286 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 280. 



somely marked with red streaks at the base of the petals, 

 and are produced in g;reat profusion in lateral racemes 

 eight or twelve inches long, appearing as the leaves are 

 unfolding. The fruit, which is a globose or pear-shaped 

 capsule, not unlike that of some of the smooth-fruited 

 Horse-chestnuts in general appearance, finally splits into 

 three valves, and contains a number of globose, nearly 

 black, shining seeds half an inch in diameter. 



Xanthoceras was discovered nearly sixty years ago by 

 the German botanist Bunge, who accompanied a Rus- 

 sian mission which traveled overland from St. Petersburg 

 to Pekin ; it was not, however, introduced into our gardens 

 until nearly forty years later, when the French missionary 

 David sent it to the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, where the 

 original plant may still be seen. 



In spite of its hardiness and the beauty of its flowers, 

 Xanthoceras is still rare in American and European gar- 

 dens. This is, perhaps, due to the fact that, although it is 

 hardy against cold, it is evidently fastidious and does not 

 grow well in all soils and situations. Most of the plants 

 which have been tried in this country have perished 

 sooner or later, and it is unusual to find either here or in 

 Europe so large, vigorous and healthy a specimen as the 

 one at Dosoris. 



From the Abbe David's notes we learn that Xanthoceras 

 is a tree fifteen to eighteen feet high, and exceedingly rare 

 in those parts of China and Mongolia which he visited ; 

 that it is cultivated m the gardens of Pekin, and that the 

 seeds are eaten by the Chinese. 



At our request, Mr. Dana has sent us for the benefit of 

 our readers the following note upon his method of culti- 

 vating Xanthoceras, which we hope will now become a 

 more common object in our gardens : 



" I first saw a plant of Xanthoceras at Baden-Baden on 

 the grounds of Herr Max Leichtlin about the year 1884. 

 I admired it, and Herr Leichtlin spoke of it as a new plant 

 of great promise, which he felt sure would be an acquisi- 

 tion to horticulture. I secured two plants, and have been 

 cultivating them now for eight or ten years. They are six 

 feet high, and grow in rich warm loam. They have no 

 protection whatever, and yet they have never lost a branch 

 in winter, and they endure our dry summers perfectly. 

 They are not strong-growing shrubs, but they bear flowers 

 in great profusion, and are more beautiful when in bloom 

 than at any other season. They ripen seeds every year, 

 and I would be glad to furnish some of them to any one 

 who cares to test the plant." 



Cultural Department. 



Wild or Single Roses for Cultivation. 



ROSE-CULTURE in gardens now almost invariably means 

 the cultivation of the improved Hybrid Perpetual, Tea and 

 other Roses which have been brought into existence and de- 

 veloped by the careful manipulation, propagation and care of 

 the propagator and cultivator. With few exceptions, the single 

 Roses or aboriginal types are neglected, even though their 

 beauty is freely admired and appreciated. The practical pref- 

 erence for the double Roses is a very natural result of their 

 size and lasting quality of blossom, often of their enhanced 

 fragrance, and, especially among the hybrids, of a greater ap- 

 parent diversity of color. The great defect of the single Roses 

 for ornamental purposes is the comparative fragility of the 

 blossoms, especially the short duration of the petals after ex- 

 pansion. People usually want flowers they can pick, and 

 which will endure for some time after picking. 



For very small gardens few wild Roses, except, perhaps, the 

 ubiquitous Sweet-brier and one or two others, can be afforded ; 

 but where there is any considerable area or a shrubbery, a se- 

 lection of single Roses is always desirable. Besides the blos- 

 som, some beauty is produced later by the fruit, which is often 

 of bright reddish colors. 



For ordinary massing effects, some of our own native wild 

 Roses are as good as any which could be procured. The 

 earliest to blossom, and one of the most dwarf, is the northern 

 Rosa blanda, whose stems are only one or two feet high, and 

 possess the pleasant character of being without prickles. The 



rose-colored flowers are larger than those of most of our spe- 

 cies, the petals being minutely streaked with white, and open- 

 ing here about the first week of June. Another dwarf species 

 is R. nitida, with slender stems densely covered by slender 

 bristles, and blossoming a week later than R. blanda. The 

 flowers are of a deeper rose color and the foliage is bright, 

 shining above, whereas the leaves of R. blanda are of a rather 

 dull green on the upper surface. Of larger and stronger habit 

 than either of these, and the commonest Rose on many New 

 England rocky hill-sides near the sea-shore, is the shiny leaved 

 R. lucida, which blossoms fully as late as R. nitida, and has a 

 few strong, hooked prickles instead of numerous bristles. 

 Along the cool shores north of Boston it is in blossom in July, 

 and where exposed or on poor soils is often quite dwarf, or 

 only a tew inches high. It is a good plant for a natural shrul)- 

 bery at a sea-shore place. Tlie tallest in habit and the latest 

 to bloom among New England species is R.Carolina, common 

 along road-sides and wood-sides, especially in moist situations. 

 Its smaller flowers, in this region, will begin to expand about 

 the second week of July, or when the last blossoms of R. lucida 

 are fading away. Like R. blanda, the leaves of this are dull, 

 and not shining above, but the tall stems, commonly five or 

 SIX feet high, are armed with a few prickles. 



West of Nev\' England and toward the Pacific side of the 

 continent there are several other species of erect-growing 

 Roses, which would undoubtedly be well worth planting in 

 shrubberies. One of the most distinct of these is Rosa Nut- 

 kana, a very tall-growing thick and strong-stemmed species, 

 with peculiarly clear light rose-colored flowers, which are in 

 their best condition in the regular Rose-blooming season. It 

 is'a much stronger, more rank-growing Rose than any of our 

 eastern species. Of course, the Michigan, or Prairie Rose 

 (Rosa setigera), should be included where any number of 

 kinds of wild Roses are brought together. Its long trailing 

 habit and immense clusters of very late rose-colored blossoms 

 distinguisfi it at once from any other species. It is not very 

 rare in cultivation, although the total lack of fragrance in the 

 blossoms is against its popularity. It is a most protuse bloomer, 

 and when in bloom one of the most showy of Roses as re- 

 gards mass of color. 



Among foreign species, Rosa acicularis and R. alpina of 

 Europe are the earliest of all to blossom here, in advanced 

 seasons the first buds opening about the third week in May. 

 In good soils both will grow five or six feet or more in height. 

 The flowers are similar, large, of the usual rose color ; but, 

 for picking, those of R. alpina are the most desirable, because 

 the stems are usually perfectly smooth and free from prickles. 

 Our old thornlessBoursaultRose, with semi-double flowers, is 

 traced to R. alpina stock. 



The single Burnet, or Scotch Rose (Rosa spinosissima), with 

 white or light-colored flowers, is among the most attractive. 

 Given good soil and plenty of light and air, the plants will be- 

 come neat bushes, from two to four feet high, well clothed 

 with fine foliage, above which appear an abundance of bloom 

 early in the season, before the best of ordinary garden Roses 

 have blossomed. The double or half-double forms are most 

 commonly seen in cultivation, but these single ones, with 

 their centre of yellow stamens, are certainly more delicate and 

 charming. The usual color of the flowers is white or yellow- 

 ish white, or distinctly yellowish, while some forms are decid- 

 edly pink. They have received varietal names in some cat- 

 alogues, and some are probably hybrids. The stems are usually 

 very prickly. 



The double White Rose of old-fashioned gardens is a prod- 

 uct derived from a very large, pure white-blossomed wild 

 species of the Old World and known as Rosa alba. Like the 

 double form, it is an erect-growing bush, with stiff stems, and 

 with leaflets, usually in fives, glaucous on the upper surface 

 and somewhat downy beneath. It is worth introducing into a 

 collection to contrast with the many species which produce 

 the usual rose-colored bloom. Where space for only one sin- 

 gle-blossomed Rose can be afforded, we usually expect to see 

 the place given to the well-known, tall-growing Sweet-brier, 

 which, brought early by colonists from the Old World, has now 

 become naturalized in many old fields in the New World. 



The Dog Rose (R. canina) is hardly worth planting in a gar- 

 den when so many better kinds are to be had, but as it is one 

 of the strongest and stoutest growing species it may be placed 

 with good effect among general shrubbery or be used as a 

 background for smaller plants. Its flowers are of a pretty rose- 

 pink, or somedmes nearly white, color. As European nur- 

 serymen commonly use R. canina as a stock upon which to 

 graft the choicer garden Roses, especially when a "tree form " 

 is wanted, it happens not rarely that the grafts of imported 

 plants die or are supplanted by the stock, and the expected 



