426 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 400. 



helped to give it the reputation for sovereign curative proper- 

 ties which made it so eagerly sought for by Europeans for 

 two centuries. Thoreau, who found poetry about him every- 

 where, wrote in his journal, "When I break a green twig 

 of Sassafras as I go through the woods in February I am 

 startled to find it as fragrant as it is in summer. It is an 

 importation of all the spices of an oriental summer into 

 our New England woods, and very foreign to the snow 

 and the brown Oak leaves." 



EvoNYMUs ALATUS. — There are about forty species 

 of Evonymus scattered throughout the northern hemi- 

 sphere, the greater number of them coming from the trop- 

 ical regions of China and Japan. Many of them are valued 

 in gardens for their handsome foliage and brilliant fruits. 

 Our native Wahoo, or Burning Bush, E. atropurpureus, is 

 an inhabitant of many old American gardens, but it is not 

 so bright in fruit as some garden forms of the well-known 

 Spindle-tree, E. Europseus, which has been cultivated for 

 centuries. E. Japonicus is one of the most ornamental of 

 evergreen shrubs, and the variety known as E. radicans, 

 with climbing stems and persistent small leaves, is an 

 admirable substitute for Ivy where plants of the latter will 

 not succeed. The Japanese E. alatus, however, is much 

 superior in its autumnal foliage to either the American 

 or European plants, although its fruit is less brilliant. This 

 plant is abundant in the central mountains of Japan and in 

 the northern part of that country. It is perfectly hardy in 

 New England, and makes a handsome compact shrub. Its 

 claim to distinction, however, is the remarkable colors of 

 its foliage in autumn, which in individual specimens is a 

 clear rose-pink quite unlike that of any other woody plant. 



Cosmos sulphureus. — Among a number of seeds from 

 New Zealand, disseminated by a well-known Swiss plants- 

 man in 1894, were supposed to be those of this annual. 

 They were again offered this season by a prominent Eng- 

 lish seedsman and, perhaps, others. This proves to be a 

 case of mistaken identity, the seeds being those of a Bur 

 Marigold, Bidens ferula;folia, a plant allied to the Cosmos, 

 and also from Mexico originally, but very distinct from 

 Cosmos sulphureus. Bidens ferukefolia is an annual with 

 numerous slender stems, narrow leaves and golden-yellow 

 flowers with narrow oval florets. It reproduces itself 

 readily from self-sown seeds, and forms spreading masses 

 a foot or one and a half feet high. It is rather pretty, but 

 would not be generally appreciated in gardens. Cosmos sul- 

 phureus of Cavaiilles, or C. Artemisiai'folia, is distinctly dif- 

 ferent arid a rare plant in cultivation, though described 

 many years since. It has not yet been offered by seeds- 

 men, though it is likely to be on the market for next 

 year. We have recently seen strong, well-grown plants 

 four to five feet high, much branched, the leaves with 

 wider pinna; than the vi^ell-known C. bipinnatus. The 

 flowers are similar in form to this species and are of about 

 the same diameter — about three inches. The petals are 

 sUghtly incurved, and they vary in color from sulphur to 

 deep orange-yellow, and are of good substance. When it 

 is added that the plants commence to flower in a youfig 

 state in midsummer, or earlier, and continuously till fall, it 

 will be seen that we have in this Cosmos a real addition to 

 annuals of the first rank. 



Helenium grandicephalum. — The flower-heads of this 

 fine autumn-blooming plant are nearly two inches across, 

 with a globular brownish disk, and wedge-shaped ray- 

 florets of a rich yellow color suffused with red. The ovate- 

 lanceolate leaves are three inches long and connate at the 

 base. The plant branches freely and grovi's to a height of 

 eighteen inches or two feet, according to circumstances. It 

 is very floriferous and reminds one of some of the smaller 

 single Gaillardias, both in color and habit. This is a prom- 

 ising new hardy perennial, possessing all the good qualities 

 of the more robust Compositae, without the weediness 

 which detracts so much from the appearance of so many of 

 them at this season. It can be propagated by seeds, and 

 will, no doubt, become as popular as it is interesting and 

 beautiful. 



Pyrethrum uliginosum. — The great Ox-eye Daisy, which 

 has become quite common in American gardens, as it de- 

 serves to be, is one of the few late-blooming Compositte 

 with white flowers, the majority of them being yellow or 

 purple. It is a beautiful and floriferous species, producing 

 numerous heads two inches or more across on slender 

 leaf)' stems. The disk is comparatively small, pale yellow; 

 the ray-florets long and narrow, pure white. The lanceo- 

 late, coarsely serrate leaves dull green above and grayish 

 beneath. The habit is branching, and the plant is so well 

 covered with foliage that it is useful, even when not in 

 flower. It reaches a height of two or three feet and is 

 completely covered with flowers as late as September. In 

 order to develop the finest qualities of this plant it should 

 be grown in a rich and moist ground, along the borders of 

 lakes or streams, or in rich cultivated ground in smaller 

 gardens. During dry spells abundant watering is neces- 

 sary, as the lower leaves dry up quickly, and the flowers 

 are of short duration unless grown under proper conditions. 



Alocasia (Cyrtosperma) Johnstoni. — This is one of the 

 boldest and most striking species of Alocasia, with leaf- 

 stalks five or six feet tall. The blade is arrow-shaped, about 

 two feet long, with the back lobes spreading and somewhat 

 longer than the front lobe. The veins are bright rosy-red, 

 very marked, and contrast beautifully with the olive- 

 green, mottled surface of the leaf On the lower side the 

 ribs are very prominent, slightly spiny and mottled. The 

 leaf-stalk is slender, tapering, almost erect, mottled with 

 dark bands and somewhat spiny. This is a useful plant 

 for large conservatories, and it is also available for house- 

 culture, as it will thrive well in a shady position in a com- 

 paratively low temperature. It is one of the rarest plants 

 of its class and is, perhaps, not to be found except in one 

 or two places in this country. The soil should either be a 

 rich vegetable loam or peat, in which it seems to grow 

 equally well. When grown in a cool place, watering should 

 be moderate ; in a high temperature daily watering and 

 spraying of the foliage becomes necessary. 



Cultural Department. 



Lilies. 



THE past season has been more than usually favorable for 

 Lilies in this part of the country. Copious showers at 

 frequent intervals were the rule all the time they were 

 growing, and the long, protracted dry period did not come 

 until the taulbs were mature and beyond injury. For tlie best 

 success Lilies must he planted in a cool moist soil that never 

 becomes hot or dry, and preference should be given for a spot 

 that is shaded by other growth, either that of deciduous shrubs 

 or broad-leaved evergreens, in which positions most of the 

 hardy kinds flourish for an indefinite period. It has been 

 emphasized before in the columns of Garden and Forest 

 that fall-planting is always best ; there appears to be no excep- 

 tion to this rule, and the reason is plain. If a Lily-bulb be 

 examined at any time soon after flowering it will be seen to 

 have made a quantity of new roots from the base of the bulb, 

 strong, vigorous feeders, that will continue to grow all winter 

 in a favorable place, and when spring comes, and with it the 

 flower-shoot, there is plenty of root-action to give it impetus 

 until the thick matted wliorls of roots are emitted from the 

 lower part of the stem itself ; these are made to give strength 

 to the plant to produce flowers, and to build up the bulb again 

 after it has made its supreme effort the alternating set of roots 

 come again from the base. It has been part of my experience 

 to unpack large quantities of Lilies just as they arrive from 

 Japan, where the system of packing is a good one, each bulb 

 being placed in a piece of wet clay, which is rolled round the 

 bulb, then dried, and these are placed in the cases, and the 

 intervening space filled up with dry clay soil. If all is perfectly 

 dry, and kept so, root-action is entirely suspended ; but if, as 

 sometimes happens, moisture is admitted from some cause or 

 other, the whole mass of soil will become matted witli roots, 

 and on their arrival here it is quite difficult to separate the 

 bulbs. Japan Lilies arrive usually just a little too late for 

 planting in the open ground in this section, and, perliaps, in 

 most others, so that dealers keep them over and make them 

 a part of^their spring trade ; but it would be preferable always 



