded, tapering toward the base, a me- 

 dian line of brown extending their full length ; the upper half 

 is slightly the darker, on which the customary hairs are want- 

 ing ; lip rather acute, with longouter lobes, which are barbate ; 



the infolded lobes are slightly spotted with brown ; staminode 

 obcordate. 



Cypripedium x Hebe. This variety was obtained by cross- 

 ing C. Spicerianum with C. Stonei. The general appearance 

 of both plant and flower is like C. Spicerianum, but the foliage 

 is more pointed and stiif, and the flower more graceful. The 

 flower-scape is erect, slightly pubescent, about ten inches long, 

 and bears one flower; the dorsal sepal is much reflexed, hir- 

 sute, and white, with a purple midrib and green base ; petals 

 two inches long, pointed, wavy and hirsute at base, primrose- 

 yellow, shaded with brown, divided by a brown midvein from 

 apex to base ; lip apple-green, tinted with brown on front ; the 

 infolded lobes lavender ; staminode octagonal, lavender-pur- 

 ple, with a yellow disk. ,, ^ 



Orange, N.J. Robert M. Grey. 



Salix balsamifera. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — A few further notes regarding the distribution of Salix 

 balsamifera in New England may be of interest to those who 

 have read the account of this species on pages 28 and 82 of the 

 present volume of Garden and Forest. 



Since the article by Mr. Bebb, in the Bulletin of the Torrey 

 Botanical Chib was written, it has been found that this hand- 

 some Willow extends over northern New England. Although 

 somewhat local in distribution, this species may be confidently 

 looked for in more or less abundance anywhere north of the 

 latitude of the White Mountains, and it may appear frequently 

 somewhat south of this line. In some localities it is far from 

 being an uncommon plant, and in others it appears only here 

 and there over a great extent of territory. It certainly is extraor- 

 dinary that such a well-marked and distinctly beautiful spe- 

 cies should have been so long confused with S. cordata, and 

 perhaps with S. discolor, some forms of which it slightly re- 

 sembles. To the description of the species it seems proper to 

 add, that under favorable conditions the height of this shrub 

 may be much greater than ten feet. In a swamp at Fran- 

 conia. New Hampshire, it has been discovered by Mr. Charles 

 E. Faxon, fully eighteen feet in height. Such plants, however, 

 are rare. 



About twelve years ago specimens of this Willow were col- 

 lected at Fort Kent, Aroostook County, and at Patten, Penob- 

 scot County, Maine, by Miss Kate Furbish, They were laid 

 aside and their identity unsuspected until last year. In 1S88, 

 a number of new stations were discovered in Maine, and the 

 plant was identified beyond question. These stations were : 

 Orono (M. L. Fernald), Mount Desert (Rand), and Greenville 

 (Edwin Faxon). At th^ first-named station only one small 

 plant was found, which has since been destroyed. At the last- 

 named station a great number of plants were observed. In 

 Mr. Faxon's opinion this Willow is probably common in all 

 the region south of Moosehead Lake. A year later, in 1S89, I 

 discovered one plant at Andover, Oxford County, nearer the 

 New Hampshire line. 



Thus far. Mount Desert Island seems to be the only coast 

 station within the limits of the United States where the pres- 

 ence of this interesting Willow has been reported. ■ It may be 

 well, therefore, to say a few words in regard to its distribution 

 and growth under such geographical conditions. As seen at 

 Mount Desert its height varies from two to six or eight feet. 

 Its range of distribution is from the sea-level to mountain- 

 bogs, about one thousand feet in altitude. Although tiie moun- 

 tain forms are smaller-leaved and more stunted in habit, they 

 cannot be regarded as anything but typical in form. The most 

 marked peculiarity of its distribution lies in its local character, 

 and in the fact that in very many of the fifteen or more sta- 

 tions here known, the plant is represented by only a single 

 specimen, with no other plant of tlie same species apparently 

 occurring in the neighborhood. During the last four years, 

 Mr. John H. Redfield, Mr. Edwin Faxon and myself have made 

 close search for this Willow on the island, but we have no- 

 where been able to find it in very great abundance. It is not, 

 therefore, a plant that at Mount Desert would be likely to make 

 much impression on any but a sharp-eyed observer, in spile 

 of the great beauty of its male flowers and of its foliage. It 

 would be well if this striking Willow could be more used for 

 planting at Bar Harbor and elsewhere in place of siirubs that 

 are little in keeping with the character of the scenery, and that 

 can thrive only under artificial conditions. 



In this connection another interesting Willow of Mount 

 Desert may be mentioned, Salix petiolaris, Smith, var. angus- 

 tifolia, Anders., DC. Prod.xxx., pt. ii., 234 (S. rosmarinifolia, Bar- 

 ratt, Hooker and others). " It is a northern form of the species, 

 undistinguishable at the west from var. gracilis, Anders., into 

 which it passes, but is here worthy of varietal recognition," 



