194 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 377. 



Crowberry, Empetrum nigrum. I found this in the greatest 

 quantities on the roclis along the St. Lawrence and the Sa- 

 guenay in the vicinity of Tadousac. The blackberries con- 

 trast strongly in color with the red globes of the cowberry, 

 and patches of the two growing together on the rocks 

 formed charming little fruit gardens. The berries, which 

 the Canadians call Camarines, are used in the same way as 

 the cowberries, although they seem less serviceable and 

 rather seedy with their eight or nine hard nutlets, though 

 the flesh has an agreeable acid taste. Still another low 

 plant was sometimes found in the same localities, or even 

 mixed with these where there is a thin bed of peat-mold in 

 the hollows of the rocks. I refer to Comandra livida. Its 

 leaves resemble those of our common C. umbellata, but are 

 generally larger. The fruit looks quite different, and is 

 rather handsome. The woody roots or stems creep among 

 the moss, sending up herbaceous stems about six inches 

 high, which bear one or more red berries in the axils of the 

 leaves. These are very ornamental when seen among the 

 smooth and thickish oval leaves. 



These peat mosses on the rocks, or nearly up to the 

 summit of some of the ridges, wese a frequent cause of 

 surprise. They brought plants of very different habits into 

 close proximity. A hollow space to catch the rainfall, or 

 into which water ran from neighboring rocks a little higher, 

 seemed all that was needful tor Sphagnum and its charac- 

 teristic plants. It was but a step from a barren, glaciated 

 surface of rock, or one sprinkled with a few plants, to one 

 of these beds of peat, where one would be in the midst of 

 Cassandra calyculata, Ledum or some kindred growth. 

 The moist air and frequent showers or fogs did not often 

 permit the hollows to become entirely dry, and the spongy 

 sphagnum well served its purpose of a mulch for such 

 plants as root in the soil formed by its decay. 



Ledum latifolium and Kalmia latifolia were not confined 

 to such places, but were common in sandy land. Though 

 mostly found in fruit, some were seen in flower as late as 

 the end of August. Cornus Canadensis was not infrequent 

 in flower but a few days before.- Besides the Ericaceous 

 plants that have been mentioned, the other more noticeable 

 ones were Epigsea repens, Chimaphila umbellata, Gaul- 

 theria procumbens, Pyrola elliptica and P. secunda. Mono- 

 tropa Hypopitis was frequent in the Hemlock woods at 

 Tadousac. Trailing over the ground in the deep shade of 

 evergreens was the slender Linniea borealis. A familiar 

 shrub, common about the Great Lakes in the sand, Shep- 

 herdia Canadensis, here grew upon the rocks. In the peat 

 bogs and Tamarack swamps the persistent calyces and 

 expanded style of the Pitcher-plant were still conspicuous, 

 simulating some deep purple flower. 



The rocks were often enlivened by the presence of the 

 blue bells of Campanula rotundifolia, which sprang from 

 any bit of soil where it could gain a foothold. It usually 

 appeared under that form which gives it its specific name, 

 with plenty of roundish leaves growing at the base of 

 stems. Though the taller form with linear leaves, the 

 variety Langsdorffiana, is the one most frequently seen in 

 the vicinity of Chicago, the typical form with the round 

 leaves grows upon the steep sides of sand-hills in the Pine- 

 barrens. Similar conditions of growth have brought about 

 quite the same results, and produced the features which 

 are more habitual to it in its rocky home, for it seems to 

 make but little difference whether it roots in the scanty 

 soil of some rock crevice or in rock that has been ground 

 to fine silicious sand and piled by the wind into a dune, 

 and fixed in place by a scanty growth of shrubs and trees. 

 This is a feature shown by several plants which have 

 gained a lodgment on the dunes, but are in other places 

 known as denizens of the rocks. One of these is the Pale 

 Corydalis, C. glauca. It needs a more generous supply of 

 soil than the Harebell, being a plant of larger growth. It 

 was specially frequent on the rocky inclines facing Ha-ha 

 Bay, where its smooth glaucous stems and yellow-tipped 

 purplish petals formed a dainty combination amid the gen- 

 eral barrenness. The usual vi'ild Strawberry of the region 



was Fragaria vesca, well marked by long conical berries, 

 shaped like a sugar-loaf, and by its superficial akenes. 

 Here, as well as in other places where I have met with it, 

 the plant seems most at home in its typical form among 

 the rocks, and more common in the northern latitudes. 

 Cliicigo, 111. E. J. Hill. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Miltonia vexillaria, "Fairy Queen." 



THIS chaste and beautiful variety has now been in flower 

 for three weeks, and the photograph, which was taken 

 a fortnight ago and is reproduced on page 195, does not do 

 it justice. The plant is growing in a seven-inch pan, hav- 

 ing four leading growths, carrying nine spikes and fifty- 

 three flowers, each flower measuring more than three and 

 a half inches in length by three inches in breadth. The 

 lip is of the purest white, Vi'ith a rich lemon crest ; the 

 sepals and petals are broad and overlapping — sepals white, 

 and the petals white slightly and faintly tinged with pink 

 at the base on their first opening, but gradually becoming 

 pure white. Several forms of so-called white Miltonias 

 have been introduced, such as Cobbiana, Albescens, Alba, 

 etc., but "Fairy Queen" stands to-day unquestioned, and 

 justly so, as the only pure form yet introduced. 



This plant was secured four years ago, having at that 

 time two bulbs and one lead. It has been grown with our 

 other Miltonias in a temperature of sixty degrees by 

 day and fifty-five degrees at night, but during very severe 

 vi'eather we allow the temperature to fall a trifle lower. We 

 grow them at the west end of our Odontoglossum-house 

 all the year round, and every Miltonia is just as perfect as 

 the one shown in the illustration. After the flowering sea- 

 son we keep them partially at a so-called rest, not giving 

 them so much water at the roots, but maintaining plenty 

 of atmospheric moisture. When they commence to grow 

 and young roots are emitted from the base of the growth 

 they are overhauled and such plants as require repotting 

 are attended to. The best potting material is made of equal 

 parts of good fibrous peat or Fern root, with the fine part 

 sifted out, and fresh sphagnum picked in small pieces, 

 with finely sifted dry cow-manure sprinkled through the 

 whole. The pots are filled to a little less than two-thirds of 

 their capacity with clean, broken crocks, and these are cov- 

 ered with sphagnum to insure perfect drainage. In potting, 

 care must be taken to set the plant firmly, keeping its base 

 about an inch above the rim of the pot. The plant should be 

 kept moist, although water should be given cautiously until 

 the roots are moving actively in the new material and the 

 growths are developing. When the bulbs begin to form, 

 water must be given freely ; in fact, they must never be 

 allowed to get dry until they have developed their flowers. 



The greatest enemies to Miltonias are yellow thrips, 

 which must be exterminated as soon as they appear ; 

 sponging with tobacco-water and fumigating constantly 

 will keep them down. The appearance ot spider and thrips 

 is a sure sign of too high temperature and dry atmosphere. 



LansswalerGaiflens, North Easlon. Mass. Wllliaill RobiuSOll. 



Plant Notes. 



Prunus pendula. — This fine, early-flowering Cherry was 

 in full bloom here a fortnight ago. The plant comes 

 to us from Japan, and, although introduced many years 

 ago, as yet it is comparatively rare in gardens. It is a 

 tree of pendulous habit and covered, before the opening 

 of the leaves, with pink flowers, profusely borne on the 

 old wood and on that of the previous season's growth. The 

 great abundance, the charming color of the flowers and the 

 graceful habits of growth give it a very distinguished ap- 

 pearance among our early-blooming plants. It is perfectly 

 hardy ami succeeds in any good soil and fairly sheltered 

 situation. The only drawback is that occasionally the 



