304- 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 282. 



roots into fissures of the rock and putting- forth its limbs so 

 low as sometimes to leave no part which might be called a 

 trunk, is one of the most curious of trees. When standing in 

 the soil, however, it forms a trunk like any tree ; and in rich 

 soil it makes a huge tree, a shining and beautiful tree. Its 

 fruits are among the smallest of figs, being only three or four 

 lines in diameter. Its habitat is the warm barrancas of south- 

 western Mexico, especially their rocky walls. 



Ficus Guadalajarana, Watson, another wild Fig, is less re- 

 stricted in its habitat than the last-mentioned, for it is common 

 on the plains about the city whose name it bears, as well as by 

 the river-side in the great barranca. It attains in this situation 

 immense proportions ; in drier and open situations it forms 

 low, widely spreading tops. It is an admirable shade-tree, 

 with its dense foliage of lanceolate leaves ; and its fruits, 

 which are nearly an inch in diameter, are of use as food for 

 pigs and other animals. 



Ficus Pringlei, Watson, varies from small to medium size, 

 and seems to be confined to the sheltered barrancas and warm 

 lowlands of Jalisco and neighboring states. Its leaves are 

 ovate, lanceolate and pubescent. Its fruits become half an 

 inch in diameter, when ripe, and are then soft, sweet and 

 much sought by birds. 



Juglans Mexicana, Watson, the Mexican Black Walnut, is 

 but a medium-sized tree ; and, as it forms its heads low, it 

 rarely yields logs of good size or length. Nevertheless, its 

 lumber is much sought and is highly prized. Its nuts are in- 

 termediate in size, between those of the common species of 

 the United States and of those of Arizona or California. Its dis- 

 tribution is the Sierra Madre of eastern Mexico. 



Dasylirion inerme, Watson, is a liliaceous plant, which is 

 tree-like in size and appearance. From a bulbous base, which 

 may be six or more feet broad, it tapers upward, at first rapidly. 

 At a height of five to ten feet it begins to branch ; and the 

 branches, after dividing again sparingly, end in large tufts of 

 long, grass-like leaves. In the centre of the leaf-clusters stand 

 panicles of whitish flowers or fruits two or three feet high. Its 

 bark is gray and cracked like that of an Oak. Altogether it 

 presents, standing conspicuous on limestone ledges, a unique 

 appearance, but is not without beauty. Its range is the lower, 

 hotter slopes of the eastern edge of the plateau. 



As I review this list, the conviction is formed that no part of 

 the world can offer plants more worthy of a place in gardens 

 or parks, wherever they can succeed, than are half of the spe- 

 cies herein mentioned. ^ ^ r> • , 



Charlotte, Vt. C. G. PriHgle. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Single flowered Herbaceous Paeonies. 



THE growing taste for perennial plants, and the care 

 which is now taken to improve them, are indi- 

 cations of a purer taste in horticulture than that which 

 prevailed when the chief aim and ambition of the fashion- 

 able gardener was to place the largest number of tender 

 plants in more or less fantastic array in out-of-door sum- 

 mer beds. Of late years much attention has been paid, 

 especially by English florists, to producing new varieties 

 of herbaceous Paeonies, and collections of single and double 

 flowered varieties are now often seen in our gardens. To 

 our taste, the single normal flower of the Pseony is a more 

 beautiful and interesting object than one of the double 

 flowers, although many people prefer the latter, which cer- 

 tainly have the advantage of lasting much longer than 

 the single flowers. The illustration on page 305 of this 

 issue, which represents a flower of a very old-fashioned 

 white-flowered variety of Pseonia albiflora, reduced to 

 about half of its natural size, shows the form of these flow- 

 ers, although it hardly conveys an adequate idea of their 

 beauty, which is much increased by the contrast in color 

 of the cluster of yellow stamens with the dehcate pure 

 colors of their petals. 



Nearly all the late-flowered Paeonies in cultivation are 

 forms of the Siberian Paeonia albiflora, although the Euro- 

 pean Paeonia officinalis, which flowers rather early and is 

 a much less desirable plant, is still sometimes cultivated ; 

 and it is interesting to note that a so-called single white- 

 flowered Paeonia officinaHs was exhibited by the elder 

 Thomas Hogg in 1826 in this city before the New York 

 Horticultural Society. 



The varieties of Paeonia albiflora can be distinguished by 

 the delightful fragrance of the flowers, for those of Paeonia 

 officinalis have a disagreeable odor ; by the long flower- 

 stem, often furnished below the flower with a large simple 

 leaf; and by the color of the leaves, which are darker than 

 those of other species, and often colored red on the veins 

 and margins. Single-flowered varieties of Paeonia albi- 

 flora with pure white, with pink, and with scarlet flowers, 

 have been obtained by selection, and it is doubtful whether 

 this plant can be further improved by cultivation, although 

 florists are adding every year dozens of new names to their 

 catalogues. Few of these names, however, represent any 

 decided improvement. We have already plants of perfect 

 habit and foliage, with flowers of ample size and of all 

 attainable colors, unless a cross can be effected with the 

 new yellow-flowered Paeony which the Abbe Delavey has 

 recently brought to light in Yun-nan, and which may give 

 us a yellow-flowered Paeonia, with flowers as large and fra- 

 grant as those of the present cultivated varieties of P. albi- 

 flora. Such a plant would, indeed, be a real and a very 

 great acquisition. 



No plant is more easily cultivated than these varieties of 

 Pceonia albiflora ; if they are set in good, rich, well-drained 

 deep soil and are top-dressed every autumn, they will go 

 on increasing and improving for years, and year after year 

 will produce larger crops of flowers. They are absolutely 

 hardy, and so far have been singularly free from the injury 

 of insects or -fungal diseases. All in all, they are as satis- 

 factory as any herbaceous plant which can be grown in our 

 gardens, and for decorative purposes the cut flowers have 

 surprising possibilities, of which no one who has not seen 

 two or three stems of one of the good varieties properly 

 arranged in a vase can form any conception. Planted in a 

 mass in the garden, in well-selected colors, they are mag- 

 nificent when in flower and unobjectionable at other sea- 

 sons of the year, although in park and landscape planting 

 they have no place whatever. They are plants for the gar- 

 den and for the garden alone. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



Kniphofia longicollis. — This is a new species of Kniphofia 

 which was introduced from Natal by Herr Max Leichtlin, 

 and flowered freely with him at Baden-Baden in May. Mr. 

 Baker, who describes it in the Gardeners' Chronicle, says it 

 is much dwarfer than K. aloides, with bright green leaves, 

 much shorter racemes, and very large bright yellow flowers, 

 without any tinge of red. It is, he says, sure to be a fa- 

 vorite with cultivators. It may not be generally known 

 that summer, say, about the middle of June, is the most 

 favorable time for transplanting and dividing Kniphofias. 

 Where they thrive there are few more effective plants than 

 these. At Kew the winters are frequently fatal to most of 

 the species, but in more favored localities, such as the 

 southern counties of England, Wales and Ireland, they are 

 perfectly hardy. I recently saw in the Botanical Garden at 

 Glasnevin, near DubHn, a large mass of K. caulescens 

 crowded with tall scapes of lemon-yellow and scarlet 

 flowers. It was growing in a south border against the 

 porch of the Orchid-house, and it was a most gorgeous pic- 

 ture. Mr. Gumbleton has a large collection of the best of 

 the garden forms, but he informs me that they are not per- 

 fectly happy in his garden, although it is in the salubrious 

 climate of Queenstown, Cork. Herr Max Leichtlin is the 

 high-priest of the genus still, and Herr W. Pfltzer, nursery- 

 man, of Stuttgart, Germany, makes a specialty of the best 

 seedlings and hybrids. They prefer a deep rich soil with 

 plenty of moisture and sunlight. The large-leaved K. 

 Northiae is flowering now in a border outside at Kew, 

 where it has survived several winters, although much cut 

 by the severe late frosts of the past winter. 



Saintpaulia ionantha. — This is the new alpine Gesneriad 

 from central Africa which was shown in flower by Herr 



