November 26, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



577 



One of the oldest species of this genus is C. atrovirens, a 

 plant that deserves its specific name, for the deeply bilobed 

 leaves, as well as their foot-stalks, are of an extremely dark 

 shade of green. The leaves of this species are gracefully 

 arched, and from a distance have some resemblance to the 

 foliage of a Curculigo. C. atrovirens is a free grower, and 

 usually produces a number of suckers around the base of the 

 parent plant, so that its increase is a comparatively easy mat- 

 ter, and as the foliage of this sort is quite hard it makes a 

 useful plant both in-doors and out. 



In addition to the few species here mentioned there are 

 some others in cultivation, of which one, C. purpurata, is 

 somewhat similar to C. atrovirens, but differs from it in having 

 reddish purple leaf-stems in place of the dark green ones of 

 C. atrovirens. Another fine variety of more recent introduc- 

 tion is C. Plwnieri, which makes a very handsome plant, but 

 it is not so easily obtained as most of the above mentioned 



species. 



Holmesburg, Pa. 



W. H. Tap Hit. 



Variation in Color of Chrysanthemums. 



The Garden (London) of November 1st contains an interest- 

 ing communication from Mr. Edward Molyneux, the well known 

 grower, as to variation in form and coloring of Chrysanthe- 

 mum flowers. Mr. Molyneux is a close observer of this family 

 of plants, and his notes, always interesting, may usually be 

 accepted without question. His conclusion in this article, 

 however, " that the whole cause of the variation of color lies 

 in the date the buds are formed" is not entirely correct. It is, 

 of course, well known to every one having experience in cul- 

 tivating the Chrysanthemum that the buds formed and selected 

 at different seasons will produce forms and colors sometimes 

 almost radically different from each other, and, as a matter of 

 fact, crown-buds of most varieties produce flowers almost 

 always differing in some respects from the terminals in form. 

 Mr. Molyneux's conclusions might be correct as to color varia- 

 tions if only plants grown under usual greenhouse conditions 

 were considered, and perhaps he had plants under glass, as 

 usually cultivated, in mind when writing the article. But there 

 are other conditions of culture, and any one who has grown 

 these flowers, either under shade or in the open, must have 

 observed that besides the difference in the time of bud forma- 

 tion more or less light is an important element in the coloring 

 of many varieties, especially those of lilac and red shades. 

 Persons having greenhouses with imperfect or not very clear 

 glass will often notice a fading out or lightening of some 

 colors, but this difference becomes much more marked when 

 the direct rays of light are entirely excluded, as under a tem- 

 porary canvas or other covering so often used. Having 

 grown fine lots of flowers under a temporary tent, and others 

 in a sheltered south border practically in the open, though 

 with some overhead protection, I have been interested in 

 noting the colorings of the various varieties under these two 

 extremes of exposure. My experience under glass has been 

 so slight that this will not be considered. 



The variety Puritan seems to have been first exhibited in 

 England this year, and its varied colorings excited some com- 

 ment and were the immediate cause of Mr. Molyneux's note, 

 and he explains that " the early formed buds give blooms char- 

 acteristic of its name, . . . later buds give the deep lilac'color 

 sometimes seen; . . . both colors are sometimes to be found 

 early in the season, for the reason that this variety is an early 

 flowering sort, and although both kinds of bloom can be had at 

 the same time and from buds of different dates, those earliest 

 formed require longer to develop from the bud stage." That 

 is not the nature of Puritan with me at least. My early flowers 

 of this variety in the open were a full lilac; they were after 

 covered, and all color disappeared except a slight trace on the 

 lower petals. Those from later buds under the tent are of the 

 purest white with no trace of lilac, and this has heretofore 

 been the rule with this flower in that position ; if grown near 

 the edge of the tent there is usually a faint flush of lilac on the 

 lower petals. 



Admiration is a beautiful old variety if grown under cover, 

 with a white centre, shading outside to a delicate pink. In the 

 open, regardless of any time of bud-forming, it makes flowers 

 of a turbid blue-red and is entirely destitute of any beauty. 

 Madame C. Audiguier seems to be a freaky variety, which has 

 sometimes run counter to my experience with other varieties, 

 for I have had it well colored under cover and nearly white in 

 a sheltered corner, but fully exposed. The effect of shading 

 is not visible on the whites or yellows usually, though it slightly 

 lightens the latter and clears out flesh tints as in Domination. 

 It is in some forms of red that I find flowers are more seriously 

 affected. Val d'Andorre, Lord Byron and flowers of similar 



character are apt to be streaky and off color no matter when 

 buds are taken. The favorite variety, J. Collins, is not seriously 

 affected, though it loses some of the metallic tints so charac- 

 teristic when grown in the open. An early bud which I picked 

 to-day was richly colored in remarkable contrast to flowers 

 from later buds, which, under the same shelter, have only de- 

 veloped a peculiar tan color. All of which, of course, serves 

 to prove that different conditions and different cultivation in 

 the garden produce different results. Among the Chrysanthe- 

 mums one can find infinite pleasure, from early spring till the 

 last flower is withered, in watching the different phases of 

 these wonderfully varied plants. It is not surprising that the 

 Chrysanthemums, single varieties of which have such chame- 

 leon-like habits, are growing constantly in favor of cultiva- 

 tors. 

 Elizabeth, N. J . J. N. Gerard. 



Notes from a Wild Garden. 



'"PHE showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium spectabile), to 

 •*■ which repeated reference has been made in Garden and 

 Forest, is rarely seen in cultivation. This neglect can prob- 

 ably be accounted for in the main by the limited areas in 

 which it is found, that it is nowhere abundant and that it 

 rarely bears fertile seed. But a little experience I have had 

 seems to indicate that it may be readily propagated. Five or 

 six years ago I introduced a plant to my garden. The first 

 year it sent up but a single stem; but the stems have since 

 been increasing at the rate of about one a year, and the past 

 season there were five, all of which flowered, two or three 

 bearing two flowers each. A division of the roots (which 

 might have been made sooner to advantage) would of course 

 now multiply them indefinitely. The plant, in the first 

 place, was given a prepared soil of rich leaf-mould in a damp 

 and partially shaded situation, and carefully mulched each 

 successive year. 



The corm of the Green Dragon {Ariscema Dracontium), of 

 which mention was made in former notes, was reset the 

 last season, as before, in a rich damp soil, and made a 

 most remarkable growth. The terminal and principal leaf 

 measured eighteen inches across, the leaflets all gracefully 

 drooping with their own weight. The rigid upright stem, 

 three-quarters of an inch in diameter near the ground, was 

 over two feet in height and bore a second well developed leaf. 

 The plant never failed to attract attention for its oddity. Of 

 fair size when first introduced to the garden, it has been in- 

 creasing in size each succeeding year. The corm the last 

 season measured three inches in diameter or about the size 

 of the mouth of a tea-cup. 



To whom has it ever occurred to cultivate the Wood-Nettle 

 {Laportea Canadensis) as an ornamental plant ? And yet it 

 only awaits a trial to prove to any one its effectiveness as a 

 decorative plant for certain positions in the garden. Its merit 

 was discovered to me only by an accident. In removing 

 another plant from the woods some' of the roots of the former 

 remained in the soil, which, springing up, were allowed to 

 grow, and for several years past it has formed a singularly 

 effective clump of rich green foliage about four feet high. 

 The ample leaves are still larger, the stems are taller and the 

 foliage much increased by cultivation, and the great, spreading 

 cymes of the strange-looking greenish flowers — the striking 

 feature of the plant — are also much enlarged. It is enough 

 to say a plant that will force the question from the most 

 casual observer, "What is it?" is a success and needs no 

 further commendation, and such is the Wood-Nettle in cul- 

 tivation. Give it a rich soil in a damp, shady spot, and all it 

 asks is to be let alone. 

 Fairview, W. Va. IV. E. Hill. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



A FEW plants of the Heath family are well known for the 

 beautiful effects of autumn foliage which they assume. 

 While some species have valuable characteristics of this kind 

 it does not follow that all the species of any genus have any 

 similarity in their manner of autumn coloring and defoliating. 

 The foliage of many of the Blueberries and Huckleberries 

 assumes bright red, crimson or orange colors in the late 

 autumn, and it often persists much longer than the bright 

 hued leaves of a majority of plants of other genera. 



In the latter part of October and the early portion of Novem- 

 ber the High Blueberry {Vaccinium corymbosum) often ex- 

 hibits splendid coloring which is hardly surpassed by the 

 Sumachs, whose leaves fall much earlier. Although the com- 

 mon Low Blueberry {V. Pennsylvania/Hi) often brightens the 

 waste places which it covers it is not so satisfactory under 



