March 14, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



31 



Some Hardy Wild Flowers One cold day in February I went 



to see how my plants ot that tough little Orchid, Goodyera 

 pubescens, were standing the weather, and found the leaves 

 protruding from a crust of snow and ice, as fresh as in June. 

 One can hardly understand how such a velvety, delicate look- 

 ing plant can be so hardy. Although it grows in thick shade, 

 this Rattlesnake Plantain will thrive in a sunny window of a 

 warm winter room. Such a one I knew, and when the fire 

 went out one bitter night it was smiling freshly in the morning, 

 although every other plant in the collection had perished. Why 

 has such a pretty thing as Erigeron bellidiJoHum been neg- 

 lected bv cultivators? I accidentally discovered that it im- 

 proves under domestication. A bunch of it was left by chance 

 in a field, where it was hoed and fertilized in the same way as 



perhaps, where Michaux makes record of it in his journal of 

 that trying December visit to these mountains. I can hardly 

 hope much from the pretty little Galax aphylla, known here 

 as Colts-foot, and carpeting tlie woods in everv direction. It 

 seems to resent all artificial nurture and a|.)|.iarendy dies of 

 homesickness when tran^idanted from its wild surroundings. 

 Macon Co., N. c. F. K. Boynion. 



Phajus tuberculosus.— This exquisite and rare Orcliid is now in 

 flower at Kenwood, probaljly for the first time in America. It 

 is undoubtedly the most beautiful of the whole genus. It was 

 introduced from Madagascar in 1881, and a few plants flowered 

 in England, but for a long time I have heard nothing of it. Our 

 plants were bought in 1882, and were gradually dwindling away 



until a year ago, when we tliought 

 of trying them in the hottest cor- 

 ner of the Phalaenopsis house 

 near the expansion tank, where 

 the temperature in winter is 

 never l:)elow 70". We kept them 

 very wet, and syringed over- 

 head at least twice a day. Under 

 this treatment the plants have 

 done wonders, making larger 

 bulbs than those imported, and 

 the strong healthy folitige sliows 

 no speck of ravages from insects, 

 hitherto the greatest enemy of 

 tliis plant. The choice of potting 

 material seems to be a minor 

 consideration, as one of the plants 

 in blooni is potted in peat, while 

 another is on a block of wood 

 covered with sphagnum and 

 stands upright in a pot surfaced 

 with moss ; in both cases the 

 rooting is all that can lie desired. 

 The habit of the plant is some- 

 what climbing, producing a slen- 

 der rhizome, much thickened 

 at the end to form a bulb, from 

 the tip and sides of which pro- 

 ceed plicate leaves about a foot 

 long. The flower spikes are up- 

 right, 6 to 8 inches long, bearing 

 3 to 6 snow-white flowers, the 

 greatest attraction of which lies 

 in the indescribably beautiful lip. 

 Kenwood, N. V. F. GoldTin^. 



the farm crop. It grew luxuriantly and blossomed profusely. 

 I think it quite as beautiful as any of our Asters, whicli it some- 

 what resembles. It has the advantage, too, of blossoming 

 in early spring, while most of the Asters are late bloomers. 

 Another wild plant which is not afraid of cultivation is Hoiis- 

 tonia purpurea. While not as attractive as its little sister, H. 

 serpyllifolia, or, perhaps, as your more northern Bluets {H. 

 coeruled) it is a striknig plant, erect, branching and often 

 more than a foot high, blossoming freely, and found naturally 

 in high and dry soil. Our Mountain Harebell, too (^Campanula 

 divaricata) makes a neat addition to our list of hartly peren- 

 nials. I think I may add Shortia to the list, although it has not 

 been thoroughly tested in cultivation. I have little doubt, 

 however, that it will succeed, and it can now be had in abim- 

 dance, after hiding away so successfully for a hundred years, 

 for it has been found growing by the acre on the very spot. 



New Vegetables. — The roots of 

 the Cassava are shown by a large 

 number of exhiliitors at the .Sub- 

 tropical Exposition at Jackson- 

 ville, Fla. This would indicate 

 a rather general, if not a large 

 cultivation. Those who had used 

 it pronounced it a grateful vege- 

 table, the rootsimply pleasantand 

 cooked as a custard. The variety 

 seemed to be Manihot Aipi. 

 Sechium edtile, the "Chocho," 

 cultivated in tropical America 

 and the West Indies for the sake 

 of its fruit, was also on exhibition 

 and for sale. The seed germi- 

 nates within the fruit, and the 

 sprouting fruits have therefore 

 a curious appearance. The unripe fruit is eaten boiled 

 as a vegetable. This plant has given rise to many varieties, 



differing quite largely. 



E. Lewis Sttirtevant. 



Aquilegia longissima.* 



OF the long-spurred Columbines which are peculiar to the 

 central mountain ranges of this continent the species 

 here figured, fig. 6, page 31, is the most remarkable. The 

 Ac/uUegia cmru/ea, withblue and white flowers, and the yellow- 

 flowered A. chrysantliaol the Rocky Mountains anil other in- 

 terior ranges, are now well-known in gardens, both in their 



*A. LONGISSIMA, Gray in herb.; Watson, Proc. Am. Acad. xvii. 317. Tall, sonic-- 

 what pubescent with sill<v hairs ; leaves green aliove, i;laucons beneath ; sepals 

 hincoolate, broadly spreading, an inch long or more, the si>atul3te petals a little 

 shorter ; spur with a narrow" orifice, four inches long oi' more. 



