524 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 245. 



countries, takes a prominent place among the species. It was 

 at one time a familiar autumn feature of the fields in the west- 

 ern and southern portions of England, where it was cultivated 

 to some extent for the roots, said to yield a medicine of mate- 

 rial efficacy in gout troubles, notwithstanding the fact that it 

 is known to contain, in common with nearly all the other spe- 

 cies, properties of a highly poisonous character. The plant 

 retained a hold on those parts of England long after its sys- 

 tematic cultivation was discontinued, but at this time it is prac- 

 tically extinct there, a result of persistent collection by drug- 

 gists and nurserymen. 



The leaves of Colchicum autumnale are strap-shaped, deep 

 green, and from nine to twelve inches long. The flowers are 

 of a pale purple color, with narrow tube from four to six inches 

 high, and limb from two to three inches wide, appearing 

 about the middle of September, and lasting from a month to 

 six weeks. There are many varieties of this species, the 

 best of which, with the colors of their flowers, are Album, 

 pure white ; Roseum, reddish purple ; Atropurpureum, 

 deep purple ; Striatum, purple and white ; Album Plenum, 

 double white; Purpureum Plenum, double purple. The double 

 varieties are the more desirable, as the flowers last much 

 longer. C. Byzantinum resembles C. autumnale somewhat 

 closely, but it is a more profuse bloomer; the flowers are a 

 pale rosy purple shade, and the leaves are much broader. 

 This plant inhabits the Levant. 



The best species of the genus is Colchicum speciosum, a 

 native of the Caucasus. The leaves are of a bright green 

 color, about a foot in length, and from three to four inches 

 wide. The flowers are from nine to twelve inches high ; limb 

 cup-shaped, from three to four inches in diameter, and of a 

 rich reddish purple color. C. Sibthorpii, a species only re- 

 cently introduced from the Grecian mountains, is said to be a 

 close rival of C. speciosum in the size of the flowers, which 

 are of a deep lilac tint and obscurely tessellated. 



Colchicum variegatum, common to the Levant and Asia 

 Minor, is remarkable for the exquisite tessellation of its flow- 

 ers, the colors being rich purple on a lilac ground ; its va- 

 riety Parkinsoni, which is sometimes accorded specific rank, 

 has similar markings of a deeper purple shade on a pure white 

 ground. The leaves have wavy margins, but in other respects 

 these two plants and C. autumnale are much alike. 



Colchicums do best in a light rich soil and an open position. 

 The corms should be planted, according to size, from three to 

 six inches beneath the surface of the soil, and, as the plants 

 are most effective in large masses, they should be arranged in 

 that way. This should be done as early in summer as prac- 

 ticable — that is, as soon as the roots can be had. The plants 

 are easily increased by separating the corms, and they may 

 also be propagated from .seeds, though the latter is a slow 

 process, as seedlings rarely reach the flowering stage before 

 they are three or four years old. The seeds ripen freely, but they 

 must not be sought until the early part of the summer succeed- 

 ing the flowering season. They remain underneath the ground 

 during the winter months, and are developed with the new 

 growth in spring, rising beyond the surface to be ripened by 

 the summer's sun. They should be sown in a cold frame 

 when perfectly ripe, covering lightly with sandy soil. 



Cambridge, Mass. M. Barker. 



Cape Oxalis. — III. 



ANOTHER group of these plants consists of species whose 

 flowers are large and showy, and produced single, and 

 whose foliage consists of leaflets borne in twos or threes at 

 the ends of the leaf-stalks; there is often, also, a foliaceous ex- 

 pansion on the sides of the stalks. These forms are so much 

 alike thaf it is probable that they are not all valid species, yet 

 as garden-plants they are enough unlike to merit distinctive 

 names. They are all of easy culture, requiring no special soil 

 or treatment. If potted at the beginning of September they 

 will flower well in October and November. If they are kept 

 dry until the middle of the latter month and are then planted 

 in a cold frame and kept dark and cool through the winter 

 they will appear above ground in April, and will generally 

 blossom well, though some kinds will do better than others. 

 They will survive with covering, as will all other Oxalis, with- 

 out the protection of glass, but the wetness they then have to 

 endure usually prevents the production of flowers. 



Oxalis crispa has unusually large and broad leaflets growing 

 in pairs, and the flowers are white, very faintly tinged with 

 pink, much nearer a pure white than Jacquin's figure would 

 lead us to suppose. O. asinina and O. leporina are named 

 from the resemblance their long, narrow leaflets bear to the 



ears of an ass and of a hare respectively ; the resemblance, 

 however, is not very close. 



The flowers of the first are yellow, of a rather deep shade ; 

 those of O. leporina are white. O. fabasfolia is very orna- 

 mental from the great size and bright color of the leaflets, 

 which grow in threes, and the large size and brightness of the 

 yellow flowers. O. lanctefolia is a two-leafleted variety with 

 yellow flowers not more than an inch in diameter. The num- 

 ber of leaflets given with each of these species is the usual 

 number, which is not invariable by any means, for often the 

 same plant will have leaves of both two and three leaflets. 

 There are many other species, or reputed species, of this group, 

 some of which I have, but they are so much like some I have 

 described that I am notsure that they are correctly named, and 

 therefore it will be better to say nothing more of them at 

 present. Several species, with from five to seven leaflets and 

 without leaf-like wings on the sides of the stalks, form another 

 group of very distinct appearance. Their flowers are all yel- 

 low, of various sizes and shades, all striped outwardly with red, 

 yet all sufficiently unlike to be worth growing. O. lupinifolia 

 has from six to ten leaflets, that is six, eight or ten ; the num- 

 ber is, I think, always even, and there is a dark blotch at the 

 base of each ; O. flava has five, seven or nine slender leaflets, 

 so slender that several bulbs should be grown together to pre- 

 vent a bare appearance. The seven or nine leaflets of O. 

 flabellifolia are long and strap-shaped, quite unlike those of 

 any other species. In O. pectinata the five or seven leaflets 

 are somewhat fleshy and folded lengthwise, so that the oppo- 

 site sides stand about ninety degrees apart. There are several 

 species closely resembling this group from Mexico, Brazil and 

 Chili, but no others, as far as I know, belonging to the Cape. 



Canton, Mass. W^. E. Endicott. 



Fern Notes. 



T^ 



'HE work in a Fern-house at this time of th.e year is largely 

 of a routine character, but, nevertheless, it is far from be- 

 ing uninteresting, for there are constant attractions in watching 

 the development of the fronds or surprises in the production 

 and growth of seedlings. One very necessary precaution at 

 this season is that of watering early in the day, so that the 

 fronds may dry off again, for while a moist atmosphere is re- 

 quired at all times, yet a surplus of moisture on the foliage of 

 the more delicate species will disfigure them. Another point 

 of much importance is ventilation. Comparatively few Ferns 

 relish a close atmosphere, with the possible exception of the 

 Filmy Ferns, and it is, therefore, advisable to keep .some of 

 the ventilators open during the night as well as the day just as 

 long as the weather will allow such practice. At the same time 

 cold draughts must be guarded against.. 



But little potting is needed just now, except in the case of 

 some small plants that will not carry through the winter in 

 their present pots, for most of the larger plants will be nearly 

 through with their active growth, especially those which are 

 partially, or entirely, deciduous, and to this class a late potting 

 is rather injurious than helpful. 



A corner devoted to some seedlings of the more common 

 sorts, such as those in general use among the florists, will 

 prove very useful in helping to supply a mantel or table deco- 

 ration when such may be needed. The plants for this purpose 

 are most convenient when grown in three-inch pots, and for 

 the same purpose a sufficient quantity of Selaginellas of such 

 kinds as S. Kraussiana, with its variety Aurea, S. Martensii and 

 S. densa may be readily grown under the benches in the Fern- 

 house. Space can be thus economized, and what is frequently 

 an unsightly portion of a greenhouse is covered and made 

 presentable. 



If space will permit, some of the smaller Tree-ferns should 

 be planted out in the centre of the Fern-house, even if it be 

 only a small stem or two of Dicksoniaantarctica, as exemplars 

 of this noblest class of Ferns. A pretty effect may also be se- 

 cured by clothing the stem of a Tree-fern with a covering of 

 one of the creeping species, such as Oleandra nodosa or some 

 of the dwarf Davallias. Sections of an old Fern-trunk also 

 make excellent material on which to grow the Platycerium, as 

 they offer a congenial medium for the roots of the Stag-horn 

 species, and have besides good lasting qualities. 



Where exhibition Ferns are grown some staking is neces- 

 sary, but it is well to remember that only enough stakes should 

 be used to display the natural beauties of the plant, formal 

 tying being an abomination when applied to a Fern. For this 

 purpose steel wires are very neat, and are less noticeable when 

 painted dark brown or black ; in fact, I have used the ribs of 

 an old umbrella more than once in staking a large Adiantum, 

 and found them very satisfactory. 



