January 9, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



15 



native Roses, but they grow in corymbose clusters, and they 

 have the special merit of possessing that typical wild- 

 rose fragrance which everybody enjoys. A single plant 

 will spread by underground shoots, so that in a few years 

 it will make a large clump, and it is very 'useful where 

 masses of shrubs of considerable size are wanted. We 

 are led to speak of the Swamp Rose at this time 

 because just now its corymbs of highly colored fruit make 

 a very effective showing above the snow in a few of the 

 shrub borders of Central Park, where it has found its way, 

 perhaps, by some natural means of distribution, although 

 it may have been planted. This fruit is bright scarlet, and 

 it not only clings to the plant all winter, but it keeps its 

 color and remains sound and plump until some early-flow- 

 ering shrubs like the Japanese Witch Hazel are in full 

 bloom. Altogether, it is one of our native shrubs whose 

 value for park planting at different seasons ought to be 

 more generally known. 



but the variety Excelsum, or a special strain of this variety 

 called Harpur Crewe, which was introduced a few years 

 ago, seemed to give a new impulse to the cultivation of 

 various kinds of the Leopard's Bane, which is the common 

 name of the genus. Doronicum Caucasicum, which was 

 known in the early part of this century, is itself an admira- 

 ble plant for cutting, and is now quite generally cultivated. 

 Of course, the true home of these plants is the outdoor 

 garden, for they are perfectly hardy and among the most 

 showy of border plants ; but if they are lifted with care in 

 autumn, potted and placed in a cool greenhouse they will 

 be now large enough to flower, and through February and 

 the early spring months they will bloom abundantly. 

 These large yellow flowers are not only beautiful, but they 

 last well when cut. The variety Excelsum blooms later, 

 since it grows to a height of four or five feet, and when at 

 its best it bears flowers three, or even four, inches across, 

 but D. Caucasicum will flower much earlier in five-inch 



Fig, 2. — Fraxinus velutina on the Chiricaliua Mountains in Arizona — See pa'^je 



PoLYPODiUM (Goniophlebium) subauriculatum. — Although 

 this Fern is graceful even when young it never shows 

 its real decorative value until it is fully grown. Its 

 distinctive feature is the pendulous habit of its fronds, 

 which are pinnate and bright green. When placed 

 in a large tub and allowed to grow, these fronds, which are 

 produced in great abundance, will hang down on every 

 side to a length of ten or twelve feet. When placed on a 

 tall pedestal, a specimen four or five feet through and 

 draped to the ground with a dense curtain of green fronds 

 makes a very striking picture. This Fern was brought 

 from the Malayan Archipelago a great many years ago, 

 and is one of the most graceful of the family. The bright 

 yellow fruit-dots, like those of other Polypodiums, are 

 sunk so deeply in the fronds that they make a httle pro- 

 tuberance on the other side. 



Doronicum plantagineum. — This Composite plant from 

 southern Europe was introduced twenty-five years ago, 



pots, and it rarely grows more than a foot tall. D. Clusii 

 also makes a good pot-plant, although it is not so sturdy a 

 plant for outdoor cultivation. All Doronicums do better in 

 a heavy soil which is retentive of moisture. 



Cultural Department. 



Epigrea repens. 



EPIG^A REPENS, the Mavllower of some parts of New 

 England, the Ground Laurel or Trailing Arbutus of 

 various localities in eastern North .■America, has probably 

 excited as much interest as any other hardy plant. _ Many 

 efforts have been made to domesticate it, and few kinds of 

 plants have so often failed to flourish under artificial condi- 

 tions. In most cases where transplanting from its natural 

 home is attempted old plants are taken up with as many roots 

 as possible or convenient, and sometimes with earth. They 

 are too often rudely taken from the warm shelter of woods 

 and leaf-covered ground to some position quite different either 



