4i6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 236. 



about the first week of August. There are white-flowered 

 forms of these two species, whicli, wliile interesting as varieties, 

 are not nearly so decorative as their original types. These 

 Lobelias grow best in moist soil, and they may be quickly 

 propagated by any of the methods commonly pursued in the 

 case of herbaceous perennials. 



Liatris spicata is almost over, its career having been con- 

 siderably shortened by the dry, hot weather. It is from two to 

 three feet high, the numerous stems a trifle stiff. The habit 

 is neat and compact, and the showy purplish flowers are freely 

 disposed on the upper portion of each stem. This plant is 

 most effective when grown in large patches, and it delights in 

 free exposure to sunshine, and in soil of good quality. The 

 same may be said of the Wild Senna, Cassia Marilandica, a 

 most excellent plant, which flowered all through July and is 

 still in full bloom. The stems of this Cassia are three or four 

 feet high, erect, though slender, bearing alternate, pinnate 

 leaves, and short axillary racemes of nearly regular, golden 

 yellow flowers, the anthers of which are quite black, adding 

 much to their beauty. The racemes are generally densely 

 clustered at the stem, and the plant is best propagated from 

 seeds. 



The long racemes of purple Pea-shaped flowers produced 

 by Desmodium Canadense are quite pretty, but the plant is 

 large and spreads rapidly, requiring a great deal of space for 

 its full development. Not so with the Missouri Evening Prim- 

 rose (CEnothera Missouriensis), which has been producing its 

 enormous yellow flowers with great freedom since the latter 

 part of June. It is seldom more than a foot high, the stems 

 having a tendency to spread by courting the ground. 



The various kinds of Coreopsis (Tickseed) make a lively 

 show of color, chiefly bright yellows and rich browns. The 

 plants vary in height from one to four feet, and the taller 

 sorts require the support of stakes. C. lanceolata, C. grandi- 

 flora and C. tinctoria are the best species. The latter is an 

 annual, but its self-sown seeds afford a generous supply of 

 plants. Centa'urea Americana is another desirable annual. It 

 is about three feet high, the stems bearing handsome purple 

 flowers, four inches m diameter, at the summit. The plants 

 should be raised under cover in spring, and transferred to the 

 open any time after the middle of June. Eupatorium pur- 

 pereum, with reddish purple flowers, and E. perfoliatum, in 

 which the inflorescence is whitish, are blooming profusely. 

 They form ornamental groups from three to five feet high. 



Cambridge, Mass. M. Barker. 



Some Little-known Annuals. 



THE annual Cupheas are best represented by C. lanceolata 

 and C. silenoides, plants of considerable merit, though 

 not often to be seen outside of botanical gardens. They are 

 worthy of a more extended use. The stems of each are from 

 twelve to eighteen inches high, and bear large quantities of 

 flowers during July, August and September. Those of C. 

 lanceolata have two large, rich purple segments behind, and 

 four smaller ones of paler color in front. The flowers of C. 

 silenoides are very similar, except that all the divisions, large 

 and small, are of the same dark purple color, the larger ones 

 having margins of a lighter shade. Both plants are natives of 

 Mexico, and they would probably repay some efforts in the 

 way of hybridizing. 



Emilia sagittata, better known as Cacalia coccinea, has 

 been too much neglected. It belongs to the natural order 

 Compositse, and was introduced from the West Indies in 

 1799. The plant is of erect growth, about two feet high, and 

 the stems and branches terminate with from three to six 

 flower-heads of bright orange-scarl.et color, and about half an 

 inch in diameter. It blooms freely throughout the summer, 

 and is most effective in masses. 



The intense blue flowers of Delphinium consolida, borne in 

 racemes from six to nine inches long, are very charming, and 

 even in the driest season the plants bloom with surprising 

 persistence. The stems are about two feet high, and fairly 

 well branched toward the top. The leaves are deep 

 green, and, being finely divided, give the plant a beautiful 

 feathery appearance. D. consolida occurs freely in Europe, 

 and was at one time highly esteemed in gardens abroad. 

 The improved forms of perennial Delphiniums which have 

 been produced in recent years were so detrimental to its pop- 

 ularity, however, that it is now rarely seen in cultivation ; but 

 it is slowly regaining its former position. There are many 

 varieties, single, double and semi-double, in which the colors 

 range through various shades and mixtures of blue, pink and 

 white. 



Trachymene ccerulea, sometimes called Didiscus coeruleus. 



is a free-branching plant about eighteen inches or two feet 

 high. The leaves are not imposing, but the compact, some- 

 what convex umbels of small, pale blue flowers are extremely 

 pretty, and about three inches across. It is a native of New 

 Holland, and was introduced in 1827. 



Silene Armeria is a common European weed, but very deco- 

 rative in our gardens notwithstanding. It is of erect habit, 

 about eighteen inches high, branching profusely. The oppo- 

 site, glaucous leaves are very smooth, of ovate-lanceolate 

 outline, and rather pleasing to the eye. The large corymbose 

 inflorescence is composed of showy pink blossoms, which 

 are half an inch in diameter and produced in great abun- 

 dance. S. Armeria alba is an excellent white-flowered variety, 

 though hardly so ornamental as the species. The two plants 

 are deserving of a place in every garden, and it is perhaps 

 worthy of remark that both are said to spread rapidly in this 

 country from self-sown seeds. 



Sanvitallia procumbens is a desirable little gem, scarcely 

 more than six inches high. The numerous stems are thickly 

 clad with small ovate leaves, which form a close green grounci 

 for the dainty Daisy-like flowers an inch in diameter. The 

 disk is dark purple in color, the ray florets rich golden-yellow 

 and so formed that the entire circle appears to be regularly 

 notched. 



With the exception of the Silenes, which appear to give the 

 greatest amount of satisfaction in slightly elevated portions of 

 the rockery, all the plants here mentioned thrive best in the 

 ordinary soil of garden-beds and borders. The seeds should 

 be sown in spring, and placed in a greenhouse or frame 

 where the heat is sufficiently great to exclude frost. The 

 seedlings may be potted singly when large enough to handle 

 easily, and finally planted outside when there is is no further 

 dread of cold weather. 



Newton, Mass. S, M, 



Senecio Japonicus. — Besides hardy plants for border use 

 there is now a large demand for suitable sub-tropical plants 

 as a setting or background for aquatics. Many of these are 

 only half-hardy, requiring to be replanted every year, a pro- 

 cess which takes both time and money ; consequently, all 

 plants of this character which are hardy, love moisture and 

 have a beauty of their own are worthy of notice. 



The giant Groundsel of Japan, Senecio Japonicus, called In 

 some catalogues Erythrochaste palmatifida, is not as well 

 known as it deserves, though it has been in cultivation in the 

 United States for ten years or more. It is, without doubt, hardy, 

 and will thrive in any moist garden-soil. This Senecio is one 

 of the handsomest of the genus, the plant being tall, five feet 

 high, with large, much-divided leaves, each about a foot across, 

 on long stalks from the root. The flower-stems are stout, 

 sometimes much-branched, with large orange-yellow flowers 

 three inches across, much like those of Silphium or single 

 Sunflower, except that they flower in June. Our plants have 

 flowered profusely this summer and are now maturing seed, 

 few of which, however, have power to germinate. When 

 given a proper place, with room to develop its roots within 

 reach of plenty of moisture, S. Japonicus will prove very 

 ornamental, either alone or associated with other plants. It 

 starts very early in spring, and late frosts, which kill the Poly- 

 gonums, Astilbes and other succulent shoots, have never in 

 our experience injured this Senecio in the least. 



South Lancaster, Mass. O, O. 



Begonia fulgens is a tuberous Bolivian species said to have 

 been discovered in the same locality as B. Baumanni, and, like 

 that species, it is especially interesting for its fragrance. B. 

 fulgens proves to be a plant of dwarf growth with moderate- 

 sized leaves, which above are of a deep emerald-green, with 

 deep veinings of a lighter green, short abundant hairs and a 

 satiny lustre. Underneath, the leaves have strong veins and 

 are stained a vinous red. The leaf-stalks are short, and from 

 these rise numerous pink flower-scapes to a height of, say, 

 twelve inches. These each bear three or four very handsome 

 pure carmine flowers, single, of good substance and five- 

 petaled. The female flowers are in great preponderance. 

 They are fragrant, but not so pronounced in odor as B. Bau- 

 manni. The scapes are slightly curved, and the flowers are 

 pendulous. Owing to this habit this plant will not probably 

 meet with much favor with the hybridizers, as the present 

 fashion in Begonias is for rigid flowering-stems, holding the 

 flower face up. But it is a beautiful variety, which will be wel- 

 comed by the fanciers of this species, among which are so 

 many very interesting and beautiful plants. At the suggestion 

 of Messieurs Lemoine, who introduced B. fulgens in the fall of 

 1891, one of the plants has been grown in the border in full 



