JUNE 12, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



279 



Greek Emperors at Constantinople obtained possession of the 

 country. In 638 they were followed by the Arab invaders and 

 the long line of Egyptian caliphs was established. Then, of 

 course, the cultivation of the Vine was abandoned. 



" California Lilacs." 



ONE of the most prominent, as well as ornamental, shrubs 

 of the Santa Cruz coast range of mountains is the Ceano- 

 thus in its various forms and species. As early as January 

 some flowers begin to appear. But May is the month of its 

 greatest glory. On the sea-side slope of these mountains there 

 are five distinct species: (i) Ceanothus ciineatiis, Nutt.; (2) C. 

 papillosus, Torr. & Gray; (3) C. incanus, Torr. & Gray; (4) 

 C. ihyrstflorns, Esch.; (5) C. Andersoni, Parry. 



I mention them in the order of their blooming. The flowers 

 are all of a pleasant fragrance, and when in bloom give a 

 charm to these regions peculiarly attractive to the lover of 

 nature. 



Dr. C. C. Parry, the eminent botanist, who for forty years or 

 more has made observations from time to time on the Pacific 

 Coast, has published lately in the " Proceedings of the Daven- 

 port Academy of Sciences " a paper on the Ceanothus. To him 

 I am indebted for much information in regard to these shrubs; 

 and with him a few days ago I had the pleasure of a visit 

 and trip of observation to the habitat of each of the above- 

 named species. 



The doctor having an eye for the beautiful as well as the new 

 in botany, says : "If asked to designate a spot where they (the 

 Ceanothus) occur in the greatest profusion and variety I should 

 not hesitate to award the palm to the Santa Cruz range of 

 mountains." 



Ceanothus cuneatus has pale blue or whitish flowers in 

 small, rounded clusters, small opposite leaves and branches, 

 gray bark; a very pretty shrub, three to eight feet high. 



C. papillosus has deep sky-blue flowers in small globose 

 clusters. The dark green leaves, by which it is most readily 

 distinguished, carry small pimples (papillae) on the margin and 

 upper surface. Whilst May is the month of its greatest bloom, 

 flowers can be found at all seasons. 



C. incanus is well-named, for the leaves and branches are 

 hoary or white. The common name is White Thorn, so 

 named because of its spinose branches. The leaves are broad, 

 ovate and triple-veined. The flowers are whitish, in short 

 racemes, and slightly fragrant. The bush is five to fifteen feet 

 high, with a rounded shape, but with crooked and very angular 

 branches. 



C. thyrsiflorus is a graceful shrub, reaching in many cases 

 thirty feet in height. It may be recognized at a long distance 

 by its slender branches of pale green leaves and sky-blue 

 sprays or plumes of flowers, looking like the smoke from a 

 camp-flre. This species and No. 2 are not often found 

 growing together. The traveler, however, will often pause to 

 admire the flowering clusters of each as they stand against the 

 mountain-side, giving an indescribable beauty to the landscape. 



C. Andersoni is not very abundant, and only occupies the 

 higher summits of these wooded mountains. With its sprays 

 of pure white flowers, slender and somewhat drooping 

 branches, small, modest, feather-veined leaves of a pale green, 

 it readily attracts attention. When first seen by me in 1882 I 

 secured a few specimens of the flowers, but thinking it possibly 

 a hybrid, they remained unnamed in my herbarium until Dr. 

 Parry saw them; and, after careful investigation, concluded 

 that they belonged to an unnamed species, which he described 

 in the paper I have mentioned. 



The Ceanothus in these mountains are commonly called 

 " Lilacs," or, as I have frequently heard, " Laylocks." They 

 flourish most abundantly among the openings of Oaks, Red- 

 woods, Pines and Firs, on the borders of basins and canons. 

 They are easily cultivated, and might be used to ornament 

 grounds, or possibly for hedges. Nos. i and 3 might grow 

 well in colder climates. I have foimd -them at an altitude of 

 7,000 feet, where the winters are long and severe. 



"Hybridity," says Dr. Parry, "which would seem to be 

 largely favored by the profusion of showy and occasionally 

 fragrant flowers, and which has been suffered to be largely in- 

 strumental in confusing species, is not a very troublesome 

 feature in field observation where alone it can be properly 

 studied." 



And yet in our little walk among these plants we found some 

 very curious combinations which could not be solved very 

 easily in the field, much less in the herbarium. Some of these 

 hybrids were very pretty, too. But the parents were found 

 growing on either side, and the blending of characteristics 

 were so apparent that a botanist would seldom be deceived. 

 Santa Cruz, Cal., May 15th, 1889. C. L. Anderson. 



New or Little Known Plants. 



Rudbeckia laciniata. 



THE most conspicuous feature in the herbaceous 

 flora of North America is found, perhaps, in the 

 great number of autumn-blooming plants of the natural 

 order Compositce. No foreigner visits any part of this 

 continent during the months of September or October 

 without being struck by the great masses of color pro- 

 duced by our Asters, Golden-rods, Sunflowers, and other 

 plants of their order. There are among them many- 

 subjects which are admirably suited for cultivation in 

 herbaceous borders, or for naturalization in less carefully 

 kept parts of the garden ; but although sometimes found 

 in the best European gardens, they have never yet re- 

 ceived in this country anything like the attention which 

 they merit. 



One of the best of these plants for the garden is Rud- 

 beckia laciniata^ a figure of which appears in our illustration 

 upon page 281. It is an old inhabitant of gardens, hav- 

 ing been cultivated by Tradescant, the gardener of Charles 

 the First, as early as 1640, and is sometimes, although 

 not very often now, found in collections of herbaceous 

 plants here. A well-grown plant forms a stout mass of 

 dark green and rather coarse foliage, sometimes four feet 

 high, by nearly as much through, and covered during 

 the month of September, year after year, without any 

 care or attention, with long-stemmed, terminal heads of 

 bright yellow flowers, which light up the herbaceous bor- 

 der or the margins of a wood-walk as few other plants are 

 capable of doing. 



Rudbeckia laciniata is a widely distributed plant, being 

 found from Canada to Florida, and as far west as Mon- 

 tana and New Mexico. 



The Rudbeckias are confined to North America ; and 

 twenty-one species have been distinguished. They all, 

 with one exception, have bright yellow ray-flowers, and 

 elongated dark brown or nearly black discs. They are 

 all worth a place in the garden. 



Cultural Department 



Bagging- Grapes. 



SINCE the enclosing of the clusters of grapes in paper bags 

 to preserve them from the germs or spores of Lcestadia 

 Bidwellii, the seed, so to speak, of the Black Rot, was suggested, 

 I have practiced it ; in a small wjiy at first to test its efBcacy, 

 and since I became satisfied on this point I have annually bagged 

 all the best clusters of all the variefles subject to this malady, 

 using from 12,000 to 15,000 bags for a sn-iall vineyard. But 

 after all that has been written on the subject for the past few 

 years, I frequently find people who have scarcely heard of the 

 practice. These spores are invisible to the naked eye, but 

 they float about in the air, and, lodging on the skin of the 

 grape, are ready to germinate under favorable conditions of 

 moisture and temperature. To prevent their coming in con- 

 tact with the grapes the clusters are enclosed in paper bags, 

 the mouth reaching over the cane, folded and secured with 

 a pin. Soiiie writers give instructions to gather the top of the 

 bag around the stem of the cluster and pin it, but this is bad 

 advice; first, because if it is done as early as is advisable to pro- 

 tect the fruit, the young clusters are too tender to withstauid the 

 strain of wind and water, and many of them break oft' before 

 they acquire sufficient strength to resist the pressure ; and, 

 secondly, many, I may say most varieties of Grapes have such 

 short stems that there is no room between the cluster and the 

 cane to fasten the bag. The Brighton, Empire State, Noah 

 and a few others are not subject to this difficulty, but for the 

 first reason assigned the advice is dangerous. 



A two-pound plain manilla paper bag of fair quality, such as 

 grocers use, is the size generally recommended, but I use the 

 one and a half pound size in preference. This bag measures 

 six and three-eighths by nine and a half inches. The two- 

 pound bag is of the same length, but a little wider, which is 

 of no advantage, and costs n-iore. An inch or two added 

 to the length would be desirable for many varieties. The 

 patent square-bottomed bag possesses no advantage over 

 those of the old pattern, and in fact I should prefer the latter 



