214 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 379. 



winged flat pods suggesting a greatly enlarged fruit of the 

 Shepherd's-purse, and quite pretty in their way. The 

 Bugloss, Lycopsis arvensis, a small, but very rough, hairy 

 plant, was occasionally seen in the dry fields. In the 

 grain-fields were the Corn Spurry, Spergula arvensis, and 

 Sonchus arvensis, the large heads of the latter, with glandu- 

 lar bristly involucre and bright golden-yellow rays, being 

 rather handsome. As it sprang up in the Oat-fields, which 

 had apparently been plowed over in the spring, it had all 

 the appearance of an annual, or, at least, of a plant fruiting 

 the first season from the seed. This also seemed evident 

 from an examination of the root, which was not a creeping 

 root-stock, but with the main axis vertical and with smaller 

 branches, as in the roots of the more common Sow This- 

 tles. Of Vetches I noticed Vicia sativa and V. hirsuta in 

 the Wheat-fields or mixed with the Pea-vines, while along 

 the field-borders and in the fence-rows was the native 

 Vetch, Neracca. Though mostly weeds, and somewhat 

 troublesome, the neat pinaate leaves and bright flowers of 

 purple or blue make handsome plants of these Vetches. 

 The little Hop Clover, Trifolium procumbens, abounded in 

 the dry fields and meadows. Euphorbia Peplus frequently 

 appeared as a weed in waste ground. In such places the 

 Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, was very common, as well as 

 the widely disseminated Ranunculus acris. The Bladder 

 Campion, Silene cucubulus, grew up in the field-borders, 

 and when among bushes became very slender and three 

 feet tall sometimes. The flowers generally perfected but 

 five stamens, the five remaining ones attaining but half the 

 usual length, or appearing as short rudimentary stubs at 

 the base of the calyx-tube. The Abbe Provancher, in his 

 Flore Canadie7ine, perhaps alludes to a more extreme case 

 of this barrenness, stating that the flowers are sometimes 

 subdioecious. „ , „.,, 



CliicajiO, III. -C. J. tilll. 



Plant Notes. 



Rhododendron Vaseyii. 



THE attention of our readers has often been called to 

 the value of this Carolina plant in northern gardens, 

 and on page 377 of the first volume of Garden and Forest 

 a figure of it was published. Its hardiness has now been 

 satisfactorily demonstrated in the neighborhood of Boston 

 during the past winter, which has been one of the most 

 severe on plants that has been experienced in the last 

 quarter of a century, killing the flower-buds of most varie- 

 ties of the so-called Ghent Azaleas, in which are mingled 

 the tender Pontic Azalea and some of the American species. 

 So severe have the effects of the winter been that many 

 old plants of the Ghent Azaleas have been killed to the 

 ground ; the evergreen Rhododendrons have suffered seri- 

 ously and the Japanese Retinosporas and other conifers 

 are killed or badly mutilated. Rhododendron Vaseyii, 

 however, is blooming better than ever and the pure pink 

 flowers are delightful. It is not an evergreen species, and, 

 like the Rhodora, to which it is more closejy related than 

 to any other American plant, it loses its leaves in the 

 autumn and does not regain them until May, after the 

 flowers begin to fade. Although in its mountain home 

 Rhododendron Vaseyii sometimes grows to the height of 

 eighteen feet, in cultivation it begins to flower when less 

 than a foot high, and as the flowers open with those of the 

 Poets' Narcissus it is suggested that a good combination 

 could be made by planting a mass of this Rhododendron 

 and then filling up the place between the plants with the 

 Poets' Narcissus. The perfect clear pink of the Rhododen- 

 dron flowers combine perfectly with those of the Narcis- 

 sus, and both plants enjoy moist and not too well-drained 

 soil. 



Our readers will remember that Rhododendron Vaseyii 

 is one of the last of the conspicuous plants discovered in 

 eastern America, and that it was not until 1878 that Mr. 

 George R. Vasey found it near Webster, in Jackson County, 

 North Carolina. Subsequently it was detected in Cashiers' 



Valley, in South Carolina, and still later on the slopes of 

 Grandfather Mountain, in North Carolina. Among the 

 plants of its class none surpass it in beauty, hardiness and 

 the ability to flower profusely year after year, and when 

 better known it will, doubtless, become a general favorite. 

 The Ghent Azaleas are certainly very beautiful, but 

 many of them are not hardy, and those which are able to 

 bear the New England climate often lose their flower-buds 

 in severe winters. The species of eastern America will, 

 therefore, be found more satisfactory for general planting 

 in our severe climate ; their flowers cannot boast, it is true, 

 the range of colors that have been obtained in the more 

 delicate hybrids, but the hardiness of the plants compen- 

 sate for this ; and by selection and hybridization between 

 the eastern American species a race may be produced free 

 of the Pontic strain, which has weakened the constitution 

 of the Ghent breed. English raisers of Azaleas have been 

 using of late years the California Rhododendron (Azalea) 

 occidentale to cross with the Ghent Azaleas. It is a very 

 beautiful white-flowered species, and some of their new 

 hybrids are very handsome, but Rhododendron occidentale 

 is, unfortunately, tender in our climate, and the crosses 

 from it will not probably be very satisfactory here. 



Caragana arborescens. — This Siberian Pea-tree is now in 

 bloom in the parks of this city, and its bright yellow flow- 

 ers appearing among the light green downy leaves make 

 it really attractive. These flowers are often said to resem- 

 ble those of the* Laburnum, but really the flowers of the 

 Laburnum, as they appear in long graceful racemes in 

 England and other places where the climate suits the tree, 

 are much handsomer. The Laburnum, however, does not 

 thrive in this country except in a few favored locations, 

 while the Caragana, by its perfect hardiness and its adapta- 

 bility to all sorts of soils, is a plant that we can always 

 depend upon. It sometimes reaches a height of twenty 

 feet and assumes a genuine tree shape ; it will bloom when 

 it is only three or four feet high, and it has a special value in 

 that it produces flowers of a color which is comparatively 

 rare at this season. These Pea-trees, for there are a num- 

 ber of species and varieties in cultivation, belong to the 

 LeguminosEe, and, with the exception of the Red Buds, 

 they are the earliest of the family to flower. 



Sanguinaria Canadensis. — The Blood-root is among the 

 most attractive of our early-flowering plants, and although 

 the petals fall quickly, when growing in a mass, as 

 it is usually found in nature, fresh flowers continue 

 to appear for several days. These are white, star-shaped 

 and solitary, with a yellow centre. The flower-bud comes 

 out of the ground from the thick root-stock with the leaf 

 wrapped snugly about it. As soon as the leaf opens the 

 scape lengthens, so that the flower is lifted well above the 

 kidney-shaped leaves. These continue to expand after the 

 flowers are past and reach considerable size, so that a mass 

 of them is highly ornamental. The plant thrives in a 

 well-drained soil, but it needs moisture, with some shade, 

 and it does best where it can revel in peat and leaf-mold. 

 It is easily cultivated when these conditions are supplied, 

 and, as Mr. Horsford has pointed out, it does better when 

 planted in clumps of at least six to ten roots, perhaps be- 

 cause the broad leaves shade the ground and keep it cool. 

 When growing vi'ild it is oftenest found in fence corners 

 and similar places where the dead leaves are swept to- 

 gether by the wind, no doubt because mulch of this sort is 

 so effective in keeping the soil damp and cool, as well as 

 furnishing the kind of food in which it delights. The plant 

 derives its name from the orange-red juice which exudes 

 from its root-stock, and to some extent from the flower- 

 stem when cut or bruised. The photograph of a little group 

 of these flowers, which is reproduced on page 215, was 

 taken by IMiss Edith Eliot, of New Bedford, Massachusetts. 



Alyssum saxatile. — This old plant, which has been cul- 

 tivated for more than a century, makes a very pleasing 

 display just now. It is an excellent subject for the rock 

 garden, and never shows better than it does when its pros- 



