September 25, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



385 



inches wide by ten or more inches long ; ten to twelve in 

 a dense rosette, pale green, and a deep violet-purple inside 

 at the base. The flowers of this species are more showy, 

 but not as lasting as those of B. rhodo-cyanea. 



Restio subverticillata. — This is a showy plant which is 

 rarely seen in greenhouse collections. Its scarcity is prob- 

 ably due to the fact that it is of slow growth and difficult 

 to propagate. In its native country it is known as the Rope 

 Grass Plant. The thin, wiry stems are covered with an im- 

 mense number of long grass-like spikelets, which give to it a 

 graceful feathery appearance. It grows about eight feet 

 high and is considered by many quite as ornamental as 

 Papyrus Antiquorum. Unlike the latter plant, however, it 

 only needs a temperature in winter sufficient to keep out 

 frost. This Restio is sometimes met with under the name 

 of Willdenovia teres, an entirely different thing. 



Viburnum Opulus. — Among the most interesting shrubs in 

 Prospect Park now are the so-called Cranberry Trees, whose 

 bright berries have now come to their best color. Many 



which is nothing but a monstrous form of it, in which the 

 flowers are all sterile. Of course, the Guelder Rose never 

 bears any fruit and is, therefore, to this extent inferior to 

 the fertile plant. The Guelder Rose is also much more 

 subject to the attacks of the aphis, probably because it has 

 become weakened by long propagation from cuttings, in- 

 stead of being renewed from seed. We ought to add that 

 V. tomentosum, another Asiatic plant, bears the same rela- 

 tion to the Japanese Snowball, V. plicatum, that our High- 

 bush Cranberry does to the common Snowball. This plant 

 was figured and described in vol. iv., pages 594-5. We 

 have never seen it in fruit in this country, but in habit as 

 well as in flower it is preferable to the sterile V. plicatum, 

 and is in every way a shrub of merit. 



Clematis Virginiana. — Although one of the most common, 

 this is one of the most graceful and beautiful of our native 

 climbers, and no plant adds more to the beauty of our road- 

 sides or swamp borders. It is usually found rambling over 

 masses of shrubbery, and in August every branch is a long 



^^K- S3- — Agave Utaliensis in the Grand Caflon of the Colorado, Arizona. — See page 3S4. 



of the Viburnums, native and foreign, are worth planting 

 for their fruit alone, but none of them are more conspicu- 

 ously beautiful in this respect than this native plant, 

 after its cymes of round drupes have turned to their clear 

 red color. We call this a native shrub, but it ranges quite 

 round the globe, being found in northern Europe and in 

 northern Asia, as well as in this country, and it may be 

 worth repeating that some of these Viburnums now grovi'- 

 ing in the Arnold Arboretum, from seed obtained on the 

 mountains about Pekin, have a greater decorative value 

 than either the American or the European forms. The 

 sterile ray flowers of these Chinese plants are much larger, 

 and the anthers, instead of being green, are bright purple. 

 The fruits of V. Opulus remain on the branches for weeks, 

 or ufitil the birds are driven to eat them for lack of other 

 food, as they do not seem to relish their acid flavor. Often 

 they cling to the branches until the next spring and retain 

 their bright colors to a considerable extent. Although this 

 Viburnum is not nearly as common in gardens, it is prefer- 

 able for many reasons to the Snowball or Guelder Rose, 



festoon of cream-white flowers, which appear in axillary 

 clusters. These are not quite so delicate as the pure white 

 ones of Clematis flammula, but they are very fragrant. 

 These flowers are followed by clusters of fruit with feathery 

 gray tails, and these appendages to the seeds glitter in the 

 autumn sun like masses of flowers. This common Virgin's 

 Bower thrives under cultivation and makes a wonderful 

 growth in deep, rich soil. In large places it can be planted 

 to advantage in the shrubbery, but, in fact, it never is so 

 beautiful as in a wayside thicket. Some plants bear only 

 staminate flovi'ers, and if the fruits are wanted, plants should 

 be propagated only from individuals with perfect flowers. 



Cultural Department. 



Gardening in North Carolina. 



■\^E tried, last winter, several plans for theproteclion of Fig- 



' ' trees, and the uncommonly cold winter gave us an 



opportunity to test their merits, for all unprotected Fig-trees 



here were badly cut back. While we did not have at any time 



