July 30, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



37 1 



The panicles of flowers are not produced in much profusion. 

 They are from two or three to four or five inches long-, and 

 are borne on the extremities of a few of the strongest shoots. 

 The petals are of a rather pale white color and the expanded 

 flowers are nearly half an inch across. But as not one-half of 

 the blossoms in a panicle are open at any one time they are 

 not so showy as they otherwise might be. The fragrance of 

 the flowers reminds one of the odor of the common Yarrow, 

 though the latter is much less powerful, while that of the 

 leaves and whole plant has been likened to creosote and also 

 suggests burning sealing-wax. 



This species and S. discolor have so many characters pecu- 

 liar to themselves that some systematists place them in sepa- 

 rate genera as being quite distinct from the true Spiraeas. 



In Spiraa Douglasii, another species from the western part 



well known Japanese Spiraa callosa and many of its forms 

 come under this class, but they are valuable because they 

 keep up a succession of blossoms for several weeks. 



Arnold Arboretum. J • *-* ■ J- 



Notes on American Plants. 



WE have in New England three native Sundews (Drosera) 

 which flower about this season. They are all small 

 species, generally classed among the carnivorous plants, and 

 this curious characteristic is one of their chief points of interest. 

 Yet the largest of these, the ThFead-leaved Sundew (Droserafili- 

 formis), has numerous handsome rose-purple flowers half an 

 inch wide in a one-sided spike. It is seldom more than a foot 

 high. The very long, thread-like leaves are covered with their 



Roman Baths, Gardens of the Fountain, Nimes. — See page 366. 



of the continent, we have a plant which nearly corresponds to 

 our Hardhack or Steeple-bush (5. tomentosa). Except for the 

 slightly larger size of the panicles of its flowers, which may 

 also sometimes be a little deeper in color, S. Douglasii pos- 

 sesses few qualities to make it of any more ornamental value. 

 The plant is of larger, coarser growth, and the leaves are also 

 larger but not so neat and attractive as those of the common 

 Hardhack, which also bears neater, much more pointed and 

 more symmetrical panicles of flowers. 



The variety of 5". Douglasii known in nurseries as S. Nobleana 

 chiefly differs from the typical species in having the flowers 

 arranged in panicles which are broad and spreading instead of 

 narrow and pyramidal. The very short duration of the flow- 

 ers and the fact that those on the upper portion of the panicles 

 usually become an ugly brown sooner than the lower or outer 

 blossoms is a serious drawback to the beauty of these and 

 some other deep pink or rosy purple flowered species. The 



glandular bristles, and the sticky gluten which exudes from them 

 catches many an unfortunate insect that comes within reach 

 of it. In fact, the leaves are often almost hidden by its little 

 victims. This species has been found near the coast at Ply- 

 mouth, Massachusetts, and thence southward to New Jersey 

 and Florida. 



Our most common species, the Round-leaved Sundew (D. 

 rotundifolia), is a more delicate little plant, with round leaves 

 on spreading petioles which lie quite near the ground. The 

 flower-stem is seldom more than eight inches high, bearing 

 several small white flowers. It is very common in peat-bogs 

 and wet sandy places throughout New England. 



The Long-leaved Sundew, formerly called D. longifolia, but 

 now known to botanists as D. i7itermedia, var. Americana, is 

 not so common, but grows in bogs, in wetter places, and 

 might almost be called an aquatic. In its general appearance it 

 much resembles the preceding, and it has similar white 



