144 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 19, 1890, 



This is shown by the prominence given in many small gardens 

 to the white-stemmed Birches, which Coleridge, referring to 

 the European species, called the 



most beautiful 



Of forest trees, the Lady of the woods. " 



In a great proportion of the species of our large growing 

 trees, such as the Oaks, Ashes, Elms and Maples, the old and 

 dead bark usually has a more or less brown or sombre gray 

 appearance, except where vitality and color is given by 

 mosses, lichens or other low forms of vegetable life upon it. 

 The older parts of some species of Poplar are light in 

 color ; other trees, like some of the Beeches, have uniformly 

 smooth trunks, and still others have the curiously blotched 

 appearance of our Buttonwood-tree. A very few trees 

 have stems whose bark retains some striking peculiarity of 

 color after it has become inert and apparently of no vital use 

 to the tree, but nearly all show green or some brighter color 

 in the younger branches. 



Of the White Birches, already referred to, a common one in 

 New England gardens is the native Betula populifolia, which 

 never becomes a wide-spreading tree or more than thirty or 

 forty feet high. In the poor soils in which it is most often 

 found it usually occurs in thickets and shrub-like clumps. 

 Planted against a dark or evergreen background it is certainly 

 conspicuous, with its white stems and dark green, slender 

 branchlets. Of weeping and other forms of White Birches 

 propagated by nurserymen, those of the European species (B. 

 alba) are the most common, and, it may be added, generally 

 the most interesting and graceful. 



A much more beautiful tree in every respect is the Canoe 

 Birch (B. papyrifera), and it is perhaps never so strikingly 

 attractive as when its large, shining, pure white trunk is seen 

 mixed with the dark hued stems of other trees in its native 

 woods. Where it has room to develop it sometimes becomes 

 a beautiful, broad-spreading tree whose coppery bronze col- 

 ored branchlets form a curious contrast with the dazzling 

 whiteness of the older bark. Few deciduous trees have a 

 greater charm than this when leafless, but, like its other white 

 stemmed congeners, its beauty is best shown by contrast. 

 One other species is conspicuous in the woods in winter, the 

 Yellow Birch (B. lutea) having its trunk covered with loose, 

 thin, curling flakes of silvery or yellow bark. The charm of 

 this is lost when the tree is growing in exposed situations, as 

 the bark then becomes dull-colored or weather-beaten. 



Next to the Birches some of the Willows attract attention by 

 the yellow, red or bright green of their branches, the colors of 

 which deepen with the coming of mild days in late winter and 

 early spring. A few shrubby species are particularly showy, 

 both by the color of their bark and the half developed catkins 

 which they bear. One of the most pleasing, as well as one of 

 the most rare, native species is Salix balsamifera, of the White 

 Mountains, and further northward, which has clean, glossy 

 russet, yellowish brown branches, and reddish buds. 



Among all our hardy trees, there are none which in color 

 possess more delicately pretty stems and branches than the 

 small Striped Maple {Acer Pennsylvanicum) of our northern 

 woods. Without having the glaring prominence of the White 

 Birch, the beautiful striated bluish white and green or brown 

 marking of the smooth bark of this tree at all seasons makes 

 it a desirable one for any lawn. Good specimens are rarely 

 seen in cultivation, but when well grown they are trim and 

 ornamental little trees. Some other Maples may have more 

 brightly colored branchlets than this species, but they lack the 

 peculiar charm of its stem. The same observation applies to 

 the Lindens, some of the propagated varieties or forms of 

 which are noted for the golden yellow, bright red or other 

 colors of their twigs, while the bark of all the older parts 

 becomes gray. The showy colors of the twigs of tall, upright 

 growing trees, however, do not usually attract the eye as do 

 those of dwarf and spreading habit, or shrubs. 



Of the latter, a few species of Dogwood are certainly among 

 the most conspicuous, and are usually planted for the color of 

 their stems, and, in popular esteem, they occupy a place 

 among the shrubs equal to that of the White Birch among the 

 trees. The white-fruited Dogwood (Cornus alba), of Siberia, 

 is the most conspicuous as well as the most generally culti- 

 vated, both in this country and Europe. The deep, blood-red 

 color of its stems and branches, which becomes richer as spring 

 approaches, makes a brilliant and striking show at any time, 

 but is naturally most prominent when the ground is covered 

 with snow. There are several horticultural forms known to 

 nurserymen under the names of Sibirica, Atrosanguinea, etc., 

 having stems of varying shades of scarlet or red, besides 

 those with peculiarities of foliage; and, unfortunately, in many 



catalogues the species is given as Cornus sanguinea, a name 

 properly belonging to a larger growing European species hav- 

 ing little of interest in the color of its bark, which becomes 

 gray when old. Next to the Siberian species our native Cornus 

 stolonifera possesses the bright scarlet twigged quality in a high 

 degree; and the branches of the Silky Cornel (C. sericea) have 

 a more or less purplish hue- When judiciously planted, a 

 selection of these and some of the dwarf Willows, besides 

 several other shrubs with peculiar color of bark, would do 

 much to brighten our winter landscapes. J. G. J. 



Arnold Arboretum. 



Coelogyne cristata. 



'T'HERE are over one hundred species of Coelogyne known 

 *■ to botanists, but not one of them can compare in popu- 

 larity with the subject of the present note. Indeed, Ccelogyne 

 cristata must be regarded not only as the finest representative 

 of the genus to which it belongs, but also as one of the best 

 known and most generally cultivated Orchids. Not only does 

 it take precedence of all other Ccelogynes in these respects, 

 but it is also interesting as being the first species upon which 

 Dr. Lindley established the genus in 1825. Its appearance in 

 cultivation dates from the year 1837, when it was successfully 

 introduced from the mountains of Nepal by Dr. Wallich. It 

 is a native of this and the surrounding regions of north- 

 eastern India, where it has been found growing on rocks and 

 trunks of trees at elevations varying from 5,000 to 8,000 feet 

 above sea level. In 1841 it was first publicly exhibited by Mr. 

 Barker, of Birmingham, to whom was awarded a silver Knight- 

 ian medal at one of the spring meetings of the Horticultural 

 Society of London. 



The typical C. cristata is recognized by its globose or 

 oblong pseudo-bulbs, which vary in size from a small green- 

 gage to a large hen-egg. They are produced in great masses 

 at intervals of one, two and three inches on a strong rhizome 

 thickly covered with imbricating, brownish scales. On the 

 summit are borne two oblong-lanceolate leaves, nine to 

 twelve inches long, the upper surface of which is deep 

 green, the under surface being much paler. The pendulous 

 or arching scapes are produced from the base, and are clothed 

 with sheathing bracts. Each scape usually bears from five to 

 eight flowers, measuring three to four inches across, and of the 

 purest white color with the exception of an orange-yellow 

 stain on the disc of the lip. The oblong sepals and petals are 

 undulate on the margins and more or less twisted at the tips. 

 The lip is three-lobed, with rows of erect, comb-like fringes 

 on the orange-yellow disc. The second and fourth of these 

 rows are much longer than the others, and form a solid, erect 

 and more or less toothed plate in front. The column is pure 

 white and slender, furnished on each side with a thin wing, 

 which becomes wider toward the apex, where it forms a kind 

 of shelter to the bluntly beaked anther. The front lobe, as* in 

 nearly all Ccelogynes, has two sunken, converging lines which 

 almost form a triangle in the centre. 



There are a few distinct varieties of this species known, 

 chief among them being Alba orHololeuca, which differs from 

 the type in having absolutely pure white flowers without a 

 stain of yellow. It usually blooms a month or six weeks 

 later than the type. The variety Citrina, perhaps better 

 known as Lemoniana, is characterized by having a delicate 

 wash of lemon color on the lip instead of orange-yellow. The 

 Chatsworth variety is noted for its strong habit, having very 

 large pseudo-bulbs. The flowers are similar to those of the 

 type in color, but are larger in size and have the sepals and 

 petals less twisted. St. Albans variety, or Maxima, as it is 

 often called, may be said to be even more robust than the 

 Chatsworth variety, and to have somewhat larger flowers, with 

 much less twisted sepals and petals and a broader lip. 



Ccelogyne cristata is best grown in large, shallow pans, fur- 

 nished with holes underneath and at the sides. Three parts 

 of their depth should be filled with clean crocks, over which 

 must be placed a layer of rough, fibrous peat and moss. 

 Above this comes the mixture of rich, fibrous peat, by itself 

 or mixed with a little 'loam, in which the plants will freely 

 grow. During the spring and summer months liberal sup- 

 plies of water may be given as the plants are growing, but the 

 quantity must be diminished as the bulbs are getting mature. 

 Then the flower-spikes begin to push forth, but it is not until 

 nearly two or three months afterward that the handsome 

 blooms expand. During the season of flowering — that is, in 

 December, January and part of February — very little water 

 need be given until the growths begin to appear again, which 

 is usually about March. If specimen plants are required, re- 

 potting will be unnecessary until two or three years have 

 elapsed, by which time the pseudo-bulbs will have become 



