392 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 234. 



Cape Oxalis. — I. 



npHE greater part of the winter-blooming Oxalis now in cul- 

 ■'■ tivation are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, whence 

 most of them were introduced a century ago, principally by 

 Masson. In this article I wish to describe a group of species 

 and varieties characterized by showy and generally large tlow- 

 ers and by glossy black bulbs, which are coated, inside the 

 outer skin, with a sticky black matter and taper to a sharp 

 point at each extremity, so that root-end and stem-end are in- 

 distinguishable from each other in a dormant bulb. How 

 many of these forms are true species I am not botanist enough 

 to decide, though it is very plain to those who have observed 

 them under cultivation that some which are known by distinct 

 names are but varieties of the same type. 



Probably the best known of this group is Oxalis versicolor, 

 which is a very beautiful little species with tufts of small 

 leaves, each composed of three narrow leaflets, from among 

 which rise the flowers on stems long enough to raise them 

 well out of the foliage. These are about as large as a dime, 

 pure white on the inner face (except the yellow of the throat, 

 common to nearly all species of the genus) and striped with 

 crimson on the outer edge of the back of each petal. When 

 the flower is in bud this edging appears as a crimson spiral, 

 and greatly enhances the attractiveness of the plant. In this 

 description I have had in mind the best form of the species, 

 for there are two other inferior varieties (given as species by 

 Jacquin), Elongata and Tenuifolia. It is tlie last-named which 

 is generally sold as \'ersicolor ; its flowers are much smaller 

 than those of the type, and their petals are narrow instead of 

 broad ; the leaves are smaller and of a darker color. I could 

 get nothing but this from many different sources, and at last 

 obtained the type, some eight years ago, from Van Houtte's 

 nursery. I do not know where it can now be found. The va- 

 riety Elongata is a trifle larger in flower than the type, but, as 

 the crimson edging is absent or nearly so, it is less attractive. 

 It is, of course, well known that many other species are 

 marked with red exteriorly, but in Versicolor alone is this 

 marking brilliant enough to be ornamental. 



Oxalis variabilis, in all its forms, is one of the most pleasing 

 species. Its leaflets are broad, of a deep green often of a 

 bluish cast, and its flowers, when well grown, are an inch and 

 a half in diameter. Jacquin gives the white form as the type, 

 though his figure seems to represent the white variety of O. 

 purpurea. The white \'ariabilis, which I am sorry to say I 

 have lost, is perfectly pure in color and appears in profusion 

 all through the winter. Variabilis rubra also blooms abun- 

 dantly for many months ; its color is very bright and fresh, 

 very unlike that of Jacquin's plate. A difference between 

 these varieties is that the leaflets of Rubra have very few, if 

 any, fringing hairs, while Alba had, as I remember it, very 

 many. I have two other varieties, Sinasii and Longiscapa, 

 red-flowered kinds of no particular interest. 



Oxalis grandiflora was made a species distinct from Varia- 

 bilis by Jacquin on account of the redness of the under side of 

 the leaflets, which in O. variabilis is green, but I do not find 

 this redness constant. Yet there are differences evident enough 

 in the growing plants, for the flower-stalksofO. grandiflora are 

 longer than in O. variabilis, and the flowers have less sub- 

 stance ; there is a difference also in the color of the leaves. 



Oxalis purpurea is a fine species with several good varieties. 

 Its general aspect is much like that of O. variabilis, but it is of 

 somewhat larger growth, its flowers being often over two 

 inches across, especially in the type. Jacquin's figure gives 

 the color as intense red-purple, approaching crimson-lake, but 

 it is not so. A somewhat bluish purple is the true tint. Its 

 variety Laxula differs from the type by its vivid crimson leaf 

 and flower-stalks, which add much to its beauty. The variety 

 Alba is the largest white-flowered kind, but its white is some- 

 what tinged with purple. This is a very handsome kind. 

 Rosea and Lilacina are varieties whose distinctive color is ex- 

 pressed by their names. The species Laxula figured by 

 Jacquin, a white-flowered kind which he thinks may be a va- 



ety of Purpurea, is unknown to me. 



Oxalis breviscapa, which I had for a few years, and which I 

 lost by that pest of small-bulb growers, mice, is a ver)' inter- 

 esting kind by reason of the shortness of the flower-stalks and 

 the bright tan-colored under sides of the leaflets, two features 

 which give the plant an unusual appearance. Rigidula is an- 

 other very pretty white-flowered kind. 



There are several other species belonging to this group of 

 which I will say nothing because I have not yet been able to 

 obtain them. 



Like other Cape bulbs, all species of Oxalis can be carried safely 

 through the winter in a cold frame ; but the species named in 



this paper (except O. versicolor) are the hardiest of all, since 

 they cannot only be planted out-of-doors in October, with a 

 slight covering of leaves, with perfect security, as can several 

 other species, but they will then bloom profusely in May, as 

 other kinds will not do. It is best, however, to grow them as 

 pot-plants, for we are apt to forget small things in the open 

 ground, and a few days of great heat and dryness speedily de- 

 stroy the little plants. Rather let them be potted, about six in 

 a six-inch pot, at the end of summer, and be put in a sunny 

 place indoors ; then, with proper attention, such as house- 

 plants usually have, they will be beautiful until spring. I hope 

 hereafter to write of some of the other species with which I 

 have had experience. ,,, ^ ^ ,. 



Canton, Mass. W. E. EndlCOtt. 



Notes on Stove-plants. 



Medinill.\ magnifica. — This handsome species makes a 

 valuable addition to any collection of stove-flowering plants in 

 which large specimens are admissible, and, though not by any 

 means a new plant, is still uncommon enough to attract much 

 attention when exhibited. M. magnifica is a strong-growing 

 plant of shrubby habit, with large ovate leaves, the latter be- 

 ing dark green and of somewhat leathery texture. The flowers 

 are produced in pendulous racemes from the tips of well- 

 ripened growth, and are rose-pink, the upper portion of the 

 raceme being also more or less clothed with pink bracts, 

 which add much to its showiness. To secure a good result 

 from this plant it should be grown under similar conditions to 

 those furnished to Ixoras — that is, plenty of heat and moisture 

 during the growing season, and a somewhat less amount in 

 winter, the flowers usually appearing in spring or early sum- 

 mer. Propagation by cuttings is not difficult, providing the 

 wood used for the purpose is not too hard, single-eye cuttings 

 being a good method to use in the operation. 



RUDGEA MACROPHVLLA. — This is another strong-growing 

 stove-plant, and also long in cultivation, but seems even more 

 uncommon than the Medinilla, to which it is a good compan- 

 ion plant to the above, thriving under the same treatment. 

 It is also an erect-growing shrub, and has large oblong- 

 ovate leaves on which the veins are quite prominent ; the 

 flowers are cream-colored and are produced in dense erect 

 panicles from the tips of the shoots. Rudgea is also 

 propagated by means of cuttings, which root in a reason- 

 able time if placed in a warm propagating-frame. The 

 best soil for either of the above plants is a light loam, 

 well drained, and enriched with some old manure, but if the 

 only available loam is of a clayey character it is best to mix 

 some peat and sand with it in order to make a more open soil. 



Pavetta Borbonica. — This is another unusual plant in the 

 average collection, though well deserving to be more widely 

 known, and is said to be related to the Ixoras, though grown 

 for its handsome foliage rather than its flowers. The leaves 

 of P. Borbonica are opposite, from six to ten inches long 

 and two to four broad, their ground color being olive-green, 

 on which the yellowish white spots appear to advantage, while 

 the midrib is reddish. The leaves of this plant are glossy and 

 very attracfive, especially when it is grown in a single-stemmed 

 plant to a height of two feet or more, and well furnished with 

 foliage. A high temperature is best for Pavetta, with abun- 

 dant moisture, and, in order to secure the best coloring of the 

 foliage, abundant light should be given. A mixture consisting 

 of two-thirds loam to one-third peat and some sand makes a 

 satisfactory compost, and the pots should be well drained. It 

 is propagated by cuttings, which should be placed in light 

 peaty soil in a rather close propagating-frame, but even 

 under the most favorable circumstances these cuttings will 

 take a considerable fime to root, perhaps from two to three 



months. ^,^ „ -r j.i- 



Holmesburg, Pa. IV.H.laptin. 



Euphorbia pulcherrima. 



UNDER its garden name of Poinsettiapulcherrima, this very 

 showy winter-flowering plant has long been known and 

 valued by many growers, but it must be admitted that so strik- 

 ing a subject deserves even wider distribution. Since the 

 introduction of various forms of this species the time 

 of flowering has been much extended, so that with proper 

 management the blossoming-season can be prolonged from 

 November to April, thus giving a supply of these brilliantly 

 colored bracts during the whole of the dullest season of the year. 

 As already intimated, it is in the bracts surrounding the true 

 flowers of Euphorbia pulcherrima that the special beauty of 

 this plant is found, and in well-grown specimens the head of 

 such bracts attains a diameter of twenlv to twentv-four inches. 



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