412 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 236. 



tliis smooth expanse of lawn extending along the shore. The 

 central space should, of course, be kept smooth and broad, and 

 as it is, the plain simplicity of the whole is vastly preferable to 

 the tawdry fussiness of floral bedding effects. Here, however, 

 by the massing of varieties of flowering shrubbery on botfi 

 the right and left of the lakeside section, and on the strip be- 

 tween the road and the water, a pleasing effect could be pro- 

 duced something after that of the Fenside, on the Back Bay 

 Fens. The expense of caring for so much lawn would also be 

 saved. In carrying out a work of this sort it would be well, 

 of course, to obtain the advice of a landscape-architect. 



A number of pleasant-looking places, including several 

 simple, old-fashioned-looking houses with ample grounds, 

 stand on the street bordering the lake. On the water-side of 

 the road there are one or two boat-houses, and a little boat- 

 landing is seen now and then. As the road continues it loses 

 its suburban characterand becomes distinctively rural ; the strip 

 of ground between the highway and the water is diminished 

 to a few feet. There is a good fringe of trees and wild shrub- 

 bery along the margin. It is said to be the intention to widen 

 the street gradually and, by filling in, make a broader strip of 

 ground along the water-side. If this should be done it would 

 be well to retain the wild shrubbery, emphasizing, however, 

 its present character by planting all the native species natural 

 to such a habitat. 



It would also be well to secure the westerly margin of the 

 lake, so far as possible. On that side, at a point near the town, 

 there is a cemetery with its white marble gravestones and 

 monuments gleaming under the trees — less offensive than 

 most places of the kind. Looking back toward the town the 

 view at that end of the lake is picturesquely attractive, with 

 the fine expanse of public grounds and the handsome great 

 stone church. At that end is the principal landing-place, and 

 a little fleet of sail-boats lies moored off shore. A huge ice- 

 house, with its galleries painted dark brown, stands near by, 

 and is not an unpleasing example of utilitarian construction. 

 Along the westerly shore, here and there, are other great ice- 

 houses like barracks ; some of them are brilliantly whitewashed 

 and are altogether too prominent. 



The road, in its course beside the lake, commands a succes- 

 sion of fine views over the water. Near the northern end of 

 the lake a pretty brook comes gurgling out through a thicket, 

 the modest beginning of the Saugus River. Beyond is a little 

 beach by the roadside, with a watering-place for horses and 

 cattle. 



I must note a pretty effect that caught my eye at a railway 

 crossing on my way liome by bicycle. The county highway 

 runs very near the Boston and Maine Railroad. At a crossing 

 near the southerly limits of the town of Wakefield I was struck 

 by the very graceful effect of a growth of Virginia Creeper 

 clambering over the sentry-box-like little .house for the flag- 

 man, and thence up the tall post bearing the usual sig-n of 

 " Look out for the engine while the bell rings ! " converting it 

 into a really beautiful feature by the simple sweep of the care- 

 lessly drooping sprays of foliage. Such effects are very com- 

 mon at railway crossings in Germany, but are rare enough in 

 this country, and especially on the Boston and Maine Rail- 

 road. 

 Boston. Sylvester Baxter. 



Late Summer Flowers on the Prairie. 



'T'HOUGH many species of Allium are cultivated for food, 

 -•■ some have found a place in the flower-garden. A wild 

 species common on the prairies may be classed with the or- 

 namental kinds, especially when seen in masses. In late sum- 

 mer the Nodding Wild Onion (Allium cernuum) decks many 

 fields with showy flowers. The triangular scape, a foot or two 

 high, curves abruptly near the top, and carries a roundish 

 umbel of thirty to fifty flowers in a nodding position, which 

 has given it both its common and botanical name. They are 

 mostly rose-colored, but pink and white kinds are numerous. 

 This imparts to a field a variegated appearance, bright on the 

 whole, since the reddish hues prevail. They are often in such 

 quantities and grow so thickly that little else is noticeable 

 where they stand. They are not easily exterminated, and 

 maintain their place where most of the native plants have dis- 

 appeared, still flourishing on the commons or in vacant lots in 

 the more thinly peopled sections of the city and in the suburbs. 

 They are common in pastures where the feet of cattle have 

 crushed out the life of less stubborn plants, or where the 

 prairie grass has been replaced by cultivated kinds. In some 

 localities they have evidently increased under such treatment, 

 and taken the place of those which have yielded. Their 

 bulbous root serves them admirably in this respect, and bears 

 much rough treatment before its vitality is destroyed. 



Sometimes the Spiked Liatris (L. spicata) shares the ground 

 with it, or is seen apart m other masses quite as extensive. In 

 either case it forms a striking picture. With a long cylindrical 

 spike of rose-purple flowers lifted a foot or two above the Al- 

 lium, the combined effect of the two when growing together is 

 very fine. Nearer the ground are seen the lighter-colored, 

 roundish flower-clusters of the Allium, while over them stand 

 the brighter, wand-like clusters of the Liatris. Though the 

 leaves of the Liatris are very numerous, they are not long 

 enough near the upper portion of the stem to seriously hide 

 the flowers of its humbler companion, but being close and 

 very narrow often furnish them with a fringe-like setting. The 

 Liatris also has a thick, solid root or corm, and retains its hold 

 quite well upon its native soil, though disappearing sooner 

 than the Wild Onion from fields where the indigenous grasses 

 have been supplanted by foreign species. 



Another showy plant of a different habit. Hibiscus Mos- 

 cheutos, the Swamp Rose Mallow, is in bloom at this season, 

 and lasts till September. Though common in brackish 

 marshes by the sea, it is much less familiar to those dwelling 

 at a distance from tide-water. It is found in the swamps and 

 by shallow ponds near the southern end of Lake Michigan. 

 The rose-colored flowers, expanding five or six inches, exceed 

 in size any flowers here except the Water-lily and the Yellow 

 Nelumbo. The branching stems are from four to eight feet 

 high, and are abundantly provided with handsome dark green 

 leaves, which are soft and velvety. The large buds are as at- 

 tractive as the flowers, excelling them in one respect, since the 

 flowers are of short duration, while the buds are prominentfor 

 several days. In this region the Rose Mallow does not usually 

 grow in water, but on sandy and muddy shores, which are 

 overflowed in the wet season. It does well by the drier bor- 

 ders of the ponds, and remains in localities somewhat remote 

 from them, where the swampy lands have been drained. It 

 may be found interspersed with Cornel-bushes, or with a back- 

 ground of low trees and climbing vines. It readily takes to 

 cultivation, and is a fine ornament for the garden. 



Englewood, Chicai;^o. -C. j . Mill. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Cypripedium Chamberlainianum. 



THIS new Cypripedium, which was the occasion of 

 considerable comment among Orchid-growers when 

 it was first announced for sale early in the present year, 

 was imported from New Guinea by Messrs. F. Sander & 

 Co. It is a beautiful species, besides being so distinct that 

 it was described originally as belonging to a totally new 

 section, and it really has 1&\n characters in common with 

 C. Rothschildianum and C. Stonei, although it is classified 

 in the same group with them. The plant has been de- 

 scribed in former numbers of Garden and Forest, and our 

 present purpose is merely to invite attention to the illus-. 

 tration (see page 413) from a photograph kindly sent us by 

 Mr. Robert M. Grey of a specimen which fiowered some- 

 thing more than a month ago for the first time in America, 

 so far as we are aware, in the collection of H. Graves, Esq., 

 Orange, New Jersey. The species is robust and very flo- 

 riferous, and native specimens are said to produce from 

 twelve to twenty flowers. The plant from vs^hich our illus- 

 tration was taken was weak, but it produced six flowers. 

 The dorsal sepal is primrose-yellow, veined and speckled 

 with vinous brown. The petals are much twisted and of 

 the same color. The lip is much inflated, a bright rose- 

 purple and primrose about the opening and base. Alto- 

 gether, C. Chamberlainianum seems to justify all the enthu- 

 siasm which its introduction kindled. 



New Orchids. 



DisA iNCARNATA, Liudl. — Aftfei being known for upward 

 of half a century, this Madagascar species has at last 

 been introduced to cultivation, and flowered with Messrs. 

 W. L. Lewis & Co., of Southgate. The flowers are of a 

 bright cinnibar-orange, except the dorsal sepal, which is 

 deep yellow, with bright red spots. — Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 May 14th, pp. 618. 619, fig. 88. 



Phal^enopsis X Amphitrite, Kranzlin. — A pretty hybrid 

 raised betvs'een P. Stuartiana and P. Sanderiana, the latter 

 being the pollen parent. It bears a considerable re- 



