424 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 294. 



tain process. Late in the afternoon, or, better, early in the 

 morning, the beetles will be sluggish, and will remain 

 quietly upon the plants, doing little or no feeding, and this 

 is the time when it will be easy to collect them. At the 

 same time, and especially where large fields are to be pro- 

 tected, the plants should be sprayed with as strong a mix- 

 ture of Paris green or London purple as the vegetation will 

 stand, that those specimens which escaped collection and 

 begin feeding, should be killed, as they surely will be, 

 within two or three days after they get the dose of poison. 



Rutgers College. Jollll B. Smith. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Ligustrum Ibota. 



PRIVETS, or Ligustrums, although they are mostly 

 free-growing, hardy and useful ])lants, are not re- 

 markable for the beauty of their flowers. The exception 

 is the north China and Japanese Ligustrum Ibota, which 

 is certainly one of the best exotic shrubs introduced into 

 our gardens for many years. The long, slender, arching 

 branches give to it a light and graceful habit in marked 

 contrast with that of the other species of this genus, 

 which are usually stiff and rigid in habit. Late in the 

 month of June, from the end of short lateral branches, the 

 clusters of white flowers hang in great profusion, giving 

 to the plants a charming effect of grace and lightness. 



Something of the flowering habit of this plant may be 

 seen in the illustration on page 425 of this issue. It repre- 

 sents the end of a branch of life size, and, while showing 

 the profusion of the flowers, it fails to give an idea of the 

 arching of the branches which are covered with flowers 

 for many feet of their length. The flowers are followed 

 by abundant blue-black berries, which remain on the 

 branches until the beginning of winter, and make the 

 plant interesting during several of the autumn months. 

 In this country Ligustrum Ibota promises to grow to a 

 height of eight or ten feet, although, as it appears in the 

 mountains of Japan, where it is by no means a common 

 plant, it rarely rises to half that height. 



Like the Japanese Berberis Thunbergii, Ligustrum Ibota 

 will, perhaps, become as completely naturalized in some 

 parts of this country as Ligustrum vulgare and Berberis 

 vulgaris have become naturalized in eastern New England, 

 for when they are planted in semi-wild situations numer- 

 ous seedlings spring up and are able to hold their own 

 against the encroachments of native plants. 



This Japanese Ligustrum may be safely used whenever 

 large, hardy fast-growing shrubs are needed. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 •Notes from Kew. 



MINA LOBATA is, at the moment of writing these 

 notes, and for a long time has been, one of the most 

 striking of the ornamental annuals in the Royal Gardens. 

 It is a native of Mexico and was cultivated long ago in 

 British gardens ; in 1842 it was figured in the Botanical 

 Register, but soon was completely lost sight of, and was 

 unknown to the present generation of gardeners until it 

 was re-introduced by Haage & Schmidt, of Erfurt, about 

 seven years ago. The flowers appear on forked racemes 

 projecting from the dense luxuriant foliage, and present 

 thus, with their bright colors, a striking aspect. The young 

 buds are bright red, but the color changes through orange- 

 yellow to yellowish white as the flowers grow older. 

 Given a hot, sunny season there are few more beautiful 

 climbers ; as heat enough and sunny weather are not the 

 exception in the United States, Mina lobata can be confi- 

 dently recommended for cultivation by gardeners and 

 plant-lovers in that country — it is only during a phenome- 

 nally hot season in England that the plant is seen at its 

 best 



Uraria crinita is a striking plant with pinnate leaves, not 

 unlike those of the Wistaria, and tall dense racemes of 

 small rose-purple flowers; seeds of this species sown early 

 in the present year have produced stocky, handsome plants 

 with racemes more than a foot in length and about an inch 

 and a half in thickness. The flowers themselves are small 

 and last but a short time, but the very numerous rosy-pink 

 bracts are as attractive, or even more so, before the flowers 

 open, than the latter are when at their best. The species 

 occurs in a wild state from Ceylon, the Himalaya, etc., to 

 China. A figure has been prepared for the Botanical Mag- 

 azine. The specific name has been given, owing to the 

 long bristles which clothe the pedicels, sepals, etc. The 

 plant is of easy cultivation in a light, warm house. 



Leptactina Mannii was first discovered by Gustav Mann 

 in western tropical Africa in 1862, and was figured in 

 Hooker's Icones Planiarum, tab. 1092. It has, however, 

 only recently found its way into cultivation, and a plant 

 received from the Paris Jardin- des Plantes is now in fine 

 flower in one of the stoves at 'Kew. In habit it resembles 

 some of the large-leaved Kandias, and, like them, has a 

 long slender corolla tube ; the large flowers are produced 

 in clusters at the tips of lateral shoots, are pure white and 

 have a strong aromatic odor. 



For a long time a bank of Amaryllis Belladonna, at the 

 foot of the Orchid-houses at Kew, has been one of the 

 glories of the establishment, but its beauty is now passing. 

 The Belladonna Lily will not thrive — in the neighborhood 

 of London, at any rate — except near a wall. There is not 

 sufficient heat to enable it to develop its flowers in the open 

 border, but planted against a wall about a foot beneath the 

 surface, and severely left alone, the bulbs increase rapidly, 

 and the flowers — after the bulbs are fairly established — are 

 produced in profusion ; the stored-up heat of the brick wall 

 is sufficient to make all the difference between success and 

 failure. Amaryllis Belladonna does not take kindly to cul- 

 tivation in pots. 



Gustavia pterocarpa is now flowering in the Palm- 

 house at Kew ; all the species of the genus are handsome 

 plants, well worth growing. Th6 present species has 

 large flowers — about four inches or more across — some- 

 what like those of a Magnolia in shape ; the petals are white 

 inside and rose-tinted externally. The inflorescence con- 

 sists of about ten flowers ; the stalked, leathery leaves 

 measure from twelve to twenty inches in length and from 

 four to six inches in width. 



Hunnemannia fumariaefolia is a native of Mexico and is 

 a near relative of the common Eschscholtzia of California. 

 It is, however, a more stately plant, and one equally beau- 

 tiful, if not more so. It grows about eighteen inches or 

 more in height and bears large, handsome clear yellow 

 flowers with orange-yellow stamens. About fifty years 

 ago a figure of the species appeared in the Botanical Mag- 

 azine, but the plant is hardly known in gardens now. It 

 seems strange that one of the most beautiful hardy annuals 

 we possess should not be more widely grown. 



Aster amellus, var. Bessarabicus, is one of the most showy 

 of all the Asters ; it grows from twelve to eighteen inches 

 in height and bears a profusion of purple flower-heads up- 

 ward of two inches across. Taken all around, for the 

 rockery, the herbaceous border and flower-garden. Aster 

 Bessarabicus is the best of all the Starworts. Cuttings 

 struck in spring, as the shoots appear above groundj make 

 excellent pot-plants for cool conservatory decoration. A. 

 acris, a species with denser inflorescences of smaller, paler 

 mauve flower-heads, formed last year a very striking effect 

 planted in masses and mixed with the beautiful orange- 

 yellow Rudbeckia speciosa. 



A large bed of our native Linum perenne, after flowering 

 profusely for a long time in summer, is now again very 

 attractive. The blue flowers open in such numbers that 

 the mass produces a wonderful cloud- like effect when seen 

 from a distance ; the plant is perfectly hardy and requires 

 no special care in cultivation. When too great a crop of 

 seed develops, and the flowering is thereby interfered with, 



