326 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 390. 



remains hanging to plants until midsummer. Ripe fruit 

 and flowers are frequently seen on a plant at the same 

 time, this being true of quite a number of our cylindrical 

 Opuntias ; O. versicolor sometimes retains its fruit for two 

 years or even longer. In both the proliferous fruit hangs 

 in large pendulous clusters from the extremity of the 

 branches. Many of these fruits, more especially those 

 which develop from the tubercles of other fruits, are sterile, 

 or have but few seeds. They are easily detached, and 

 when they fall to the ground the moisture in them is suffi- 

 cient to enable them to take root and in time form a new 

 plant. The twenty or less small pulvilli on the ovary bear 

 a few scattered spines, which usually fall off as the fruit 

 matures. The young joiiits are easily broken off and cling 

 like formidable burrs to anything with which they come 

 in contact. The joints carried about in this manner by 

 various animals finally drop off, take root and produce new 

 plants, this being the principal method of dissemination. 



The most conspicuous differences between the two plants 

 are in the relative plumpness and diameter of the terminal 

 joints, the tumidity of the tubercles, and the number and 

 length of the spines — differences which depend to a great 

 measure upon locality. Three years ago a specimen of 

 Opuntia mamillata was brought from the foot-hills north of 

 Tucson and set out in the Cactus garden at the university. 

 Each year this plant more nearly approaches the plains 

 plant in appearance ; the spines are becoming more numer- 

 ous and longer, the joints smaller and the tubercles less 

 prominent. From my observations I conclude that O. 

 mamillata is at most but a variety of O. fulgida. 



University ol Arizona. J- W. TounieV . 



Plant Notes. 



SoPHORA jAPONrcA. — The few well-grown specimens of 

 this tree now in flower in Central Park attract much atten- 

 tion, partly due to the fact that no other good-sized trees 

 are in bloom at this late season, but their abundant, 

 cream-colored, pea-shaped flowers would be striking at any 

 time. These flowers, which are produced in loose panicles 

 at the ends of the branches, are not as large as those of the 

 Clammy Locust, but they continue to open for two or three 

 weeks. This late production of abundant and lasting 

 flowers is only one of the merits of this tree; however. It 

 is perfectly hardy in all our north-eastern states, although 

 it does not ripen seed. In form it has a broad, round head, 

 and the dark green color of its younger branches also adds 

 to its effective appearance. When grown in a well-drained, 

 rich soil, its foliage is a deep lustrous green, and it remains 

 on the tree looking clean and fresh until late autumn. In an 

 early volume of Garden and Forest, Mr. Nicholson described 

 a specimen of this tree at Kew, which was one of the three 

 or four plants first brought into England. It is fifty feet 

 high, with a spread of seventy-five feet and a trunk circum- 

 ference of nearly fourteen feet. The specimen in Syon 

 Park, as described and figured by Loudon, is still larger. 

 None of the trees in this country, so far as we know, have 

 reached this size, but there are many good specimens still 

 growing, and it is one of the peculiarities of the tree that 

 the older it gets the more floriferous it is. Altogether, it is 

 one of the very best of medium-sized exotic trees for orna- 

 mental planting in this country. In spite of its specific 

 name, this Sophora is really a Chinese tree which has been 

 introduced into Japan, where it was first found by Euro- 

 pean botanists, and from which country it has been dis- 

 tributed among the parks and gardens of the western 

 world. There is a weeping form of the species which 

 grows- into very picturesque shapes. 



Rhus copaluna. — This is the so-called Dwarf Sumach, 

 one of the commonest of our native shrubs, sometimes 

 hardly more than a foot high, and again, in richer soil, 

 eight or ten times as tall, while in southern Arkansas and 

 Texas it becomes a tree thirty feet high, with a trunk diam- 

 eter of ten inches. It is flowering now, considerably 

 later than the Smooth Sumach, which was preceded in 



bloom by the Stag-horn Sumach. Neither the flowers nor 

 fruit are as conspicuous as those of the Stag-horn Sumach, 

 but the male flowers continue to open in succession for 

 three or four weeks, and long after those of the fertile plant 

 have fallen. The fruit ripens to a dull red in autumn, and 

 sometimes to a bright crimson. The chief beauty of the 

 plant, however, is its graceful habit, and more especially 

 its bright glossy foliage. The leaflets and the wing-mar- 

 gined stalk have more substance than those of the other 

 species of this section of the genus, and, unlike them, they 

 are a lustrous dark green on the upper surface. In autumn 

 they change to a deep crimson color, which is retained for 

 a long time. These plants add much to the beauty of rural 

 roadsides, and they could often be used with striking effect 

 in parks and private grounds. In Glen Island, a pleasure 

 resort near this city, where there is a large collection of 

 well-grown tropical and other plants, an interesting feature 

 is a mass of these plants at the base of a cliff and connect- 

 ing it in an attractive way with the turf below. 



Euphorbia corgllata.- — This is, perhaps, the most beau- 

 titul of the numerous hardy Euphorbias, of a light, elegant 

 habit, and when well grown it formsbroad, bushy specimens 

 covered with numerous white corolla-like involucres. The 

 flowers are apetalous and greenish. The five petaloid bracts 

 are about a quarter of an inch long. The involucrate 

 flowers are very numerous and disposed in large-branched 

 and somewhat leafy cymes. This species is quite hardy 

 and will grow well in a rockery or in a border of ordinary 

 soil. It flowers throughout the hottest summer months and 

 is one of the most valuable hardy perennials for hot and dry 

 positions. It is also useful when cut to mix with other 

 flowers and adds an element of lightness and grace which is 

 most desirable. 



Draczena Sanderiana. — This is a very distinct and re- 

 markable form with erect leafy stems and lanceolate, rather 

 short, leaves. In habit it is quite unique among the numer- 

 ous species of Dracaena. The leaves are about four inches 

 long, of a glaucous-green, edged and striped with broad 

 bands of milky white. It has a tendency to grow very 

 tall, but comparatively compact specimens with tvvo or 

 three stems can easily be grown. If the tops are removed 

 as soon as the stem becomes woody two or three shoots 

 will generally appear instead of the one removed. Propa- 

 gation by means of top-cuttings is quite easy. The ordi- 

 nary method of Dracaena propagation also answers well. 

 Good fibrous vegetable soil, with some addition of old mor- 

 tar, seems to be most suitable. This is a very attractive 

 plant for table decoration and for general indoor use. 



Bougainvillea splendens. — This species is a very valua- 

 ble greenhouse climber, superior in many respects to the 

 old and well-known Bougainvillea glabra. It is of a 

 bushier and more compact habit, and the foliage is a richer 

 and deeper green. The inflorescence, a large, leafy pan- 

 icle, is larger and more showy than that of B. glabra, with 

 numerous bright crimson bracts and tubular yellowish 

 flowers. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 tapering to a short, broad petiole, and deep green in color. 

 Bougainvilleas do well either in pots or when planted out 

 in a cool greenhouse in a well-drained border in rich loam 

 of open texture. Trained under the rafters or on the wall 

 of a conservatory, they are very floriferous and beautiful. 

 Whether planted out or pot-grown, a partial rest should be 

 given during the winter months. This will ripen the wood 

 and insure a profusion of flowers the following season. 

 B. splendens is easier to propagate than most other species. 

 Cuttings of young, almost ripe shoots will root in about 

 three weeks in a slight bottom-heat. 



Cultural Department, 



Summer-flowering Plants. 



Clerodendron fallax. — This is the liest of the sliriibby varie- 

 ties of Clerodendron, and its bright scarlet panicles of Howers 

 are a welcome addition to the stove-house during July and 

 AagiHt. C. fall, IX propagates readily here from soft-wood 



