464 



Garden and Forest. 



[November 21, 1888. 



and it would be interesting to know whetlier protection beyond 

 snow covering is given, and, if so, wliat Icind. Neither can 

 the Kniphofias l)e relied upon to endure the winter. 



Mr. Harris, gardener to Mr. H. H. Hunnevvell, tells me he 

 used to keep them through, imtil the last tew winters, when he 

 has lost them, by tying their leaves up in the shape of a cone, 

 and putting a few leaves around tlie plants. He also states 

 that they were hardy many years ago in the Annapolis Valley, 

 Nova Scotia. However, the safest way is to store both Ane- 

 mones and Kniphofias. 



The propagation of Anemone Japonica is quite easy. The 

 strongest crowns or roots are planted for blooming the same 

 season in the ordinary Iiorder, and the small roots are put into 

 nursery beds, where they will grow large enough in one season 

 to bloom the next year. Any piece of root will grow. Here 

 in Massachusetts, with September frosts, it is necessary to 

 start the plants in pots, either in moderate hot-bed or in a 

 green-house, to hasten the blooming period. Anemones, 

 planted three in a ten-inch pot, make fine specimens for hall 

 decoration. It is safe to water them three times a day during 

 the summer. 



Kniphofias are raised from seeds or propagated by division. 

 They thrive well in a deep, rich loam, and require plenty of 

 water during dry weather. They require a fully exposed 

 position or tliey will not bloom well. Kniphofias are generally 

 called Tritomas in the" trade, and most of those sold are K. 

 aloides or its varieties. It is seldom, however, that the varie- 

 tal rank is given to any of them — all being entered in the cata- 

 logues as species. This causes much confusion. Nicholson, 

 in his " Dictionary of Gardening," has, no douVjt, been as care- 

 ful as possible not to give any varieties of K. aloides %\>&qa^c 

 rank, but some of the species I believe are only varieties. 

 But it is hard to pronounce positively, since the authorities 

 are not given. K. carnosa and K. Leichtlinii, from trustworthy 

 dealers, grown together, proved to be identical ; so also did 

 K. Burchelli and K. Rooperi. 



Of the varieties of K. aloides, Media does not differ from 

 the type. Grandis and Grandiflora, both noble plants, are 

 identical ; so also are Nobilis and Saundersii, though some- 

 what inferior. There is also a very handsome hybrid with 

 tlie pretty little A'. Macowani, known as Tritonia media Maco- 

 ■wani. K. caulescejis is so very distinct that it might pass for 

 a Dracajna as regards habit of growth. It forms a decided 

 stem, and does not bloom until four or five years old, and then 

 from the axils of the leaves, not terminally. I consider K. 

 Macowani and its variety Corallina the best for this district. 

 They bloom early and continuously, produce seed in abund- 

 ance, and are very easily raised by that means, blooming the 

 second year. No other Kniphofia is so useful for cutting 

 for house decoration, the varieties of K. aloides being alto- 

 gether too coarse. T. D. Hatfield. 



Wellesley, Mass. 



Orchid Notes. — Odonioglossum grande. — This species liears 

 the largest and showiest Howers of the whole genus, and is a 

 desirable plant for any collection, as it is easily grown and 

 produces its flowers at a very welcome season. It was dis- 

 covered about fifty years ago, growing in dark ravines in 

 Guatemala, and therefore cannot be classed among the cool 

 Orchids, but will be found to require the temperature of the 

 Cattleya-house. For a potting compost we use a mixture of 

 peat, fibrous loam, rotten leaves and moss in equal parts, tak- 

 ing care that the pots are thoroughly drained. While in 

 active growth the plants require plenty of water ; after this is 

 finished they should be rested in a dry atmosphere, and given 

 no more water than necessary to keep the bulbs plump. The 

 racemes appear as soon as the growth is finished, bearing six 

 or seven flowers, the lanceo'ate sepals of which are yellow 

 barred with brown. The petals are brown on the lower half 

 and bright yellow on the upper ; the pale yellow lip is 

 blotched with red. Saccolabiiini bigibbum is a pretty and 

 somewhat rare species of close-growing habit, bearing linear- 

 oblong leaves about seven inches long. From the axils of 

 these are produced very short-stalked racemes with about a 

 dozen pale yellow flowers. The lip is curiously saccate and 

 triangular, white, with a yellow centre, while the edge is ex- 

 quisitely frilled. It is a native of Rangoon, and grows well 

 with the Phalaenopsis. 



Phalanopsis intermedia Poriei. — This is a choice, and, at 

 present, exceedingly rare Orchid. When first introduced it 

 was thought to be a natural hybrid betwen P. rosea and P. 

 amabilis; and to prove this Messrs. Veitch & Sons crossed these 

 species and succeeded in raising a seedling which proved to 

 be identical with those received from their native country. 

 This same seedling is in bloom with us now, bearing a large, 

 branching spike. In growth it much resembles P. amabilis, 



while the inflorescence presents an intermediate character. 

 The flowers are roundish and about two inches across ; white 

 suffused with rose near the base. The lip — the great attrac- 

 tion — is of a rich, dark purple. This hybrid is exceedingly 

 free flowering, in fact it is difflcult to keep a strong plant 

 from being always in flower ; but this should be prevented or 

 the plant will soon become exhausted. It grows freely with 

 the .usual Phaleenopsis treatment. The crossing of this hybrid 

 with its parent, P. amabilis, has resulted in the production of 

 that fine hybrid, F. L. Ames. 



Vanda insignis is an old, but little known plant, and until 

 recenfly it was very rare. For some unexplained reason, it has 

 always been confounded with the slender-growing, narrow- 

 leaved variety of V. tricolor called insignis, but now that the for- 

 mer plant is once more in cultivation, the difference in growth 

 may easily be seen, especially in the leaves, which are much 

 shorter and more rigid in the genuine species. The racemes 

 bear some seven flowers about the size of those of V. tricolor, 

 but they differ a good deal in shape. The sepals and petals are 

 brown spotted with chocolate, while the lip. is large and spread- 

 ing, and of a uniform light rose. It is a native of the Island of 

 Timor, where it grows on low trees much exposed to the sun, 

 resting for a long time during the dry season. In cultivation 

 it grows and flowers freely with the usual Vanda treatment. 

 A beautiful and rare variety named Schroederi has light yel- 

 low sepals and petals, and a pure white lip. _ „ , , . 

 Kenwciod, N. Y. F- Goldring. 



Notes From the Arnold Arboretum. 



DECIDUOUS shrubs or trees which still possess beauty of 

 foliage or of fruit after the ist of November are not nu- 

 merous in this climate and are therefore valuable. There 

 are still a few in this collection ; and these can be mentioned, 

 perhaps, -vyith advantage to persons contemplating the forma- 

 don of new shrubberies. The Yellow-root of the_ Alleghany 

 Mountains, Zanthorhiza apiifolia, a low shrub, specially valua- 

 ble on account of its spreading habit for the margins of shrub- 

 beries and for clothing the ground among larger plants, is still 

 covered with leaves, which are now bright orange colored. The 

 small brown flowers of this plant, which appear in slender 

 drooping racemes contemporaneously with the unfolding 

 leaves, are neither showy nor ornamental. The real beauty 

 of the Yellow-root is in the late autumn, when brightly colored 

 foliage is not common. 



Berberis emarginata, which has been mentioned more than 

 once in these notes, is now at its best, and it is hard to imagine 

 any shrub with more brilliant or strikingly colored foliage. 

 Berberis Chinensis is very brilliant, too, but B. Thunbergii has 

 already lost its leaves entirely. The fruit will remain, however, 

 upon the branches bright and unshriveled until spring, and 

 considerably later than those of the last named species, which 

 on the whole, although still almost unknown in gardens, is a 

 more graceful and desirable plant 'and unsurpassed among 

 Barberries in the beauty of fruit. 



Spircea Cantoniensis, which is often known as S. Reevesiana 

 and of which there are a single and a double flowered variety 

 in cultivation, is remarkable among Spirteas for the persist- 

 ence of its leaves in autumn. They are still quite green and 

 fresh, with only a slight change to yellow in the case of a few 

 growing low down upon the stems. It is one of the most or- 

 namental of the whole genus, although here unfortunately it 

 is not quite hardy, losing the ends of the branches in severe 

 winters. 



Parrotia Persica, a native of the south and south-west coast 

 of the Caspian Sea, and neariy allied to the Witch Hazel, is now 

 a brilliant object, with its broad, golden colored leaves. This is 

 a tall growing, robust and hardy shrub, which is not very often 

 seen in Ame'rican collections, although worth growing for the 

 handsome coloring of its autumn foliage. Neither the flow- 

 ers nor the fruit are at all showy. A second species, P. Jac- 

 quemontiana, a native of the Himalaya from the Indus to the 

 Ravi, does not appear to be in cultivation. This plant is in- 

 teresfing from the fact that its tough and pliable twigs^ are 

 used to make the swinging twig-bridges over the great Hima- 

 laya rivers. Among Viburnums, V. cotinifolium is now the 

 only one which needs mention. It is a stout and spreading 

 species, a native of the north-west Himalayas, where it grows 

 between 4,000 and 11,000 feet elevation, and closely allied to 

 the European V. Lantana. Its broad ovate or rotundate leaves 

 are just turning to a deep, rich vinous red color. This plant 

 has not flowered here yet, but the persistency of its foliage 

 and the beauty of its autumnal coloring make it a desirable 

 addition to the list of hardy shrubs. 



Cornus sangiiinea is the last of the Dogwoods to hold its 

 leaves and its bright black fruit. This is the common Dog- 



