June 15, 1S92.] 



Garden and Forest. 



287 



ness of their massive flowers may be seen. An acre of these 



plants in flower, thougli planted in nursery rows, makes a won- 

 derful glow of color on a bright June day. From the very ex- 

 tent of the view the flowers lose somewhat of their solid indi- 

 viduality, and one is half-intoxicated with the barbaric wealth 

 of color above the foil of ample foliage. The ordinary Piconies 

 of the garden are apt to be washy purples or blue-reds, which 

 jar with the orange and scarlet flowers of the same season. It 

 was pleasant to see that such colors are very rare in this 

 nursery, the more modern pink, rose, salmon, blood-red and 

 white varieties seeming to comprise the majority of the col- 

 lection. The single varieties of Preonies are very taking, with 

 their comijaratively light, yet large Anemone-like flowers. 

 Albiflora is a good one of these ; the color is rather variable 

 from white to a delicate rose, with a bunch of golden stamens. 

 Baron James Rothschild is another form, semi-double, show- 

 ing the stamens, and of a good pure pink. Of the massive 

 double varieties I fancied Blanche, pure white, Rubra Triumph- 

 ans and Proserpine, both very dark, clear blood-red. Of the 

 rose and pink varieties, mostly with broad petals and full cen- 

 tres of narrower petals, a very effective form, some of the 

 best were Hercules and Duke of Wellington, with blush guard 

 petals and white inner ones ; Rosa elegans, blush ; Reine des 

 Roses, guard salmon, centre flesh color ; Cydonie, rose, very 

 large guard petals ; Plenissima, pink. Of the newest varieties 

 under trial two extra fine ones were Mire de SoufitS, with 

 white guard petals and distinct sulphur centre, and Charles 

 Toche, semi-double, of a deep clear bright rose. Colors of 

 Peeonies do not admit of strictly accurate description, as they 

 vary according to the age of the flower. It is possible to have 

 a long season of Pasonies, for the Moutan and tenuifolia va- 

 rieties are past before the first of the common herbaceous 

 kinds open. Of these there are a number of kinds just bud- 

 ding, which will extend the season a fortnight longer. L. 

 d'Estrees, Monsieur Bonquiel and Delachei were noted as some 

 late kinds. 



The stretches of German Irises were the next plants of in- 

 terest. These, of course, lack the brilliant effect of the Pseonies, 

 but form unique colors in mass, while they are very interesting 

 individually, and many extremely handsome. German Irises, 

 so called, are simply bearded kinds, mostly hybrids of half a 

 dozen species, and the great number of kinds grown by the 

 florists can be divided into that number of sections. The va- 

 rieties of these sections, which vary more or less, have the 

 same general form and coloring. The old purple Flag is 

 known everywhere ; a deeper-colored variety is D. R. Parnot. 

 Iris pallida seems to me one of the best of species for the gar- 

 den. The plant has broad leaves and a bold habit, and the 

 large fragrant flowers are light lavender, with orange beard. 

 The hybrids are also very attractive. Zephyr, a very light lav- 

 ender with graceful habit, William III., heliotrope, and Queen 

 of May, rose, are all distinct. The varieties of I. aphylla 

 have mostly white standards and falls flaked l>lue or rose. 

 Madame Cliereau is a well-known handsome kind. The va- 

 rieties of I. neglecta have mostly lilac standards and falls of 

 purple or purplish crimson reticulated white. Fairy Queen 

 and Cythere are good samples of this section. The bronze 

 and smoky varieties are descendants of I. sambucina or I. 

 squalens. Victory, Violetta and Leopard are good examples 

 of these. I. variegata is an effecflve yellow species which has 

 given many handsome and useful varieties, mostly with yel- 

 low standards and reticulated falls, browns and deep reds. 

 Striata, Cerberus, Jenny Lind and Monsieur de Lesseps are dis- 

 tinct kinds of these. Among the numerous true species of 

 Irises now in bloom very, few are effective, though they are 

 interesting garden-flowers, but a group of I. orientalis showed 

 a splash of very effective purplish blue. Some of the Japanese 

 Irises were in bud, and these will closely follow the German 

 section, prolonging the season through June and early July. 



There are always many interesting things in a large collec- 

 tion of hardy plants, but when one passes from the general 

 favorites or certain families one rather hesitates to recommend 

 even striking plants, since the satisfaction to be derived from 

 many depends so much on the special taste of the grower. No 

 plants require to be more carefully selected,' and frequent 

 visits to nurseries are essential to a satisfactory selection of un- 

 known things. Still I noted many favorite plants in flower. The 

 Pinks were represented by broad stretches of Dianthus atroru- 

 bens, D. deltoides, D. plumarius, etc. At this time the yellow 

 Day Lilies (Hemerocaliis) are seen in great masses. Our old 

 friend, H. flava, is clear and pure, but not as effective as the 

 orange variety, H. Mittedorfiana. Of the Plantain Lilies, grown 

 in great variety, the newest is Thomas Hogg, which struck 

 me as a very distinct kind, with broadly margined leaves. 



A hardy garden is not complete without Rosa rugosa, which 



is so extensively grown, but its beauty as a screen or broad 

 hedge never appeared to me so forcibly before as I saw it here 

 in a solid row some hundreds of feet long of large plants, 

 with the wealth of beautiful, dark green foliage, which was 

 a picture, without the attractive flowers. But the picture 

 I carried away with me with the greatest pleasure was that of a 

 mass of Rosa rubrifolia, a Rose with stems and foliage of a lus- 

 trous soft red. Furnished as it is at this season with the lovely 

 single flowers, it is a treasure for any garden. 



New York. y. 



Recent Publications. 



T/it: Oak: A Popular Introditction to Forest-botany. By H. 

 Marshall Ward, F.R.S. New York : D. Appleton & Co., 1892. 



This is the third volume in the Modern Science Series, edited 

 by Sir John Lubbock; The plan is quite similar to that of the 

 International Scientific Series, but the works are intended to 

 be less technical. This volume is a neat and well-made book 

 of a hundred and seventy-five pages, illustrated by two plates 

 showing the English Oak in summer and in winter, and more 

 than fifty figures in the text showing points of structure. The 

 eleven chapters treat of germination ; the seedling and tissues, 

 tissue systems and organs ; the tree — its root, stem, flowering 

 and fruiting organs ; oak-timber, cultivation, diseases ; rela- 

 tionships and distribution in time and space. 



The story of the Oak in this logical sequence is told with con- 

 siderable fullness and with few technical terms, but, after all, 

 it is by no means light reading. To write an interesting book 

 on microscopic structure for laymen is not an easy task. From 

 most points of view this work has been successfully accom- 

 plished by Professor Ward, but it must be admitted that the 

 style is rather heavy and monotonous ; that the main facts do 

 not stand out from the mass of details in sufficiently strong 

 contrast, and that their relationships to each other are not 

 made sufficiently clear. Even the botanist will find that close 

 attention is required if he is to get an adequate comprehension 

 of the work. The author dwells briefly upon gross structure, 

 and proceeds almost immediately into the microscopic charac- 

 ters, and holds to this treatment almost throughout the book. 

 These objecdons are mentioned because the book is offered 

 for the.general reader, who is not properly equipped for the task 

 set before him. The language used is very condensed, every 

 chapter is full of facts, and the careful student may gain from 

 them a good knowledge of the structure, growth and fruiting, 

 not only of the Oak, but of the entire class of dicotyledonous 

 plants. The chapters on structure are too full to be summa- 

 rized here. They describe the various kinds of cells and tissues 

 as they exist in both young and old plants. The leaf-trace and 

 the arrangement of the fibro-vascular bundles are explained. 

 The suggestion is made that the symbiotic mycorhiza, which 

 seems to perform the office of root-hairs, may possibly be 

 mycelium of the Truffle. The fact that Oak-woods are the 

 special habitat of the Truffle would tend to strengthen this 

 view. The chapter on Oak-timber treats by paragraphs of ap- 

 pearance and structure, density, water and drying, swelling, 

 elasticity and tenacity, flexibility, torsion, splitting, hardness, 

 durability, burning properties, peculiarities, uses. Under 

 " Durability" we learn the interesting facts that a piece of oak- 

 pile taken up from a London bridge in 1827 had lasted for 650 

 years, and that another piece from the Tower of London was 

 probably put in when the Tower was built. 



Under "Cultivation" is an interesting statement, credited to 

 Hartig, that Beech-trees store up nitrogenous materials and 

 salts for seventy or eighty years, then suddenly yield them up 

 in an abundant crop of seeds. This is such an exhausting 

 process that three to five years are required to accumulate 

 materials for another crop. Is the alternation of bearing and 

 sterile years in fruit-trees to be similarly explained ? 



Various insects and fungus enemies of the Oak are referred 

 to, and a number of the latter illustrated in their effects by 

 figures from Hartig. The closing chapter sets forth the abun- 

 dance and wide distribution of Oaks in the northern hemi- 

 sphere and the great antiquity of the race. 



Notes. 



By an annoying oversight Ascyrum Crux-Andreae was called 

 Asarum in our issue of June ist, and the error was repeated in 

 the text of the article describing it. 



The Virginia Fringe-tree (Chionanthus Virginica) has been 

 in flower for more than a week, and it is as attractive as ever. 

 This is one of our smaller native trees which, taken together 

 with our Cornels, Viburnums, Thorns and Sumachs, make a 



