404 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 404. 



hard frost has not disfigured. L. racemosa sometimes 

 grows to the height of ten feet, with rather stout erect 

 stems, oblong acute leaves and erect racemes of small 

 Heath-like flowers. In cultivation it enjoys rich, rather 

 moist soil and grows rapidly into a broad bush. Few plants 

 surpass in brilliancy of autumn color this familiar inhabi- 

 tant of our swamp-borders, or bear leaves that are so resist- 

 ant to cold ; it is easy to raise and to cultivate, and it is a 

 plant we should suppose that every one who desires to enjoy 

 a garden in November here would want in large numbers. 

 But in how many nurseries in this country can this shrub 

 and scores of other desirable native plants be found ? Many 

 people would be glad to use such plants if they could buy 

 them, but improvement in the character of nursery stock 

 obtainable in this country does not proceed rapidly, al- 

 though it is now possible to buy many more native trees 

 and shrubs than it was ten years ago, and in American 

 parks American plants are beginning to replace the foreign 

 species which before that time were the planters' only 

 resource. 



Hymenocallis CARRiB.iii'M. — This exquisite plant is often 

 met wifh in gardens under the name of Pancratium Car- 

 ribLEum. It is a remarkably beautiful'species, native of the 

 West Indian Islands and southern Florida. In some re- 

 spects it resembles Hymenocallis speciosum, but the flow- 

 ers are very much larger, measuring over eight inches 

 across. The tube of the flower is very slender, four or 

 five inches long ; segments equally long, linear-lanceo- 

 late, half an inch or less wide, spreading. Between the 

 long thread-like stamens there is a large cup-shaped corona 

 of membraneous texture. The scape is about eighteen 

 inches high, stout, erect, supporting an umbel of from eight 

 to twelve flowers. Bracts large, ovate-oblong, greenish 

 white. Leaves about tvi'o feet long, three to four inches 

 wide, oblique, lanceolate, of a deep shining green. The 

 bulbs should be buried below the surface of the soil. Rich 

 fibrous loam is the best. A good drainage is necessary. 

 The plant sometimes flowers several times in a. season, and 

 the snowy-white flowers are very fragrant. 



Pteris Cretica Owrardh — This is a large and robust 

 variety of an old well-known Fern. It differs little from 

 the type, except in its more solid texture and larger grovi'th, 

 and in its clean-cut, well-developed foliage. While Pteris 

 Cretica frequently becomes disfigured by black transverse 

 spots in the leaves during moist and dull weather or through 

 cold and overwatering, the variety is more able to re- 

 sist decay through its more solid texture. It is, therefore, 

 more valuable for all purposes, and will probably in time 

 replace the species as a commercial decorative plant. If 

 can be raised from spores as easily as the old kind and will 

 do well under the same conditions — that is, a temperature 

 of about sixty degrees, in rich, fibrous soil and a light posi- 

 tion. As a house ]3lant nothing can be more graceful and 

 ornamental, and for this purpose it should be grown in 

 small vases or ornamental pots. With moderate care it 

 wfll do well in a not too dry or overheated atmosphere. 



OiNCiDiuM FoRBEsii. — Although Orchids are becoming 

 popular and common in the eastern states, this beautiful 

 species is rarely seen. It is one of the finest of a large 

 and interesting genus and nearly related to Oncidium cris- 

 pum, which, however, is less showy. The flowers measure 

 about two inches across in well-grown plants. The petals 

 have wavy, bright yellow edges, the rest being of a rich, 

 reddish-chestnut color. They are produced in few-flowered 

 nodding racemes on rather long peduncles from the base 

 of the flat-furrowed pseudo-bulbs. The leaves are long, 

 lanceolate, of a leathery texture and dark green color. This 

 is a Brazilian mountain species, and should be grown in 

 moderate heat in a Caltleya-house. It thrives best in a 

 light and partially sunny position, and, like most Oncidiums, 

 it requires a thorough rest in winter and plenty of moisture 

 during the growing season. It blooms during October or 

 November, and the flowers remain beautiful for a consider- 

 able time. Blocks of wood or small baskets are most 

 suitable for this species. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Chrj'santhemum, William Simpson. 



THIS new variety has been exhibited nowhere except 

 at the recent Philadelphia flower show, where it took 

 the silver medal for the best American seedling Chrysan- 

 themum not yet disseminated, besides a certificate of 

 merit and the first premium for six blooms of the best pink 

 seedling. On a scale of one hundred points when it was 

 judged by the Chrysanthemum Society of America, the 

 committee, consisting of such careful judges as Edwin 

 Lonsdale, Robert Craig and William K. Harris, gave it eighty- 

 six points out of a possible hundred and reported that in 

 their estimation it was a great ac(juisition among early 

 pink sorts. It belongs to the Japanese incurved type, with 

 the centre entirely hidden, but there are several of the 

 lower rows of petals somewhat reflexed, a character not 

 plainly seen in the specimen figured on page 465. It is 

 more like Mrs. E. G. Hill than any other variety, though 

 it is a much deeper flower. In color it is a pleasing shade 

 of pink, rather brighter than that of Maud Dean. The 

 flowers are very durable, those that were judged on the 

 fifth of November in Philadelphia having been cut on the 

 26th of October and kept in a cool cellar. The plant 

 is a strong and healthy one, growing from four to five feet 

 high. The flowers this year were all grown on terminal 

 buds, but the best judges think that they would be im- 

 proved by growing them from lateral buds. The strong 

 points in favor of this flower are its earliness and its size. 

 This year all Chrysanthemums were late, but last year this 

 variety vv'as fit to cut on the 15th of October. Some of the 

 flowers judged by the committee of the Chrysanthemum 

 Society measured more than ten inches across, and one of 

 them was eleven inches in diameter. The plant was raised 

 by Mr. Joseph Heacock, of Wyncote, Pennsylvania, from 

 seed gathered in the autumn of 1893 from his own plants, 

 but no record of its parentage was kept. 



Cultural Department. 



A Few Hardy Plants. 



HTHE Clematises belonging to the group with tubular flow- 

 -'■ ers are interesting and distinct, aliliough some of them 

 are not very showy. The summer-flowering kinds, such as 

 Clematis lubulosa and C. Davidiana, are pretty weU known in 

 gardens, but there are one or two autunm-flowering sorts 

 wliicli are seldom seen. C. Lavallei, a plant belonging to this 

 group, which comes from China, attracted a good deal of 

 attention here wlieu in bloom this fall. It is a showy plant and 

 has very sweet-scented flowers. It attains a height of four or 

 five feet, and its stout grooved stems are thickly covered with 

 broad trifoliate leaves. The leaflets are roundish, ovate, and 

 are deeply toothed or somewhat lobed. The tubular whitish 

 flowers are produced abundantly in large loose leafless pani- 

 cles, which stand well above the foliage of the plant. The 

 flowers begin to open about the first week in September and 

 last in good condition for several weeks. A deep rich soil and 

 a partially shaded position suits the plants well, and under those 

 conditions they grow vigorously. The largest stems are 

 slightly woody at the ba5e, but they are cut down every win- 

 ter even with tlie ground, and the flowers are produced on the 

 young stems. In the border the plants require to be tied up 

 loosely to a stout stake ; but if they are in a position where 

 they have plenty of room, tlie stems may be left loosely on 

 the ground, where the panicles make a pleasing effect. 



Another good Clematis belonging to this same group is a 

 plant wliich is found in gardens under the name of C. Stans. 

 Although the plant has the habit of C. Stans, yet it looks very 

 different from the plant which is figured in The Botanical 

 Magazine under that name. It compares very favorably with 

 specimens of C. Savatieri, Dene., which are in the Gray Her- 

 barium, another Chinese plant. This plant grows from two to 

 three feet high and has trifoliate leaves, and the whitish tubu- 

 lar flowers are in terminal panicles. It has a good habit and 

 makes an excellent border plant, coming to flower a week 

 later than C. Lavallei. An open position and a good deep rich 

 soil are its requirements. Both of the above plants are quite 



