45 6 



Garden and Forest. 



[September 17, 1890. 



and burn it at once, otherwise the disease is liable to extend 

 rapidly to other plants. 



It is the same with Hollyhocks, however, as with other 

 classes of plants — some can grow them with little trouble, 

 while others, with the greatest care, cannot succeed so well as 

 manv cottagers. This was the experience of Mr. Cannell, of 

 Swankv, who always found the disease get the best of him 

 when he used to grow a quarter of an acre of Hollyhocks. 

 He had tried all sorts of remedies, but failed. 



London. Phono. 



Sarracenias. 



THE native Pitcher Plants, or "Side-saddle Flowers," as they 

 are sometimes termed, are among the most interesting of 

 bog-plants, and, when well treated, their curious foliage and 

 quaint flowers give a pleasing variety in the arrangement of a 

 cool house or conservatory. In general, they are not specially 

 difficult to manage when under cultivation, the northern spe- 

 cies, Sarracenia purpurea, of course, being perfectly hardy, 

 while the various species belonging to the southern states will 

 nourish in a temperature of about fifty degrees. The soil best 

 suited to their needs is a mixture similar in character to that 

 in which they are found in a wild state, this being usually 

 composed of peat and living sphagnum, though under culti- 

 vation it is advisable that a liberal quantity of drainage mate- 

 rial be placed in the pots or pans in which the plants are grown. 

 In further imitation of nature a covering of live sphagnum 

 may be placed on the surface of the soil, as this is not only an 

 addition to the appearance, but also of benefit to the plants. 

 An abundance of water during the growing season is, of 

 course, necessary for the Sarracenias, and while as much is 

 not needed during the winter, yet they should never be al- 

 lowed to become actually dry. Some shade should be given 

 all through the summer, and also free ventilation, for when 

 kept too close and warm these plants are subject to the attacks 

 of thrips, by which the foliage is soon disfigured. Enough 

 variety can be found among the types to form the nucleus of 

 a most interesting collection, to which may afterward be added 

 some of the many fine hybrids obtained during late years. 



Among the best of the typical species may be classed S. 

 flava, one of the strongest growers, and producing its erect, 

 funnel-shaped leaves or pitchers in profusion, some of the lat- 

 ter attaining a height of fully three feet. The pitchers of S. 

 flava are bright green in color, while the flowers are light yel- 

 low or yellowish green, as the flowers differ somewhat in 

 shade on different specimens. 



6". Drummondii is another fine species of strong growth. A 

 good specimen throws up its leaves to a height of three feet. 

 These are also bright green in ground color, with the addition 

 that the veining of the upper part of the pitchers is marked 

 out in crimson, and the flowers are also dark crimson. This 

 makes the plant entirely distinct from S. flava. 



S. Drummondii alba is a most effective variety of the preced- 

 ing, and is similar to the type in general characteristics, but 

 distinguished from it in having the upper portion of the pitch- 

 ers beautifully variegated with white. This is, doubtless, the 

 best of the native varieties, and makes a fine specimen for 

 exhibition purposes. 



■5*. rubra is also a pretty species, though not quite as strong 

 a grower as the sorts already noted. The pitchers are some- 

 what smaller and more slender in form, and they are veined 

 and their upper portion frequently flushed with dull red. 

 The flowers are quite dark in color and pleasantly scented. 



5. variolaris is an odd-looking species, and has erect, 

 hooded pitchers, winged in front and more or less marked 

 with white. This plant bears a closer resemblance to the 

 Californian representative of the Sarracenia family (Darling- 

 tonia Californica) than any other species with which I am 

 familiar, but it differs from the latter in having the true Sarra- 

 cenia flower. 



6". psittacina has some points in common with 5*. variolaris, 

 chiefly in the shape of the pitcher, but S. psittacina, being 

 prostrate in habit and much smaller in all its parts, is thus 

 made abundantly distinct from it. To render it effective, S. 

 psittacina should be massed in a large pan, and, for that 

 matter, this is the most satisfactory way to grow any of the 

 species, and with a little care they will make worthy ornaments 

 for any conservatory. 



The hardy pitcher plant, S. purpurea, may also be grown as 

 a greenhouse plant, but under such conditions it seldom 

 attains the rich reddish purple tint that is so admirable in the 

 plant when growing in its native swamp, and it is, therefore, 

 best that this species should be reserved for a snug corner in 

 the bog-garden. 



Holmesburg, Pa. W. H. laplin. 



Notes on American Plants. 



ONE of the most interesting plants at this season of the year, 

 on account of its fruit, is the White Baneberry (Aetata alba). 

 The oblong racemes of white flowers, which come about the 

 middle or last of May, are quite pretty, but at that season are 

 not so valuable because so many other plants are in flower. 

 But now its large, shiny, white berries, tipped with black, take 

 the place of the flowers, and remain prominent a long time. 

 It has the advantage of many other plants of this sort, for 

 there is nothing to take its fruit. Birds never seem to eat the 

 berries, and they are not inclined to drop off as soon as ma- 

 ture, as many others do. Its height varies from one to three 

 feet, and it is not rare to see plants well fruited that are scarcely 

 ten inches high. It likes the shade, a rich and well drained 

 soil, and may be transplanted in either spring or autumn. 



Zephyranthes Candida, a fine representative of the Amaryllis 

 family, was sent us from southern Texas. It comes from a 

 medium-sized spherical bulb, which is covered with a thin 

 coating not very unlike that of an onion. It seems to be a 

 strong, healthy species, with numerous grass-like leaves a 

 third of an inch or more in width. The large white flowers 

 come later in the season than most of its class, which makes it 

 the more valuable. They are nearly two inches wide and sin- 

 gle at the summit of the almost naked scape. It is useful for 

 cutting, though the stalks are not so long as those of the 

 Cooperias. We have not tested its hardiness, but I suppose it 

 would not stand much frost, and it is not necessary that it 

 should, for these bulbs from southern Texas and Mexico win- 

 ter very nicely in the cellar and are among the easiest of ten- 

 der plants to manage. 



Gentiana linearis, which was formerly known as G. sapo- 

 naria, var. linearis, has a closed flower, usually over an inch 

 long, of a light blue color. Its leaves are long and narrow, 

 and the numerous simple stalks are from one to two feet high. 

 Near the summit of the stronger ones are borne two to four 

 light blue flowers. It blooms considerably earlier in the sea- 

 son than the common closed Gentian (67. Andrew sii), and its 

 habitat is confined, I think, to peat bogs in partly shaded situa- 

 tions. Transplanted into light loamy soil in the shade it does 

 finely, especially after it becomes established. It may not 

 always flower the first year after transplanting, but if it is in a 

 suitable location it will the second year, and will continue to 

 thrive for a long time thereafter. It may be transplanted in 

 spring or early autumn. 



The common closed Gentian (G. Andrewsii) is already in 

 many collections of our native wild flowers. It is a valuable 

 hardy perennial, not difficult to manage, and does fairly well 

 in either sun or shade, though shade seems to suit it best. A 

 moist loamy or gravelly soil seems to suit. It may not always 

 live, but there is seldom any trouble in its management. It is 

 a more leafy and stocky plant than the former, of about the 

 same height, but with shorter and wider leaves, and shorter 

 and thicker, somewhat darker blue flowers. It likes a moist 

 soil, but not too wet. It transplants well in either spring or 

 autumn. 



Aster acuminatus is a species which grows in cool mountain 

 woods. Most plants of this species are not very showy, but in 

 some favorable locations they bear an abundance of large light 

 purplish flowers in wide, flat heads, and are very handsome. 

 This Aster is usually only a foot or fifteen inches high, and in 

 some of the finest specimens the flat heads or corymbs of flow- 

 ers are nearly six inches wide. It soon forms dense beds, and if 

 the soil is very rich and moist it may become almost a pest. It 

 needs more time to become established than most species, 

 and a partly shaded location is better than a sunny one. 



Southwick, Mass. F. H. Horsford. 



Dendrobium Findlayanum. — This is a very fine species and 

 one easy to manage. The flowers, which, if spread out, would 

 measure from three to four inches across from tip to tip of 

 the petals, are produced from the upper portion of the stems, 

 either singly or in pairs, on pale pink pedicels. The usual 

 time for their appearance is about March and April, but it fre- 

 quently happens that plants of D. Findlayanum will be found 

 blooming as late in the season as July and August. The sepals 

 and petals are pure white, with a purple stain at the tips ; the 

 former are oblong-lanceolate, and the latter oblong-elliptic, 

 much broader and having a wavy margin. Comparatively 

 speaking, the lip is large and roundish, the concave portion 

 being deep orange-yellow, outside of which is a band of white 

 decorated in front with a conspicuous stain of purple. To 

 complete the description of the entire plant, the stems or 

 pseudo-bulbs, which attain a height of twelve to eighteen 

 inches, are remarkable for having each joint swollen into a 

 pear-shaped or obovoid body, the attenuated base of which is 



