176 



Garden and Forest. 



[April 9, 1890. 



New or Little Known Plants. 

 Lycoris squamigera.* 



THE plant which has been known to cultivators for 

 several years, under the name of Amaryllis Hallii, of 

 which a figure is now given on page 177, was brought 

 originally fromChinaby Dr. George R. Hall, of Bristol, Rhode 

 Island, and has been distributed by the Messrs. Hovey, the 

 Boston seedsmen. It appears to be the same as a rather 

 rare Japanese species of Lycoris which was collected by 

 the distinguished botanist, Maximo wicz, of St. Petersburg, 

 on the beach near Oyo, in the island of Kiusiu, and was first 

 described by him. It was previously known to Siebold, 

 however, as is shown by his herbarium, and a good figure 

 of it is found under the name of Natsu-dzuisen in the illus- 

 trated Japanese work, " So-Mokou-Zoussetz " (vol. v., /. 59), 

 by the native botanist Yokoussai. Dr. Hall had it in culti- 

 vation in his garden at Shanghai before 1860, and he states 

 that it is often planted by the Chinese in their cemeteries. It 

 may therefore be the same plant that is referred to by Mr. 

 Baker as found in grave-yards at Ningpo and which he thinks 

 will probably prove distinct. The present plant, however, 

 accords very well with the descriptions of L. squamigera. 



In appearance it strongly resembles the true Amaryllis 

 (A. Belladonna). The bulb is large and globose, sending 

 up in spring half a dozen bright green leaves, a foot and a 

 half long by an inch broad. These leaves die down in 

 late summer and are succeeded by the flower-scapes, which 

 are nearly three feet high, stout and solid, bearing an 

 umbel of four to seven fragrant flowers within two large 

 bracts. The flowers, on pedicels nearly an inch long, are 

 three or four inches long above the ovary, somewhat de- 

 curved, of a uniform light rose color shaded with a pecul- 

 iar gray. The curving segments are much narrowed 

 downward and unite to form a rather narrow tube nearly 

 an inch long, in the throat of which, above the insertion 

 of the stamens, is a row of short truncate scales. These" 

 scales are peculiar to this species and give to it its name. 

 The very slender filaments and style are declined to one 

 side and about as long as the petals. 



The plant is of easy cultivation and proves to be per- 

 fectly hardy in our New England climate, in this respect 

 differing from all others of its near allies so far as known, 

 though there would seem to be no reason why the other 

 three or four species of the genus, which are also natives 

 of Japan and China, should not be equally hardy. 



The genus Lycoris is closely related to Amaryllis, Hip- 

 peastrum and Crinum, all of which have flowers very much 

 alike in general appearance. Hippeastrum, several species 

 of which are cultivated under the name of Amaryllis, differs 

 from Lycoris in its hollow stems and in its flattened instead 

 of swollen black seeds. Its species all belong to the warmer 

 parts of the American continent. The true Amaryllis be- 

 longs to South Africa, and, like Crinum, has large, round, 

 green and fleshy seeds, and the fruit never opens by valves 

 as in Lycoris and Hippeastrum. 6". W. 



Cultural Department. 

 The Comparative Liability of Trees to Disease. 



ONE of the common questions asked by those intending to 

 plant trees or shrubs, either for ornament or utility, is — 

 Which kinds are least liable to disease ? The same question 

 is often considered by owners of large estates, railroad corpo- 

 rations, park commissioners or village improvement societies 

 having for their object the obtaining of shade or the pleasing 

 effect of foliage and flowers with the least possible expendi- 

 ture of after-care and trouble. As generally understood the 

 term " disease " includes the ravages caused by insects as well 

 as those attributed to fungi, and to any other destructive 

 effects of known or unknown origin, except such as are recog- 

 nized to be the work of rodents or other vertebrate animals. 



Any attempt to answer such questions must always be un- 

 satisfactory because subject to many qualifications; and an 

 answer applicable to one region may prove very mislead- 

 ing when -applied elsewhere. In catalogues and works on 



* Lycoris squamigera, Maximowicz in Engler's Bat. Jahrbiicher, vi. 79 (1885); 

 Baker, Amaryllidacese, 40. 



horticulture it is not unusual to find particular plants recom- 

 mended as being free from certain diseases. Such observa- 

 tions may be approximately true, or they may merely repre- 

 sent the local experience of the observer biased by peculiar 

 geographical, climatic or other conditions. An instance of this 

 kind is afforded by the large English Gooseberry (varieties of 

 Ribes Uva-crispa). When grown in this country the general 

 experience is that the fruit is very liable to be destroyed by 

 mildew, while occasionally gardens are found in which no in- 

 jury of this nature is detected. Experiences of this kind are 

 common with many plants, and when we say that particular 

 species or varieties are not subject to disfigurement or destruc- 

 tion by disease, it must be remembered that all plants are 

 liable to epidemics of which we may not now have any idea. 

 Such an epidemic may be brought about either by introduc- 

 tion from abroad or by circumstances which suddenly become 

 favorable to its rapid increase. The destruction or introduc- 

 tion of particular kinds of birds is known to have much to do 

 with the increase or decrease of certain destructive insects ; 

 and climatic conditions and the vigor of the host-plants are im- 

 portant factors regulating the abundance or scarcity of injur- 

 ious fungi. It often happens that the disease of a tree may be 

 directly traced to some previous mechanical injury or lack of 

 nourishment which first gave the parasites a foothold. 



Many insects devour the foliage of a great variety of trees 

 and other plants. The well known Fall Web-worm (Hyphantria 

 cunea) and the polyphagous locusts are examples. Pests which 

 feed so indiscriminately are more likely to be permanently 

 troublesome than those which are known as monophagous, 

 and which confine their attack to one species of plant, or at 

 most to a particular genus. However, all such destroyers are 

 occasionally subject to violent natural checks, and with 

 fungi, a season of much injury may be followed by one or 

 more of comparative freedom from attack. The following 

 brief review of some of the hardy trees merely refers to the 

 north-eastern portion of the United States and Canada. 



It will be seen that very few are to be classed as in any de- 

 gree safe from noxious diseases. It happens that the Mag- 

 nolias, the first group of trees as classified in our botanies, is 

 also the most remarkably free from injuries by any disfiguring 

 diseases and particularly from attacks by insects. This seems 

 to be true both of our native species which grow from Massa- 

 chusetts to Florida and also of those exotic kinds in our 

 gardens. Several species of insects are known to feed solely 

 or occasionally on these trees and numerous fungi are re- 

 corded; but it is very rarely that the foliage of a Magnolia is 

 noticeably affected. Thus it would seem that the Magnolias 

 wherever hardy are among the best trees to select for orna- 

 mental planting where little after care is to be given. Compared 

 with the Magnolias, the Tulip-tree has more insect-enemies. 

 Chief among these is a scale insect reported as sometimes very 

 injurious in the Western States, an aphis which occasionally 

 hurts the appearance of the foliage, and a minute two-winged 

 fly, recently noticed in these pages (vol. 2, p. 604) as disfigur- 

 ing the leaves by causing brown spots in them. Yet the Tulip- 

 tree is usually counted among those least liable to disease. 



The liability of the Lindens to serious attacks by insects is 

 too well known in some parts of New England to need refer- 

 ring to here. The Horse-Chestnut and the Buckeyes, and more 

 particularly the Maples, have a long list of active enemies, but 

 are usually much less liable to serious disfigurement than the 

 Lindens and therefore they are better fitted to be planted as 

 street shade trees and in parks. Fungi sometimes hurt the 

 leaves, especially those of the Horse-Chestnut. 



Two Asiatic trees, the Ailanthus and Phellodendron, have 

 so far generally shown very slight liability to serious diseases 

 in this country. Of the hardy trees belonging to the Pea 

 Family, the Locust (Robinia Pseudacacia) seems the worst at- 

 tacked. It is well known that the trunks and branches become 

 sadly diseased by borers. On the other hand, the Honey-Locusts 

 (Gleditschia) are, as a rule, remarkably free from unsightly dis- 

 figurement of foliage or disease of stems. The Kentucky 

 Coffee-tree and the beautiful Yellow- wood (Cladrastis luted) 

 are even less subject to injury than the Honey Locust, and the 

 Yellow-wood especially harbors very few insects. The Japan- 

 ese Sophora does not appear to be quite so exempt. 



The Wild Cherries, the Mountain Ashes and Hawthorns 

 and other trees of the Rose Family are more or less subject 

 to many of the same insects and fungi which infest the fruit 

 trees of our gardens. The Wild Cherries in particular are pre- 

 ferred by some of the most obnoxious insects. 



The Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) has the merit of 

 being distasteful seemingly to many destructive insects, so that 

 it usually retains unblemished foliage. Equally free from dis- 

 ease is the beautiful Tupelo {Nyssa sylvatica); but both it and 



