444 



Garden and Forest. 



[September io, 1890. 



crown is of delicate texture, large and somewhat funnel- 

 shaped. 



There is nothing in mygarden that presents a more striking 

 effect at this time than a clump of Sedge or Wool-grass (Scir- 

 pus Eriophorum). It is about five feet in height, with brownish 

 or rust colored, soft woolly, great drooping panicles, and the 

 long deep green foliage is also handsome, reaching up to the 

 brown panicles. Other Sedges are also effective at this time. 

 The Cotton-grass {Eriophorum Virginicum), with light rust 

 colored, soft, cottony heads, is one of the best and as handsome 

 as any Hower. And the foliage of some of the wild plants is 

 no less beautiful than flowers. The Sumachs and Sweet-gum 

 and Sassafras and Swamp-Maples are already beginning to 

 take on color as brilliant as the gayest flowers, while others, 

 like the Alders, Birches, Bayberry and White Fringe, are still 

 of the darkest, deepest green. 



yinelaiid, N.j. Mary Treat. 



Some Native Ferns. 



THE Hay-scented Fern {Dicksojiia pilosiuscula) is the only 

 representative we have of this genus in the United States. 

 According to Lyell's " Hand-book of Ferns," there are twenty- 

 nine known species of Dicksonia in the world, but these are 

 mostly natives of tropical climates, Europe having but one, 

 northern Asia one, and one in North America north of 

 Mexico. Ours is a very beautiful Fern, about three feet high, 

 with fronds about twice as long as the stalks, twice or rarely 

 thrice divided. It is found from Canada to Alabama, but is 

 not supposed to occur outside of eastern North America. It 

 comes from creeping root-stalks and forms dense beds of its 

 finely divided fronds. It is so abundant in many portions of 

 the mountainous districts of New England that it is the princi- 

 pal pest of many mountain farms, taking almost complete pos- 

 session of cleared pasture-lands which are too rough and 

 stony for cultivation. In tillable soil it is easily kept out. 

 Although it does well in the shade in the moist, gravelly soils 

 of mountainous districts, it seems to prefer the sun. It is one 

 of our most valuable Ferns for cultivation, and is more exten- 

 sively grown in England, where it is highly prized, than in its 

 native country. 



Scolopendrium vulgare (Heart's-tongue) is a rare Fern in 

 America and the only species of the genus found in the 

 United States. There are said to be only nine distinct species 

 in the world. This one has been found in only two or three 

 places in North America north of Mexico. One or two of 

 these are in New York State and one in Canada. But in 

 Europe it is more abundant and variable. It has many forms, 

 one English writer claiming as many as a hundred varieties. 

 Here it is seldom over eighteen inches high by one or two 

 inches wide; but in Europe it sometimes attains a height of 

 nearly four feet. The single fronds are somewhat heart- 

 shaped at the base. It is a valuable hardy Fern for cultivation, 

 but needs to be planted in a loamy or gravelly soil in the 

 shade. It may be transplanted in early autumn or in the spring. 



Pellaa atropurpurea (Clayton's Cliff-brake) is generally con- 

 sidered a difficult species to grow, and all efforts to grow it 

 with ordinary level culture seem to have failed ; but if its 

 natural locality is closely copied it is not hard to manage. It 

 is a useful Fern for cliff-work and when once established will 

 continue from year to year. Mr. C. G. Pringle had a plant that 

 lived without any care for twelve years in a shaded crevice of 

 an old wall on the north side of his house, in Charlotte, Ver- 

 mont. It is an interesting and curious little evergreen, with 

 wiry, brittle stalks from two or three inches to a foot high. It 

 is usually found on shaded limestone cliffs in tufts of two or 

 three stalks, to a hundred or more in large specimens. In its 

 peculiar habitat it is found from Canada to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and south to Alabama, Mexico and South America. 



Aspidium spinulosum (Spinulose Wood Fern) is a common 

 half evergreen species about three feet high at maturity, with 

 oblong-lanceolate fronds about twice as long as the stalk. 

 These are twice or three times divided, fine and pretty. 

 There are chaffy scales the entire length of the stalk and 

 rachis of the frond. It is found in moist, shaded woods from 

 Newfoundland to Oregon, and south to the southern Alleghe- 

 nies. There are three forms in New England, the typical spe- 

 cies, the var. intermedium and var. dilatatum. The latter is 

 the largest form and grows in mountainous districts. It is a 

 good Fern for shaded slopes and is perfectly hardy. Early 

 autumn or spring is the best time for transplanting. 



The Virginia Chain Fern ( Woodwardia Virginica) is the best 

 bog Fern we have and will thrive in wetter locations than any 

 other American species. It is useful for bogs, wet margins of 

 ponds and streams, and, unlike most other Ferns, is not af- 

 fected bv stagnant water. In fact, it is often covered with water 



in the spring or in very wet seasons, and at such times is a 

 difficult Fern to procure from its habitat. Its height is from 

 two to four feet, with stalks and fronds about the same length, 

 twice divided, and from four to eight inches across at the widest 

 part. Though not a common Fern, it is abundant enough in its 

 peculiar localities from Canada to Florida and as far west as 

 Arkansas. It will live in drier soil with ordinary culture, but 

 a wet, boggy soil is its most natural home. 

 Southwick, Mass. r. H. Horsford. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



T T has been remarked that the Japanese Viburnum Sieboldi 

 *■ did not produce much fruit in this latitude. This state- 

 ment would appear to hold true only during the early years of 

 the growth of the plant, and as it becomes older the flowers 

 are more generally followed by fruit, as is the case with nu- 

 merous other plants. V. Sieboldi grafted on stock of V. den- 

 tatum, and now over ten years old, is very freely bearing fruit 

 in the Arboretum this season. Unlike most other species in 

 the genus, the drupes in the compound, slightly convex cymes 

 of this appear to ripen gradually and in slow succession, the 

 earliest changing color and becoming soft soon after the mid- 

 dle of August, and the latest not showing the same evidences 

 of maturity until the first or second week of September. The 

 fruit is not strikingly ornamental, being light red above and 

 greenish beneath up to the day of ripening, when it becomes 

 black with a blue bloom and also very soft, and soon after- 

 ward it shrivels and falls off. The pulp is dark and of peculiar 

 taste, and so intensely sweet that it is disagreeable. After hand- 

 ling the soft fruit, a sticky, elastic residue remains on the 

 hands. In size and shape the drupes have some resemblance to 

 those of the common Wayfaring-tree ( V. Lantana), but in the 

 latter they are usually not so regular and smooth, and the en- 

 closed seed is much thinner and broader. This plant has been 

 and is still sold under the name of V. J ' aponicum or V, Ja- 

 ponicum latifolium. 



The rare North Carolina Huckleberry ( Vaccinium hirsutum), 

 of which a figure was given in the last volume of Garden and 

 Forest (page 365), gives a promise of being valuable in culti- 

 vation here as one of the latest of its kind to ripen fruit. The 

 little plants in the Arboretum begin to flower early in June, 

 and the earliest berries mature in the last days of July. The 

 best period of fruitage appears to be about the middle of Au- 

 gust, but berries remain on the plants until early September. 

 The hairy character of the shining black fruit would doubtless 

 be against it for market purposes, but upon eating it the hairs 

 are not so noticeable or objectionable as might be supposed ; 

 and in other respects the berries are very palatable, being 

 juicy and of pleasant flavor. 



Although the Cowberry ( V. Vitis-Idcea) naturally haunts 

 high latitudes and altitudes, being rarely found in other situa- 

 tions, it may be made to grow and fruit in cultivation if given 

 a moderately moist and cool, but not too shady, place. The 

 bright red berries begin to ripen here about the middle 

 of August, and they have the same acid, slightly bitter and 

 mealy quality which distinguishes them when growing wild on 

 the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Although hardly 

 pleasant tasted when raw, they may. with a little cooking, be 

 made into refreshing and pleasant drinks and sauces. 



When writing of Euonymus nanus some European writer 

 has expressed the opinion that it probably bore little or no 

 fruit in this country. E. nanus, however, fruits quite freely in 

 the vicinity of Boston, and the seed within the pods is fully 

 and perfectly developed. It is the earliest species of the genus 

 to mature fruit, the pretty pink pods opening about the mid- 

 dle of August and disclosing the orange colored arils. The 

 narrow, very dark evergreen foliage and the neat, compact 

 habit of some of the best forms of this species make it a 

 charming and attractive little shrub for using in many situa- 

 tions in the garden where showy blooming plants are not a 

 desideratum. 



Arnold Arboretum. J ■ 



Saccolabium Hendersonianum is the name of a charming 

 little Orchid, which, unfortunately, is not seen often enough, 

 owing chiefly to its scarcity in the market. In a few collections 

 in England, however, it is found to grow vigorously and flower 

 freely. From one of these collections— that of Major Mason, 

 of Warwick— a specimen was recently sent to the meeting of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society in London, where it was 

 generally admired by the Orchid-loving fraternity. In habit 

 the plant is dwarf, with distichous, strap-shaped, leathery leaves 

 about six inches long and more or less recurved. The flowers, 

 which are compactly arranged on a stiffish, erect raceme, and 

 average as many as forty in number, have beautiful rosy pink 





